He glances up, his brown bangs hooding the tops of his silver eyes. “Am I in trouble?”
“No.” I pause. “Should you be?”
“I don’t think so.” He nibbles the inside of his mouth in thought. “Nope, there’s nothing for me to be in trouble for.”
“Good to hear. But that’s not what we need to discuss.”
He goes back to sketching. “What is it, then?”
I thread my fingers and hunch forward, dropping my elbows to my knees. “Well, um, there’s a woman. I…you see, we…”
“Just spit it out,” he tells me without looking up.
It’s impossible not to smile at his matter-of-fact tone. He’ll make a good councilor one day. Goodness knows whoever takes over after me will need someone strong by their side.
“I may have accidentally gotten engaged.”
His pencil stops and he slowly lifts his gaze. “You mean as in engaged to be married?”
“That’s the one.”
His voice is thick with disgust. “To a girl?”
“Yes, but?—”
“Yuck.”
“Right.” I smooth a hand over my hair. “I know it’s gross now, but one day it won’t be.”
“Itwillbe.”
“We’re engaged, but we won’t be for long.”
He eyes me suspiciously. “What do you mean? Because after that, you’ll be married?”
Why is my throat so tight? This is an impossible situation to explain to a ten-year-old. “Can you keep a secret?”
“Yes.”
His eyes are sparkling now. Every child loves a secret. “I’m onlypretendingto be engaged. You’re going to hear that I’m getting married. Don’t say otherwise. Just ignore it.”
“Is she pretty?”
My insides tighten as an image of Addison flashes in my mind. How she looked genuinely curious to know what my favorite food is, how her dark amber eyes were filled with a question instead of the normal irritation she has for me. No one’s asked anything about me in…well, I can’t remember the last time. When you’re a king, it’s easy for others to forget you still have a heart.
Even when you don’t.
“It doesn’t matter if she’s pretty.”
“She’s ugly, isn’t she?”
“No, she’s not ugly.”She’s the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen.Wait. I’ve got to stop thinking like this. “But she won’t live with us long, and I don’t want you getting attached.”
There. I’ve said it. I rub my forehead because this discussionmakes me feel like I’ve been dipped in slime. Having an orphan become attached to the first mother figure he’s had in years isn’t something I wish to torment Ryals with—again.
“What do you mean,get attached?”
I close my eyes and slump back into the chair. “Don’t talk to her. That’s what I mean. Just ignore her.”
