Thirty-Eight
Lessia stared up at the ceiling for what felt like hours until a soft knock interrupted her thoughts.
She didn’t bother responding, but Merrick opened the door between their rooms anyway.
Keeping her gaze on the wooden beams, she said, “I’m not going.”
She’d had enough of name-calling and cruel glares for the day.
She didn’t need to endure a whole night of it as well.
“I didn’t think you’d break that easily.”
Merrick walked up and, to her surprise, sat down on the edge of the bed. His large frame shifted the mattress, so she nearly rolled into him, and Lessia braced herself with her hands against the soft bedding.
“They don’t want me there, and I don’t believe it’s actually mandatory for the election, so what does it matter if I stay here.”
She almost wished she would cry then, shed at least onetear to relieve the lump that seemed to have taken up a permanent position in her throat.
Merrick tapped his fingers against his knee. “Don’t let them win, Lessia. You have every right to be there.”
She shot up, staring at the side of his head, at the silvery lashes dancing across his high cheekbones. “Do I? I am literally here to spy on them, Merrick. Theyshouldbe outraged with me. I’m a traitor. They wouldn’t just call me names if they found out. They’d execute me. And who could blame them?”
When he tensed, she realized what she’d just done.
She’d just told the king’s right-hand man that she considered herself a traitor to Ellow.
That she considered this her home enough to feel guilty.
If he told the king, Rioner wouldn’t stop at the loose instructions he’d given her when she saw him last. He’d give her detailed instructions for how to spy, what to ask, how to ask for it.
But Merrick didn’t storm out to immediately send a message to the king.
Instead, he sighed and leaned his elbows on his knees, resting his head in his hands.
“You don’t need to feel guilty, Lessia. You’re only doing this because you are loyal to your real king, isn’t that right?”
When she remained quiet, he asked again, “Isn’t that right?”
Lessia nodded but realized he couldn’t see her movement from the way he was facing, so she got out a croaked “Yes.”
“Good. I’ll send the king an update that while you won’t be the next regent, you’re doing everything you can to find out information. You are,aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
At least everything she could while keeping Ellow and her friends safe.
Merrick lifted his head from his hands and nodded. “Now, put on whatever nice thing you have in that closet, and let’s go down. I don’t believe some crude humans can break you, not after everything you’ve been through.”
“Will you come with me?”
She didn’t know who was most surprised, herself, at the words that left her mouth, or Merrick, whose brows flew up so high they almost reached his hairline.
He rose from the bed, offering her his hand.
“I’ll wait outside your door.”
She let him drag her upright, and her eyes tracked his broad back as he left her room.
