Rinka kept going. “The only part that upset me when she told me is that you felt you couldn’t tell me. But even that didn’t upset me for long. We’ve only just met, after all. And you never promised me anything more than a bit of fun for the summer. I understand why you didn’t want me to know.”
Idris sat down beside her, but still he said nothing, so Rinka kept talking. “One day, you’ll find someone you do want to be with. And I hope you’ll tell her early. Because there are some people that will care, but there are many who will not. There are people who won’t care about your crown or your heirs or anything else. There are people that will love you for you. I hope you know that.”
Idris sighed. “My father forbade me to tell my fiancée the truth,” he said after a long silence. “He refused to believe in thecurse himself despite seeing what the other half of it had done to me, and he paid off or imprisoned anyone who wouldn’t agree to keep their silence. The rest of the story I told the mermaids was true—I did truly love her, and I did realize that she didn’t care for me at all. When my father refused to let me break the engagement, I told her the truth.”
“And she ended the engagement?”
“Yes,” said Idris. “Although I’m not sure if it was because of the children or because she realized that my future as monarch was in jeopardy. By that point, I didn’t want to find out. He paid her and her family handsomely for their silence. Then at some point, he realized he could pin his hopes for his legacy on Ceri instead.”
“But if you can’t have a child, why do you need to abdicate? Wouldn’t she become queen once you’re gone?”
“I told you I work at the University, the King’s College near Arcas Dyrne. My area of study is curses—well, dark magic more generally, but I specialize in the study of curses and their effects. I believe it’s likely that the wording of the curse makes it so that if I take the throne at all, I will have no successor. Not just a lack of a child heir, but my sister will be prevented from taking the throne for some reason. There are many ways that could play out, none of them nice.”
“Perhaps you should take the throne and abolish the monarchy,” said Rinka, trying to lighten the mood.
“I’ve thought about it,” said Idris seriously. “At first, as an answer if something were to happen unexpectedly to my father, a way to protect Ceri and the rest of the family. It would meet the terms of the curse. And who knows? If I were to abdicate or abolish the monarchy, I may be able to have children after all.”
“And perhaps you could give a voice to the people as well,” said Rinka. Being amongst the nobility had given her anewfound awareness of just how little of a voice the common folk had.
“Are you telling me you doubt the ability of those pompous buffoons you saw preening and prancing around last night to represent the will of the people?” asked Idris with a laugh. “Preposterous.”
He took her hands in his. “Rinka, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I wanted to. But it’s been my darkest secret for so long—my own colleagues don’t even know it’s my own curse that I’m researching, or if they do, they think it’s so I can fly once more. I hope it hasn’t put a damper on things.”
“Not at all,” said Rinka. “I hope you find the answer you’re looking for one day, whatever that may be.”
He sighed and reached for her, stroking her cheek. “Was that truly the only reason you didn’t come last night? I was afraid that I’d been too forward, that I’d scared you off by taking things too far too fast. I know we’re having fun, but I don’t want you to feel pressured to do something you don’t want to do. I was angry at myself for putting you in that position. I’m sorry I was cold to you this morning.”
“Idris,” she said. “I wanted to meet you so badly last night that I seriously considered leaving your crying sister on her own to do so. After she told me everything, I decided I needed a moment to think through what I wanted to say. That’s all.”
There was a clap of thunder in the distance, and the first drops of rain began to fall.
“Ominous,” joked Idris.
“Although I don’t mind if we take things slowly,” admitted Rinka. “Not because I don’t want to…well, you know. Not because I don’t wantyou. But I very much enjoy the teasing. It’s the best part.”
“Rinka, I can promise you this: the teasing will not be the best part.” He stood and pulled her up by her hands. “Come now,” he said. “Before we get soaked.”
The rain began to fall harder as they walked through the hedges back to the manor. Rinka opened the umbrella, but the wind kept blowing it backwards. She finally abandoned it entirely when it got stuck on a branch.
“Ah!” she screamed as the bottom fell out. She was drenched in mere moments, her white dress clinging to her, revealing everything underneath.
“Gods help me, what am I meant to do when you look like that?” asked Idris, and he pulled her behind a hedge out of view of the manor and kissed her.
It was absolutely pouring, and Rinka did not give a damn.
The kiss was a confession. It was a secret itself, shared between them, their eyes closed to it. It was the taste of the rain mixed with the taste of each other. It was the pull of his hand on her skirt, the lift of her leg to wrap around his hip. It was the clinging of fabric, the pressure of their bodies, the white-hot fire that burned within them that kept out the chill.
There was a flash of light through Rinka’s closed eyes and the clap of thunder close by. Too close.
“Godsdammit,” said Idris, pulling away entirely too soon. “I want you to know that I’m stopping this because I can’t live with myself if you get struck by lightning on account of my passions and for no other reason."
He took her hand once more, and they ran for it.
Rinka laughed unabashedly as they pounded up the steps to the manor, everything that held her back washed away in the rain.
Chapter Twenty-Four
THE PAMPHLET
