Thomas and Clover ignored the indignant prince. “Ruth says you love living in the Human Kingdom with Nathaniel and Franny.”
“I do,” Clover half-lied. Amelia had become important to her, and things in the Human Kingdom were easier. If she were in one of the warmer regions, she’d probably love it. “Have you ever been?”
Thomas rocked back on his heels. “I never really wanted to,” he admitted, “but if it’s as great as Nathaniel makes it out to be, I might have to come visit.”
Amos moved forward. “The fuck you wi?—”
Clover yanked her mate back. “The cold is awful,” she warned Thomas in more ways than one. “If you’re set on the Human Kingdom, you should try the garden region. I’ve heard the weather is perfect.”
He shrugged. “Maybe one day. If I decide to visit, I’ll find you.” He lifted a hand in goodbye, but right before he turned around, he shot Amos a smirk.
Clover burst out laughing, clinging to Amos’ hand so he didn’t kill the poor guy. “He was riling you up on purpose,” she told him, still laughing. “Are you making enemies already?”
“He asks Ruth and Marcus about you too much,” Amos grumbled. He snatched Clover’s chin and lowered his face toward hers. “You’re mine,Clove. Now he knows it.”
17
Clover and Amos strolled through the market together, talking about everything and nothing all at once. Amos wished—not for the first time—that he wasn’t the crown prince, that he didn’t carry a kingdom’s future on his shoulders.
His life had never been his own. Hell, he couldn’t even hold Clover’s hand in public without people thinking he was flaunting his mistress under Jennifer’s nose.
“There’s the seamstress,” Clover said, interrupting his thoughts. “Are you coming in, or waiting out here?”
He opened the door and waved her inside. “I’ll sit and check in with Roland to see how he and Amelia are.”
Clover’s shoulders slumped. “I’m going to miss Amelia.”
“How may I help you today, Your Grace?” Vetta, the seamstress asked. She was around Alice’s age, but where Alice was sweet, Vetta was ornery and prickly as a cactus.
Amos led Clover to the chairs near the closest wall. “Vetta, do you mind locking the door? We’ll just be a moment.” Vetta was a higher-up in the Hydra. It was incredible how much information and gossip a seamstress overheard.
Amos directed his attention back to his mate. “You can visit as often as you want.”
“And tell her what? That I’m a traveling baker?” She dropped into a chair and rubbed her forehead. “I know we’ll think of something. I’m just sad. She’s my best friend.”
Amos frowned. “I’m your best friend.”
Clover looked at him like he’d grown a second head. “We haven’t spoken in four years. You’re not my best friend.”
His mouth flattened. “I will be.”
Sighing, she stood. “Tell Eddy I said hi. I’m going to order clothes so we can get out of here.”
Leaning back against the wall, Amos closed his eyes and reached down the bond.“What are you doing?”
Roland’s surroundings appeared in Amos’ mind. A snowy village bobbed with every step Amelia took.“You let her carry you in her pocket again?”Amos groaned.
“It’s warmer in here,”Roland replied.“Your sister is on her way home from the library. It’s freezing.”
“Has she said anything about Clover being gone?”
“Last night, she sat in the common room of their boarding house with me and her book, and told me she wished Clover had said goodbye in person.”The fox sounded furious.“You sent her a friend for years and now you’re stealing Clover away. Other than me, Clover is all she has. It’s cruel.”
“Clover my mate,”Amos reasoned.“I don’t want to be without her for another five years.”
“Then you never should’ve sent her,”thefamiliarclipped. Amos and Roland were rarely at odds with each other, and never had the animal been this angry.
“There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t wish I could take it back and keep her here,”he agreed, wanting to bash his head against a wall. Roland knew this. He knew how much Amos wanted and needed Clover and how much he cared about his sister.“I was a stupid kid who made a mistake.”
