Page 77 of This Is Not True Love’s Kiss

I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Why do you think he doesn’t like people bowing to him?” I asked.

Sadness shone in her eyes. “I don’t think he believes that he’s worthy of that kind of respect. He is, of course. He’s the most selfless man I know.”

“And why do you think I don’t like it?” I asked, curious now.

She tilted her head, studying me, her eyes a different color than Lor’s, but she had that same assessing gaze. “I think it makes you sad. I don’t know why, but it does.”

“Mother, are you ever going to let Her Majesty come in?” a deep voice said, and Karina put her hands to her cheeks.

“Oh my goodness. Here you are standing in the doorway, and I’m just talking your ear off.”

She stepped aside, and there stood Lor, his scruff slightly grown from when I saw him just a day ago, more grey peeking through the brown that made him look so distinguished. Instead of the leather trousers and tunic he normally donned, today he wore soft brown trousers and a deep blue tunic with a V-cut that showed his muscled chest.

“You look lovely,” he said, his gaze devouring me.

I swallowed thickly, suddenly back in that closet with Lor standing in front of me with that exact same look in his eyes.

“Thank you,” I said, quickly looking away.

“She does look stunning, doesn’t she?” Ceri appeared at my side, gesturing to the dress, and I realized it was the same color as Lor’s tunic.

“I love that deep blue on you,” Ceri murmured.

“Did you make this Ceri?” Karina asked, beaming at the dressmaker.

“I did! I convinced Aoife on our last wine and cheese night to let me get her measurements for a few new dresses.”

“Then we all have you to thank,” Lor said. “For giving us something to feast our eyes upon.”

Karina and Ceri shared a look that I couldn’t quite decipher, but I quickly met Lor’s gaze, his dark eyes so entranced, so hard to tear my eyes away from.

“Well, dinner will be served soon.” Karina bustled toward the kitchen, where Lor’s father, Nevan, and Cillian all gathered, in various stages of chopping, sautéing, and mixing.

Cillian glanced up. “Yes, but it would be done sooner if the king actually helped. You know when I was high prince, I still had to cook and clean any time I came to Mother’s house.”

Nevan elbowed his brother, his glasses fogging with the steam rising from the pot in front of him.

“He was insistent that we make all this food for Her Majesty, yet he’s helped very little for someone who so badly wanted all these Fair Folk foods.”

Karina bustled toward the kitchen. “Oh, hush, you. He’s helped plenty, and besides, I believe he has other things to attend to.” She nudged her head not so subtly toward me.

“You didn’t have to go through all this trouble,” I said. “I haven’t tasted any of these dishes in thousands of years. I would’ve been happy to eat whatever I was served.”

“Lor came to the library, and we researched Fair Folk recipes,” Niamh said from the couch, where she sat with Enid and Ceri’s father, Mr. Morgane. “But we had trouble finding anything, so we went to our resident godwitch.” She pointed at Enid, who made a face.

I hadn’t spoken much with Enid over the last two years. I knew she’d given up her immortality, was no longer a godwitch, no longer had magic, but I couldn’t help but be wary of her nevertheless. Enid hated the godwiches as much as I did, but she’d still been one of them.

“It was nothing.” She waved her hand in the air. “I dined with many of the Fair Folk in my time, and I remembered quite a lot of their dishes. So I went and asked a few of them if they remembered the recipes.”

My eyes widened. “And they did?”

She nodded. “You’d be surprised how much the Fair Folk remember of their time. Many of them hadn’t made these recipes in years, but they still knew them by heart. I wrote down as many as I could and passed them along to His Majesty.”

My gaze swiveled toward Lor, who was still staring at me. I wondered if he’d looked away for a single second while I’d been talking to his family.

He approached me. “Are you angry with me?” he asked in a low voice that sent a shiver down my spine.

I arched a brow. “You mean because you tricked me into coming to your family dinner?”