Page 40 of This Is Not True Love’s Kiss

“Oh godwitches.” Marsten covered his face with his hands. “We got the queen drunk. His Majesty is going to be furious.”

That only made me laugh harder. “His Majesty is busy playing cards with his brothers.” And my former lover. “You said so yourself. He won’t even know I’m here.”

“Won’t he notice when you don’t come back to your bed chamber?” Marsten raised a thick, perfectly manicured brow.

“We don’t sleep in the same bed chamber,” I said, horrified.

“I knew it!” Marsten shouted and stuck out his hand toward Ceri.

She harrumphed, then shoved her hand into the pocket of her dress and dropped a few gold coins in Marsten’s outstretched palm.

“You were betting on my sleeping arrangements with His Majesty?”

“Oh we bet on all kinds of things between you and the king,” Marsten said, and Ceri elbowed him in the ribs.

“Ow.” He rubbed the spot. “Everyone does.”

Ceri stomped on his foot.

“Will you stop that?” he said. “It’s true. You all are the talk of the town. Your relationship is a complete enigma. No one quite knows what to make of it.”

I gestured toward my advisor. “Why don’t you just ask Meera? She knows everything.”

“The cat?” Marsten asked. “She’s like a locked box. Can’t get a single good piece of gossip out of her.”

Meera lifted her head. “I don’t know the intimate details of their relationship.”

“There are no intimate details,” I said.

“So . . . no hate sex?” Marsten asked, sounding almost disappointed.

Ronan coughed, banging his chest while Ceri choked on her wine, and Meera scowled.

I burst out laughing again. “Absolutely not. Lor has no interest in any kind of physical relationship with me, which he’s reminded me of many times over. I think there’s someone from his past, maybe, that he’s hung up on.”

Leena. The name popped into my mind before I could stop it, exactly how Lor had said it, so tenderly.

I met Ronan’s gaze, and he gave a short nod. “There was,” he said. “Leena.”

The wine curdled in my stomach at the thought of this former lover who Lor probably wished was his wife instead of me.

“This is getting juicy,” Marsten said. “Who’s Leena?”

“A brotherhood member,” Ronan said, voice turning glum. “Probably a traitor rebel, just like Lor.”

“Lor is a king,” I said, “and you’re lucky he’s such a good man, otherwise, you’d have been dead long ago.” I wasn’t sure why I was defending Lor, why this man’s words made me so angry.

Everyone’s wide eyes turned on me. I didn’t want to talk about Lor anymore, didn’t want to think about him and this Leena.

“So what happened with you and Bick?” I asked Marsten.

“Brock,” Marsten corrected.

“Sure, Brock.” I fluttered my fingers in the air while Ronan stared stonily ahead. “What happened between the two of you?”

Ceri straightened. “Marsten thinks Brock is going to make him give up his hair and makeup business.”

“Ah, then him and Lor must have something in common.”