River’s expression darkened. Daddy?
The little girl’s hair was her mother’s deep midnight, but her amber eyes… they were his.
‘Hi, I’m Ava,’ I said to the smiling woman sitting nearby. Isla danced in circles around us.
‘We’ve already met, sugar,’ Michael teased. ‘Or has he worked you so hard you’ve forgotten?’
Heat crept up my neck.
‘Oh, behave,’ the woman said, swatting him. ‘We haven’t been properly introduced.’
River shifted beside me, an unfamiliar tension settling into his posture. ‘This is Avari, Princess ofOrtensia.’
That man needed to make up his damn mind about his attitude towards my title.
‘And I’m Emily,’ she said warmly. ‘That little whirlwind is my daughter.’
‘She has your beautiful hair, but the rest is all her dad,’ I said politely.
The air froze.
‘When did you meet her father?’ River demanded, his expression hardening as every trace of light-heartedness vanished.
I blinked. ‘Aren’t you her father?’
Michael's laughter shattered the silence as he threw himself backwards, his back hitting the ground with a thud. ‘Two and two don't always make four, Ava, dearest. But I can see how you reached that conclusion.’
‘What’s he talking about?’ Emily asked, looking between us in confusion.
Flustered, I said, ‘Well, he told me you were mated to his brother, so I just assumed—’
‘Ew,’ they both said.
Right.
Not his mate then.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Avari
‘How do you like being a princess, Ava?’ the youngest fire royal asked eagerly, eyes wide with curiosity as our conversation slowly turned into an interview. ‘Do you attend balls often?’
The brief encounter with the spirited girl deepened my awareness of how differently we experienced the title. I remembered no flowing dresses or birthday parties, only the weight of expectation and lessons in restraint. But seeing that not everyone was burdened by such things, especially this bright girl, warmed me. Fogoya had one up on Ortensia in that regard. I’d lost count of how many aspects my own kingdom lacked that weren’t a problem here.
Before I could answer, I caught River’s solemn stare and ignored it. Pity wasn’t something I wanted or needed.
‘Not exactly, Isla.’ She was too young to understand my situation. ‘It would tear me away from my dragon too often.’
I hoped that mentioning Anya would shift her focus, and as her eyes widened even more, I knew it had worked.
‘Can I meet your dragon?’ she pleaded. ‘Or will she eat me?’
Was that a reference to that ridiculous legend about crazed dragons?
‘I promise I won’t let her eat you, though I can’t say the same about your horses,’ I joked, though the warning wasn’t entirely false.
Laughter rippled through the group. Watching a family enjoy each other’s company hit a sore spot buried deep inside me, but I was glad for them.
