I can’t help but laugh when he hands back the bowl. I take a bite and decide the next time I want him to try something, it simply must be at the correct temperature. Setting the bowl on my dressing table, I sit, not on the bed, but on the floor with Everett, my back braced against the brass footboard. “Do you have a family?”
“No, I was born of shadows and darkness,” he deadpans.
Nia told me the exact same thing that first Wednesday we snuck out, except when she said it, she was serious. “Funny.” I’m not sure why, but I didn’t expect him to have a sense of humor. “How old are you?”
“Thirty. How old are you?”
“I’ll be twenty-five on the fourteenth of May.”
For some reason, that makes him frown. “You have come to Rosehill for a mate, then?”
“I have.” Although right now, the thought of choosing one makes my stomach churn. Or maybe that was the cold soup. “Is it the same in your kingdom?”
He offers no more than a nod, his dark gaze boring into mine.
My mouth suddenly feels too dry. When my tongue swipes across my lips, I swear his eyes follow the movement. “Do you belong to someone, then?”
His head shakes slowly. “Not yet.”
Why has no one chosen him? He is handsome, strong, and funny. Perhaps he, like my brother, has been fending off proposals for years and hasn’t wanted to settle down. What is he waiting for? Or does he simply have no interest in marriage?
“Do you…belong to someone?” he asks.
“I’ve been seeing a few men, but I’m not sure they’re going to work out.”
“Why not?”
Where do I even begin? “One is a liar and the other doesn’t seem very interested.”
“They are fools.”
Nothing like coming right out and saying it. “I think you might be right.” At least someone else agrees.
“I am. Any male would be lucky to have your attention.”
Heat climbs my throat, and I know I’m staring but how can I not? Does he really think that or is he just trying to make me feel less miserable?
Everett stands suddenly. “I must go.”
I scramble to my feet, still searching for my voice. He’s not even gone yet and already I feel lonely. “Will you come back tomorrow night?”
“Tomorrow is my shift to guard the bridge.”
Disappointment falls over me like a cool spring rain.
Until I realize that there is nothing to keep me from going to him. “Perhaps I will come to you then.”
“You should not be wandering alone at night.”
“I won’t be alone, Everett. I’ll be with you.”
22
“The grandest gestures often go unnoticed.”
Celeste Hanson Dawn, An Observation
All day I’ve been wound tighter than a spring, counting down the hours to nightfall. If Nia hadn’t been following me like a shadow since the moment we woke, I might’ve tried to sneak out and go to the well.
