In order for him to win his fair Unseelie’s heart, I need to figure out what other advice might help. Something I should probably be doing instead of sitting here guzzling wine.
Maybe I can do both.
I knock my foot against hers. “What did Everett do to win you over?”
Her face takes on the dreamy cast of a woman in love. I remember that look. Miss it.
“He paid attention to me. Brought me flowers. Listened when I spoke. Made me feel like the most interesting, most important woman in the world.”
Nolan used to do that. At first, anyway. Perhaps these are the things you lose when you’re with someone for so long. Like my parents. I imagine my father must’ve courted my mother when they first met. Now, they barely speak unless it’s to discuss dinner plans or what my mother would like planted in the garden.
I don’t want a relationship like that.
“Do you have paper and an ink pen handy?”
She sets her glass beside the wine bottle and skips over to the roll-top desk to retrieve the items I’ve requested, handing both to me with a flourish.
With a final fortifying gulp of wine, I abandon my glass in favor of creating a very important list.
“What are you writing?” Kerris’s lilac waves tickle my cheek when she peers over my shoulder to see.
For some reason, I don’t want to tell her the truth.
Maybe I’m trying to protect Maddox. Or maybe I’m hoping to avoid having to talk about the woman he’s in love with. She’s probably tall and beautiful and excellent at Unseelie things like . . . like killing animals and whatever else they do to pass the time in their villages.
The only thing I’ve ever killed was a potted plant my mother asked me to mind one summer while she visited a friend up north.
What other reason could I possibly have for creating this list? Something plausible. Something like… “I’ve decided to write a book on how to win another’s affection.” Not a complete lie. This book will one very specific reader.
“What a brilliant idea! Would you believe I was considering writing a book myself? Not about affection but about the Unseelie fae. The ones in print now are all preposterous.”
Like the book she used to keep on her bedside table when she was living in our house. Every time I came to her room, she would be poring over the thing. “Will there be pictures?”
Her face turns scarlet. “Oh, you! Be good!”
Says the woman teasing me about removing an Unseelie’s clothes.
I have no desire to see Maddox Finch disrobed.
Although, I imagine he’s quite?—
No. I mustn’t let my mind wander in that direction.
More wine should help with that.
I swallow another sip and try to recall the things Nolan did that made me fall in love with him, only to promptly throw out the idea. What Nolan and I had didn’t last, so why would I base anything off our relationship?
Instead, I write what I wish he would have done. The small things we lost or never got quite right. Meanwhile, Kerris gives me a list of entirely unhelpful suggestions, fueled by wine and giddiness.
She squeals and slaps my arm. “He should have large hands! Make sure you write that one down. Why aren’t you writing it?”
Because I’ve started a second list just for her. Biting back my smile, I swap pages and add, “Have large hands” beneath “Have sharp teeth.”
“What if he doesn’t have large hands?” That isn’t the sort of thing a person can change.
She taps her stained lips, considering my question with far more intensity than it deserves. “Then he should wear large gloves!” She collapses onto the mattress, overcome with giggles.
I suppose an absurd question deserves an absurd answer. “My queen, I do believe you are drunk.”
