Page 49 of This Is Not True Love’s Kiss

“No,” he said again, the vein above his temple bulging. He tugged me back down next to him. “I’m sick of this, Aoife. You’re my wife, and I know nothing about you. I didn’t even know you’d been sleeping in a closet for two years, and now that I do know, you won’t tell me why.” He let out a frustrated breath. “I’m not trying to get information out of you so I can destroy you. I just want to know you. I want you to feel safe coming to me with information. We might not be lovers, but the last few days have proven that we are capable of being in the same room, of talking, without having an argument.”

“We’re arguing right now,” I said drily, even though his words surprised me. Or maybe it wasn’t the words themselves, but the sincerity behind them.

“If I tell you, will you leave?” I asked, and his face broke into a smile.

“Yes, Aoife, I’ll leave.”

I swallowed, my throat thick and my hands clammy. I wasn’t sure why I was so nervous all of a sudden. Maybe because I wasn’t used to telling Lor anything about myself or my past. Maybe because he was staring at me so intensely, I felt the burn of it. Or maybe because I rarely opened up to anyone. “When I was a slave,” I began, “we were forced to sleep in barracks together. One large room full of pallets.”

His gaze softened, and I hated the pity in it, not wanting to appear weak in his eyes because of this admission.

“We got used to sleeping together. I got used to it. And eventually, many of us chose to move outside on the castle grounds. We used our bedding and sticks to create tents, and we’d sleep in the tents with the families we’d formed. Lovers, siblings, or just best friends. It wasn’t sexual,” I said. “It was about community, closeness, all of us going to sleep hearing someone else’s breathing, knowing your loved one was safe and right next to you.”

“I didn’t know,” he said. “None of the Fair Folk sleep in that kind of arrangement anymore.”

“I know.” The words came out as a growl. “A lot changed while I was a statue, it seems. My people have forgotten many of our ways over the last two thousand years.”

“But you haven’t,” he said, the words quiet, almost like they weren’t meant for my ears.

“Well, we’re even now,” I said before he could ask any other questions. “I saved your life and you helped me in a bad situation.”

He snorted. “I hardly think we’re even. But I do think that we’re getting along. That’s something.”

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t get used to it.”

He smiled, lines forming around his mouth. All these little things I’d never noticed about him before, that I’d never been close enough to notice. “Too late. I already am getting used to it, and I think maybe I’m finally starting to understand you.”

“From one little story?” I asked, feeling so bare in front of him. I crossed my arms. “I don’t think so.”

“Your Majesty,” a voice called from the hallway. Margaret. I’d refused to let her have a painting in my room, but I did concede to her having one in the hallway where I could still hear her should she need me for something.

“Yes,” we both yelled, and I shot Lor a withering glare. Now the biggest gossip in the castle would know Lor had spent the night in my room.

“We’re husband and wife, Aoife,” Lor said like he could read my mind. “It’s hardly scandalous that we’re sleeping together.”

His words sent a strange thrill through me, but I shoved it away.

“Yes, Margaret?” I asked. “You may speak plainly.”

“Y-yes, of course. I just wasn’t expecting . . . well, anyway, I’m glad you’re both here. That makes this easier.”

“Makes what easier?” Lor asked, his tone impatient, and for once, I didn’t mind it.

I wanted to know what was happening too.

“Ronan is gone. He escaped early this morning.”

An icy dread filled me. No. No no no no.

“Thank you, Margaret,” Lor said, voice stiff, and I looked at him, everything else forgotten as I took hold of his shoulders.

“We have to go after him.”

“No we don’t,” he said. “It’s too risky.”

“He’s going to find the brotherhood and tell them exactly where we are.”

Lor scrubbed a hand down his face. “I know, I know. I just don’t want to do anything rash. If we go after him, it could be a trap. The brotherhood could already be waiting for us.”