A giant smile split my face. “You’re speaking!”
Misty sat up and I gathered her into my arms, squeezing her to my chest. I knew she hated tight hugs, but she didn’t move away.
To be fair, I have always spoken. You just didn’t understand me,Misty meowed, squirming away after a full minute.Everything worked out, then?
“Yes.” I wiped away the moisture in my eyes. “Yes, it did. I love you.”
I love you too, darling,Misty said. She nuzzled my cheek, whiskers tickling my nose.
“We’re going home today,” I said, tilting my head up to keep the tears in. They were happy tears, but my eyes still ached.
Pippin stirred from the noise, yawning and stretching his paws.Home?he meowed.
“Back to Delibera,” I said. “You’re going to live in the palace, Pippin.”
The tabby cat blinked.Am I?He stood, his fur ruffled and his brow lowered.Would I even be welcome?
“Of course. You’re Bennett’s cat.” I reached over for him, but he evaded me. I raised my brows. He never refused a good petting. “What’s wrong?”
Bennett abandoned me,Pippin meowed.I’m his cat but he abandoned me. Vulgar way to treat a stray, don’t you think?
“Oh, Pippin,” I said, sitting on the mattress. “He didn’t have a choice. His father—”
Of course he had a choice, he said, turning up his nose.He made a choice to adopt me regardless of his father. He could have taken me with him this week, or he could have stayed. He just didn’t want to.
I didn’t think explaining royal obligation to a stray would be productive, so I changed the subject, telling the cats that their breakfast was ready in the courtyard.
Lady Ruan saw us off, waving from the steps of the opera house. I suspected she was glad to be rid of us after we destroyed her suspension wires and arrested her star soprano.
Celeste and Dominic were in a separate carriage, being watched by Maddox. I hoped they would be well-behaved prisoners for the length of the trip.
Misty put a paw on my hand as the carriage rolled off, rattling down the dreary cobblestone streets.Pippin is right, you know, she meowed, blinking up from my lap.
She felt heavier. I shifted in my seat to redistribute her weight. Pippin had fallen back asleep against my thigh, oblivious to our conversation.
“Misty...”
Bennett always had a choice. He chose to love you in spite of the king.
“I don’t know if love is a choice, Misty.” I turned to the window, my breath fogging up the glass. “And he’s the crown prince. It has always been more than just me and him.”
Bennett had forgotten his title when he was with me. But the people of Olderea came first. He had a duty to them and to their king. I thought back to Ferdinand and Gio and all the others who greeted me at the opera house.
If Bennett left me for their sakes, I found that easier to swallow.
I sighed. Why did it matter now? He was going to spend the next year without me. By the end of it he would have reverted back to his old self, silent and unmoving. Pretending like nothing had happened. Would I do the same?
Don’t tell me we’re going to spend the next year miserable and locked in your room again.Misty nudged my hand.
“We won’t,” I assured her. “We can take more walks.”
You’re not listening to me. You need to be with him.
I looked at her, surprised at the urgency of her tone. “Misty, I’ll have you and Maddox and Lady Vanessa and Father. We will be fine.”
No. You’ll be miserable. And he will be miserable.
“But King Maximus said—”
