It was only then that she thought of herself.
If Idris didn’t plan to take the throne, there was no real reason he couldn’t court her. She hadn’t considered it before; she had just assumed that either he didn’t want to court her truly or he wasn’t certain about abdicating, and therefore her commoner status was a detriment.
But perhaps the real reason he chose not to court her had been that he could not have children.
It would have been unkind for him to keep such a thing from her if they were actually courting, that was true.
But they weren’t actually courting. He didn’t owe her this piece of information, especially not when it was so damaging to him and to his family.
So why did it still hurt her to hear it?
He was expecting her now, was probably wondering where she was and why she was so late.
But she couldn’t face him, not yet. She wanted to be sure of what she was going to say before doing so. She was afraid that at this late hour, she’d say something indelicate and damage their relationship permanently.
And so she returned to the manor house alone.
At breakfast the next morning, Rinka could see the exhaustion and disappointment in him. She watched him pick at his food, barely touching it and refusing to meet her eye.
When they finally were able to leave once the king had finished his meal, she approached him.
“I need to speak with you,” she said quietly.
“You didn’t come. I waited for hours. Were you unable to get away?”
“Come, let’s take a turn about the garden,” she said loudly enough for the others to hear.
“It looks like rain today,” said Princess Chloe. “Better bring a brolly, just in case.”
The footman that had originally greeted them brought them a pair of umbrellas. Idris refused his.
“Thank you,” said Rinka to the footman before remembering she wasn’t supposed to thank him.
She shook her head. All of these stupid rules.
The sky was overcast with dark grey clouds on the horizon. A warm breeze burst through, whipping up the skirt of Rinka’s white day dress and nearly taking the closed umbrella from her hands.
“Did you change your mind?” asked Idris. “Was it something I did?”
“No,” said Rinka, leading him to the same spot where she’d found Ceri. It was a secluded area; she wanted to be sure no one would overhear them.
“Idris, I was coming to meet you last night when I found Ceri right here. She was alone and crying. I spoke with her for a while.”
“Ceri? Out here crying alone? What happened to her?”
Rinka considered how much to share with Idris. She felt certain that Ceri had shared her story in confidence, not wantingher brother to know. “Just looking for a bit of womanly advice, I think. She’s fine, or she will be. But Idris.”
She took a deep breath to steady her voice. “She told me about the Curse of the Air and the Heir.”
Idris smiled sardonically and shook his head. “Of course she did. Of course she would.”
“It wasn’t like that,” said Rinka. “At least, I’m fairly sure it wasn’t. She wasn’t trying to hurt you. I think she was just trying to help me. Since we’re courting, at least as far as anyone knows. She felt like I had a right to know.”
“Unbelievable,” said Idris. “I knew she wanted to be queen, but I never thought that she would pull something like this to hurt me. To hurt you. I had no idea how far she would go.”
“Idris,” said Rinka softly, trying to calm him down. He was nearly shouting. “Perhaps I’m naïve. Perhaps you’re right that she did this to hurt you, to drive us apart. But…it wouldn’t. Not even if we were truly courting, which we’re not. But even if we were, I wouldn’t care.”
Idris froze in place, unspeaking.
