River shook his head, disbelief darkening his features. ‘I’ve been there, and I’ve seen your potential.’
‘Been where exactly?’ Emily chimed in from beneath the tree, smirking suggestively.
Heat spread down my neck, and he didn’t miss a beat, shooting her a vicious glare. ‘Not wherever your mind has wandered off to, clearly. Don’t you have a shop to run?’
I rolled my eyes and let the embers flicker out.
Emily let out a low chuckle. ‘All taken care of by my sister. There’s nothing I’d rather do than watch you two bicker.’
‘Hey, it’s you two bickering!’ I shot back, looking between them. They either knew each other long enough to be fully themselves or simply enjoyed annoying one another.
‘For now,’ she said, already going back to her book, some kind of novel.
Ever since Isla met my dragon, she couldn’t stop talking about it, even begging her mother to have a mural painted on her bedroom wall. I suspected Emily wanted to strengthen that connection, and, secretly, I hoped for the same.
I never had many female friends, and the idea of having one—especially someone like her—felt strangely precious.
‘It should feel like you’re letting go,’ Emily shouted from the side. ‘Like when you’re drunk and lose all your inhibitions.’
That didn’t help much.
‘I don’t get drunk,’ I muttered, glancing at the sky, silently praying for strength and patience.
‘Yeah, and I don’t read,’ Emily murmured, flipping a page.
‘It’s hardly reading when it’s all smut,’ River barked, then turned to me. A little gentler, he added, ‘You don’t drink either? No meat, no alcohol… no wonder you’re uptight.’
What did he just say?
‘Uptight? I am not uptight. I’m in harmony with my deeper self.’ I glared at him with enough effort to risk bursting a vein, just to make a point.
Emily snorted without looking up. ‘Your deeper selfsounds exhausting.’
River smirked. ‘Ask your deeper self to push some fire out because I’m starting to go grey here.’
‘What’s your suggestion then? I get hammered and lose my inhibitions?’ My voice rose an octave as I threw the words in their general direction, making them flinch.
‘Stop threatening me with a good time,’ Emily teased. ‘Like River would ever let you do that.’
He shot her a cold look, eyeing her like an opponent. Watching them, I couldn’t help wondering why he tolerated it. As a king, his powers far outweighed hers, yet he allowed such defiance. Maybe it was a soft spot for family, or maybe he just didn’t care. He never punished me for screaming at him after our first training session either.
‘I’ll make sure there’s a guard stationed by the wine at the banquet,’ River said dryly, gesturing for me to try again.
I ignored him. ‘What banquet?’
‘No,’ Emily snapped her book shut. ‘You haven’t told her? Maddie’s right; you’ve got no understanding of women whatsoever.’
‘There’s a banquet?’ I repeated, slower this time.
‘Yes. Three days from now. Independence Day.’ River ran a hand down his face, already exhausted. ‘A good chance to meet the Fogoyan Council. Not to get hammered.’
‘What am I supposed to wear?’ My voice climbed even higher. I wished it was just the clothes that worried me and not my crippling social anxiety.
‘My point exactly,’ Emily called from her shadowed corner.
River rolled his eyes. ‘Don’t you own a shop full of dresses? And didn’t you already stock her wardrobe?’
‘It’s a good thing you’ve got the looks, River,’ she muttered. ‘I’ll take her there after… whatever this is finishes.’ She waved vaguely between us.
