Lachlan gave me a suspicious stare but said not a word.
Theodore and Halla slowed to take in a wide, gurgling fountain at the center of the garden, and we had no choice but to follow suit. The water danced and sluiced over the sculpted muscles and splayed wings of three stoic Sirens. Light glittered through its spray, through the drips that fell from the tips of their elbows and feathers.
Halla looked on it in wonder and, slowly, she made her way toward me. “Lady Nel, did you grow up here? What a childhood it must have been. This place is like something from a storybook.”
Theodore and Lachlan stood by, tense and silent, waiting for my answer.
“Oh no, Your Highness.” My mouth opened and shut as I searched for a suitable answer. “I… I grew up in the north.”
The princess nodded. “I expect the north here is not as cold as the north that I am used to.”
I knew little of Varya’s north but was certain there were no ice-laden valleys there. “Much warmer,” I said through a reluctant smile. The princess was perfectly lovely. She and Theodore seemed well matched. A pang shot through me, beneath my ribs.
“I do hope you’re feeling better,” she said, voice melodic and light. “It was a long while to be in a chair in that room.”
“It was,” I agreed. “Your marriage contracts are rather thorough. Have you always been so detailed in your planning, Your Highness?”
“Oh, that’s all my mother.” A faraway look filled Halla’s blue eyes. She dipped her fingers into the fountain’s rippling water, flicked the droplets from the tips. “She’s a plotter through and through.”
“She seems to have thought of everything.” I sounded worn, creeping toward annoyance. I forced a wider smile and hoped it was a convincing mask.
“She certainly has.” Halla lowered herself to sit on the edge. She spoke quieter, a strand of emotion running through her voice. “I’m sure you won’t understand, but it’s rather a shock. To leave one’s home and come to a new one. Where nothing is familiar and there are no friends or sights or smells that you know. I’m grateful my mother—and His Majesty—have taken my comfort into such consideration.”
She gave Theodore a grateful look and he inclined his head in a regal bow. The swell of hurt I felt then did not come from the bond. It was true envy.
“Lady Nel, what can you tell me of the king?” She leaned in as if conspiring, but she never met my eye. Her gaze remained on Theodore, lashes fluttering, smile bright.Bloody fucking Gods.She was flirting. “I suspect you know him better than most, having grown up together as cousins.”
I swiped my brow, laughed uncomfortably. “His Majesty and I were hardly close.”
“I can’t believe that. He chose to bring you to meet me. He must care for you, don’t you, Your Majesty?”
Theodore looked to his shining boots. “Of course.”
“See.” Halla stirred the air with her hand, coaxing me on. “Tell me all you know.”
Lachlan scratched at his neck, his eyes round with a look that seemed to sayGood luck.
Buying time to think, I lowered myself onto the fountain’s edge and peered up at Theodore. “Only nice things?”
The question seemed to catch him off guard. He smiled, almost nervously. It was full and dimpled and white, and a jolt of admiration rocked through me. “If you wouldn’t mind.”
A deep breath, a slow exhale, and I met Halla’s gaze. “He’s very rich.” She laughed like I’d made a joke. “And…” I thought and thought and what came was the memory of his guiding hand at my back, his fingers at my chin, his handkerchief brushing over my wet cheeks. “He’s very observant. And caring, when he chooses to be.”
My gaze moved to Theodore of its own accord. To the even, but suddenly warm, look that had begun to fill his eyes. His arms were clasped behind his back and the sun accentuated the striking lines of his face and I felt so compelled to speak that I could not stop myself.
“He’s gentle,” I blurted, eyes locked with his. “And when you feel like you’ve been whipped and thrown, if you let him, he will be an anchor.”
I broke our gaze and the four of us fell silent, listening to birdsong, and trickling water, and I felt quickly overwarm. I offered Halla a shrug. “That’s all I’ve got for you.”
“That’s quite a lot,” she said, with a smile in her eyes. “Thank you.”
From somewhere behind the tall blooms, Eftan shuffled over the gravel and stopped in our midst. “The empress has requested we resume work on the contracts. She awaits you inside, Your Majesty.”
Theodore nodded, and all of them started back toward thepalace. I remained seated on the edge of the fountain, stomach sunk and twisting. Theodore stopped. “Lady Nel, shall we?”
“No, Your Majesty.” I straightened under his scrutinizing stare. “I don’t think I shall.”
Those eyes widened almost imperceptibly. “Go on ahead,” he said to Lachlan and Halla. They left us, Lachlan with tight shoulders and Halla looking wholly unbothered, beside the fountain.
