I mimic locking my lips and throwing away the key. “I won’t tell if you won’t.”
“I won’t.” A moment later he grins. “Your knight’s mine.”
And so it is. “You’re sneaky.”
“That’s how you play chess.”
I lean back on my hands. “If I’m going to have any chance of winning, I’d better start paying attention.”
He captures my pawn with his rook. “Yep. Looks like you’re gonna need some tutoring.”
23
“Are you ready, Miss Thornrose?”
Ophelia pins the last of my hair in place and smiles at me in the mirror. I force my lips to tip up. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
“It’s going to be a lovely water ceremony.”
My stomach plummets just hearing her say the wordswaterandceremonyin the same sentence.
It’s been a week since my grandmother’s funeral, and since then Ryals and I have played chess four times and I’ve only seen Feylin once.
Yes, once.
For us being tied together, he’s done a miraculous job of avoiding my presence, even with the addition of us sleeping across the hall from one another.
I rise from the vanity as Ophelia turns to leave the room. “Wait.”
She pivots around quickly. “Is something wrong? Do you not like your hair?”
“I love my hair. It’s beautiful. It’s just, I’m wondering. What are the fae saying about last week’s ceremony?”
Her gaze drops to the floor. “They’d never seen anything like it.”
My shoulders drop. “That bad, huh?”
“Even if that’s what they think, no one can forget how special a joining is.” Her eyes shimmer with happiness. “It means the relationship is blessed.”
I frown, confused. “How so?”
She drags her teeth across her bottom lip. “The joining is supposed to be a sign of true love.”
I nearly bark a laugh. True love? She’s got to be kidding. Feylin’s not my true love, and I’m not his. The truest thing we are to one another is business partners.
“But I thought the joining was created to bond those in arranged marriages.”
“It was.” She crosses to my bed and fluffs the pillows one by one, frowning as she thinks. “But it’s also said, and believed by many, that a true joining like yours goes much deeper. That’s why all of us felt it when His Majesty joined with you.”
My heart throbs. True love? Me and Feylin? Impossible. Most of the time I can’t stand him, and the other half I want to rip his clothes off.
Pretty sure that’s not the making of true love.
If she notices me pausing, she doesn’t comment on it. Instead Ophelia sighs heavily. “Miss Thornrose, it’s been a long time since we’ve had a queen. We’re all just happy that His Majesty is happy.”
But he’s not.“And what about you? Are you happy?”
Her gaze darts around the room like she wants to dash under the bed. I’m getting way too personal, but I see her every day. It’s rude not to ask Ophelia about herself.
