Page 71 of This Is Not True Love’s Kiss

I scrubbed a hand down my face. “He suggested I tutor Aoife⁠—”

“That’s a brilliant idea,” Niamh said, a little too enthusiastically.

Aoife must’ve noticed as well because her gaze narrowed in the librarian’s direction.

“You know, I actually am feeling a little tired. I was going to close the library early, so you two can have it all to yourselves.” She grabbed her belly, attempting to stand.

I moved to help her, but she waved me off and braced a hand on the table, managing to get to her feet. “No, no, no. You sit,” she said, voice firm in a way I wasn’t used to from this sunshiney woman.

Morton fluttered to her shoulder as she started walking away.

“We’re not doing this,” Aoife called, and Niamh whirled to face her.

“With all due respect, Your Majesty, these lessons are simply too important for you to miss even one. And Lor is an excellent instructor.” She shifted her gaze meaningfully toward me.

I was about to tell Niamh I’d never tutored anyone in my life when it dawned on me that they were all scheming together.

Castle, Niamh, Morton—probably Margaret, and who knew who else. They wanted to get me and Aoife alone together, and I had to admit that I didn’t entirely hate the idea of spending time with my wife.

Other than official meetings and royal business, I hadn’t seen her since a few nights ago when she’d woken me up and taken me to that watchtower. She’d seemed aloof, and I’d been so busy I hadn’t had time to miss her. But now that I stood here in front of her, the last thing I wanted to do was go to a border inspection. I wanted to stay here with her, and if that meant I had to tutor her to make it happen, then I’d gladly do it.

“Yes.” I cleared my throat, and Aoife’s gaze swung from Niamh to me. “I am a very good tutor, and I’m not doing anything right now. I’m happy to help.”

“I thought you were inspecting the border,” Aoife said. “Meera told me that she let you know I couldn’t come since it was during my session.”

I gave a simple shrug. “I can inspect the border later. This seems more important.”

“It does, doesn’t it?” Niamh said. “So glad we’re all on the same page. We’re going to go now. I need to . . . relieve myself.”

Morton raised his tail in the air. “Just remember the library is strictly for reading!”

Niamh shushed him as they disappeared through the bookshelves, and the doors to the library clicked closed.

“You know this is another one of their schemes?” Aoife asked.

“I know.” I leaned forward, placing my elbows on the table and nodding toward the open book in front of Aoife. “So what are you reading about today?”

She swallowed, her eyes shifting back and forth like she was suddenly nervous. Or feeling shy, maybe? Making this fierce warrior woman feel shy filled was a new high, one that I could become addicted to.

“We’re working on higher level texts now. Morton wanted me to give him a list of topics I might be interested in reading about, so I did. Only he couldn’t find a single book related to anything I asked for.”

My brows furrowed. “Like what?”

She slumped back in her seat. “All things related to the Fair Folk. We never had our own books since none of us were allowed to read or write. I’d hoped maybe someone had written about us in the two thousand years I was turned to stone, but hardly anyone has. The only books written about the Fair Folk are children’s stories, myths that aren’t even accurate. Our entire history has been erased.”

“That’s not true,” I said. “Just the other day at the gardening event, a few of the Fair Folk regaled me with a tale about Fairtine.”

Her mouth parted. “They told you about our festival?”

I nodded, loving the way she straightened, her whole face lighting up at the mention of it. “They told me it was a yearly festival that all the Fair Folk attended, coming together in secret and celebrating with food, dance, music, even language that the Fair Folk created.”

Her eyes turned glassy. “They told you all that?”

“They did,” I said. “So your culture isn’t lost, Aoife. Not even the slightest. But we do need to get better about celebrating it, preserving it.” I arched my neck to try and look at her book. “So if you aren’t reading about the Fair Folk, then what are you reading about?” I asked.

Aoife’s smile turned mischievous and she tucked a strand of hair behind her pointed ear. “Morton expected me to choose some boring old text, but I decided it would be fun to watch the bookwyrm squirm a little, so I asked Niamh to recommend a more fun book to read together.”

I lifted a brow, not sure what she meant.