Leila frowned as she stroked her gloom’s head. “I find it worrying that the first attack on me was from another Court. That means the biggest threat to my life is still out there.”
“And Myron?” I prompted.
“My hunch was right—he did everything to set up Chrysanthe. His whole family was in it—they were attempting to overthrow them and get them kicked out of the Night Court. Apparently they’d been longtime rivals, and they thought I was stupid enough that they’d be able to get me to do their dirty work for them.”
I was silent.
She glanced at me again. Her eyes—a swirling mix of purple and blue that was uncomfortably enthralling—were bright with curiosity. “You knew?”
I blinked. “He did a shoddy job of covering it up and was overconfident because Lady Chrysanthe eagerly accepted his false attention. He thought you’d be just as easy to fool.”
Leila grunted. “Yeah, that was one advantage I had that I won’t have anymore—at least not within my own Court. Oh well!” She flipped to a new packet. “Chase hasn’t been able to figure out what that weird shadow-creature-thing from the derby was. Myron won’t talk about it.” She paused. “Actually, Chase thinks hecan’ttalk about it.”
“He’s likely under a geas.”
She peered at me with more interest than she’d shown since she called me out. “A what?”
“A geas—a binding line in a contract. Likely, Myron agreed to a geas that would keep him from speaking.”
“Hmm. Did you ever have to have a geas when you were…um…working?”
I had, actually, on the contract I’d taken to try to kill her.
While the contract was canceled, the geas was still in place, which meant I could never speak a word or indicate who had hired me for the job.
I stared at her, unable to say anything.
She narrowed her eyes. “I’m going to take that as a yes.” Without a moment’s hesitation, she returned her attention to her papers.
I lingered awkwardly behind one of her couches.
“You know,” she abruptly said. “If my raw charm scares you that much, you can use the lock installed on the door between our rooms to lock me out.”
It occurred to me then I had married a feminine version of Dion in a far more attractive variety.
“Your sense of humor is not as witty as you think it is,” I flatly said.
“I’m not the one who disappeared for three days after we got married,” she laughed. Her eyes darted in my direction and she added, almost reluctantly, “I’m glad you’re back.”
I sighed and finally sat down in a chair. “Because you have the official ball that will recognize you as Queen of the Night Court in front of the other monarchs?”
“And I don’t want to host it alone—yeees.” She shuddered, then tossed her papers aside. “The Day King should be fun, but I’d rather go to the dentist and get some teeth pulled than invite the other monarchs to the party. The King of the Autumn Court I would especially love to avoid—though that does remind me, I have some thank you notes I need you to sign.”
I was so confused, my forehead actually wrinkled. “Thank you notes?”
“Yes. For all the wedding gifts we received?”
“You are the Queen of the Night Court. I’m your consort. We don’t have to thank anyone.”
“Yes, we do. It’s good manners. And I don’t want anyone holding a wedding gift over our heads.”
I stared at her, dumbstruck.Does she really not understand thatsheholds the ultimate power over everyone in our Court? Given that her marriage to me lacks any kind of political connection and that everyone has sworn themselves to her, they are at her mercy, not the other way around.
Leila misunderstood my silence. “Don’t worry—I have most of them written. The only one I’m going to make you write is for the Paragon—I think my insincerity would show through in that note. He got us a fancy tea maker, and I’m bitter because the chef has it put in a place of honor in the kitchen butstillwon’t let me get a coffee maker!”
As I observed my very unlikely wife, it occurred to me that I was lucky she easily accepted what she referred to as my brooding silence. If not, Leila would have pushed and insisted on hearing why I had abandoned her, and I wasn’t quite ready to tell her.
I’d spent the past three days trying to sort out what I felt about her as a queen.
