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I felt awkward then, uncomfortable, as I waited for Beric to respond. For a moment, he just looked at me.

Finally, he said, “How did your father lose so much money, if your uncle gained while investing in the same establishment?”

My words faltered. “I-I never considered that. But it doesn’t make sense, thinking of it now.”

“It makes perfect sense to me, knowing your cousin.”

I gaped at him. “You don’t think my uncle knowingly withheld my father’s share of the earnings?”

“It sounds exactly like something that family would do. Like father, like daughter.”

“My God…” I paced in circles around Beric, my mind mulling it over. “I hardly know what to make of this.”

“That your uncle swindled your father,” said Beric, taking hold of my waist to stop my anxious pacing. “Just as your cousin blackmailed you.”

Suddenly I felt ashamed. “Well, I knew the second bit.”

“Next time something troubles you, tell me sooner, so I can deal with it.”

“Wait.” I raised my brows at him. “So you … you really don’t care that my family name is tarnished?”

“From what it sounds like, your father was a good man who trusted the wrong person. There’s no crime in that.”

I felt like crying. “But it’s been so long. Who would even believe the truth, at this point?”

Beric cradled my face in his hand, and I held it there. “I’ve been making things disappear for the sake of the crown for a decade. It would take no work at all to do the same, and more, for the girl I love.”

My heart fluttered so violently then, and I thought I might faint. “You love me, Beric?”

Beric blushed, looking away. “It’s too soon to feel that way, I know.”

“Too soon for whom?” I reached up to wrap my arms around his neck, my feet leaving the ground as he hugged me around the waist. “I’ve been dreaming my whole life of someone like you. Someone who protects me, thinks of me first. I can’t think of anything more romantic than to marry a brave boy with a sword.”

“You’re already married to the king,” he said, quietly, lowering my feet to the ground.

“Kat said that doesn’t matter. And if the king can’t marry me in the Biblical fashion, perhaps it is just all ceremony, after all.” I looked up into his face, anxiety twisting at my stomach. “Does it … does it matter to you?”

He stroked my cheek, and I thought my heart might explode into butterflies as he leaned down and kissed me. My soul filled with music, the harmony of his blending perfectly with mine.

“Beric!”

Faline’s voice traveled through the hedgerow, cutting our kiss short. I muted a laugh. It was so wonderfully ridiculous, that I should have a coveted position with the king, women who cared for me so diligently, and a boy who loved me. Me, of all people on this earth. Despite what everyone had thought of my family.

“We ought to humor her, and come out of hiding,” I said, grinning. “Else she might think we’ve been up to no good.”

“Knowing Faline, she’ll think that, regardless. But she’s right—we’d agreed to meet in ten minutes, and we’re running late.” He grinned down at me. “Next time you want to sneak away and sing to the sparrows, tell one of us.”

“That defeats the purpose of sneaking, I think.” I giggled as he raised a brow at me. “I won’t ever leave you again, I promise.”

“Good.” He laced his fingers with mine, and no gesture could have been more perfect. “Come, my lady. We wouldn’t want you to miss your very first royal picnic.”

CHAPTER28BERIC

The party continued without any more hiccups. It was strange how pleasant it all was. Strange, because the weather held all afternoon. Stranger still, because the king stayed all afternoon. Everyone danced and ate and played games until the sun was just beginning to drop to early evening.

I’d had so much work to do today … and it had barely crossed my mind.

Not when I could spend the entire day with Cali.