Larkspur
Aunt El had left an hour prior, and I’d busied myself in the paddock combing through Sparkles’ mane. The old pony grew more surly by the year—she bit me twice.
When I returned to the parlor, the King had dressed in a freshly pressed tunic and a dark blue jacket with gold seams. He’d tamed his hair and shaved. Now he looked far less mussed than how I’d found him with Aunt El this afternoon.
I smirked at the thought of Aunt El inevitably denying anything had transpired. It took none of my Reverist abilities to see she held affection for the North Corridor King; he was even more obvious.
“Ready, King Mattock?” I asked.
“Emmerick,” he corrected. “If you don’t mind the informality. The last time I was King Mattock, it landed me in twenty cursed years of sleep.”
I huffed a laugh. “My mother would be proud—she said you used to be very strict with courtly manners and titles.”
He rolled his shoulders back; his discomfort filled the room. “I used to be a lot of things,” he mused. “But yes, I’m ready when you are, Princess.”
I supposed the informality would be one-sided, then.
He collected a plain iron dagger and stuck it in his boot.
“Algarnd isn’t a great distance. I should be able to Shadow us both without issue, but you’ll need to hold on to me.” I extended my dominant hand on impulse, and his eye caught on the shining gold adorning my finger. By the bittersweet indecision coursing through the air, I knew he’d noticed.
His jaw tensed, and he looked conflicted about what to say. “Is that news?” He nodded down at the ring.
I let the metal catch the afternoon sunlight. After a hard swallow, I said, “Not news anyone has heard yet,” I admitted.
After a lengthy pause, he asked, “May I give you my two coins?” His brow pinched with concern. Sources, he looked so much like Dritan when he did that—I wanted to spill all our unspoken secrets.
“Certainly. So long as it won’t offend you if I choose not to spend them,” I answered and braced for his reprimand.
I refused to be made to feel foolish for marrying his son.
Dritan had won my love over the course of nearly a decade. With or without anyone’s approval, he was eternally mine.
Emmerick’s lips turned up at the sides. “I know your mother. Better than most, save for your father.Thisis not how you want her to hear such an exciting announcement. Word travels fast from Corridor to Corridor. She’ll lose her temper and say things she doesn’t mean—you might too.”
I crossed my arms. “What would you have me do, then?”
He shook his head. “Put the ring away—for now. Your mother deserves an explanation that doesn’t come on the winds of rumor. And your aunt doesn’t deserve to be shocked by you flaunting a wedding band while we speak with a tenuous ally.”
I straightened. Who was he to tell me to mask my love for the benefit of others’ emotions? “I willnothide him. I won’t be ashamed,” I argued as my cheeks heated with anger.
The King didn’t match my intensity. “Yet he is not here by your side,” he said, and despite the dig, his expression softened.
Dritan had headed back to Helos this morning to continue his apprenticeship. With great effort, I’d parted from him in the dark before dawn.
I retorted, “He will be. When he is ready.” I wouldn’t force my husband to meet his father.
Emmerick glanced around as though toiling with some trinket in the parlor might ease his concern. “I’m not telling you to be ashamed. Quite the opposite. I appreciate your loyalty. I do—truly.”
“It’s everything I once wished to hear from your mother at that age.”His thought slipped into my head, and my arms fell to my sides.
My heart pounded because we were dangerously close to the truth. It wasn’t a lost fact that he’d once cared for Mama—Aunt El had told me—but I hadn’t realized the depth of his devotion; resentment still lingered. It stunned me silent.
“He’s kind to you?” he surprised me by asking.
My lips tugged up, and I nodded.
“You love one another?”
