“See!” He sat up with such enthusiasm that the table shuddered beneath him and threatened to dump the dishes onto the floor. “That’s why I like you: because you use words like ‘dearth.’ I doubt my sisters even know what that word means.”
“You should get them a dictionary for their next birthday.”
He grimaced. “I did, last year. It’s gathering dust on a shelf somewhere. My point is, Willow, I met you at exactly the right time in my life. If it’d been a little later … I could have made a terrible mistake.”
“Do you mean the quest?” I asked, shifting in my seat to better face him. “Because I found an interesting—”
“No, not the quest.” He took the book from my hands and tossed it aside.
I’d never seen him mistreat a book before. I watched where it landed, face down, spine bent, then looked at him reproachfully. “That was a library book.”
Fitz scrambled to his feet to rescue the book from the floor. He smoothed out the pages, confirmed nothing was irreparable, then tossed it aside again. This time, it landed on a couch cushion, still closed. “I haven’t told youwhyI’m going on a quest yet, have I?”
I hadn’t asked, because I already knew the answer and I didn’t want him to question why I needed the knowledge. “I assumed it was for the excitement of adventure.”
“No. I mean, yes. I mean …” He took a deep breath and tried a different route, “I told you about my meeting with Prince Treasure. Actually, I wasn’t completely transparent with you. It’s a meeting with the royal children from all five kingdoms.”
I’d already known that, but I widened my eyes and tried to look duly impressed.
“We have to work together to renew the Kingdom Defense Spell protecting the Desolate Lands.”
I nodded along, waiting for him to reach the important part: inviting me to join them. He’d probably have to consult the others, but I’d been working toward this invitation for over a week. Even a hint that he wanted me to join his quest would be a success.
“The last few generations have done this through marriage alliances between the kingdoms.”
Yes, yes, I know all of this. Get to the point, would you?
“If I hadn’t met you when I did, I could have been engaged tomorrow.” He ran a hand through his hair, eyes wide as he considered that possibility.
That is never going to happen.I’d made sure of it once, and I’d make sure of it a thousand more times if I had to. Because his engagement also meant Treasure’s engagement, and I refused to lose him to something so mundane as marriage.
When Fitz removed his hand, the light brown strands stuck up in wild angles. He started pacing in front of me as he fell into a rant. “I have a question to ask you, and it’s important you give me your honest answer. Don’t tell me what I want to hear. I would rather a sharp, shattering truth than a soft lie.”
I tensed, anticipating the request:will you join our quest.
“Will you wait for me?”
The first two words were correct, but the last three came out all wrong. I stared at him, waiting for him to correct the question and try again.
He stared back, waiting for an answer.
“What?”
He knelt on one knee in front of my chair and grabbed my hand. I was so stunned by the wrong damn question coming out of his mouth that I didn’t try to pull away from him. “Will you wait for me? I know it’s not fair to ask. The quest will be dangerous, that’s why everyone before us has chosen the safer route of marriage. I could die, and leave you waiting forever, but I could alsolive. And I am willing to take that chance if it means being with you when I return.”
I yanked my hand from his grasp and tried to stand up, but he’d trapped me in the chair. On instinct, I teleported to the other side of him.
He gasped and his head swiveled around as he searched the space I’d disappeared from. “Willow? Are you alright? What happened?”
All that hard work befriending him, listening to him rattle on about Chosen Ones and defeating evil. Wasting energy teleporting between the lair and Misfortune every day. Spending hours withhimwhen all I wanted was to be with Treasure. And now Fitz had ripped away my plans and neatly shredded them with some forlorn, fake chivalrous ‘wait for me’bullshit. “I amnotalright.”
Fitz jumped at the sound of my voice and whirled around to face me. Because he was still on one knee, he twisted at an awkward angle and ended up on his butt on the ground. He gawked up at me, fishlike in his shock. “How did you do that?”
“Wait for you,” I sneered. “I do notwait, Iact. You should be asking me tojoinyour quest, not wait for you like some pining wife whose husband has gone off to war!”
His eyes widened with every word of my outburst. “You thought I was going to invite you on the quest?” As if I hadn’t just shouted at him, his expression softened into a mixture of pity and understanding. He pushed himself to his feet and took a tentative step toward me. “I would love for you to join our quest, Willow, but it’s royal champions only.”
“Did you even ask?” I demanded.
