“Yes.”
“What about Charday?”
“Charday is a woman in my past. I saw no reason to talk about a former lover with my wife. Speaking of which, I’ve left her alone too long. Let’s join the women.”
Falkor pulled a face.
“What is your problem with the sister?” Jaryk asked.
“She goes out of her way to annoy me.”
“And you haven’t been doing the same to her?”
“I’ve been my normal charming self.”
“You’d have to develop some charm first.”
Falkor palmed his chest. “You wound me, Brother.”
“You should be nicer to her. She’s family.”
“Is that an order, Your Highness?” He arched a brow.
As future king, Jaryk outranked his younger brother, but he’d never used his position to order him around. “A suggestion. You could take her to some of your charitable events and appearances.”
“I’d sooner stab myself in the heart.”
“You want to know what I think?”
“No, but you’re going to tell me anyway.”
“You protest too much. Your problem isn’t that she bugs you, but that she won’t give you the time of day. Probably you did try to charm her; you failed, and now your inflated ego is wounded.”
“I think you need to become a whole lot wiser before you become king.” Falkor stalked off.
Jaryk followed him into the library and loaded the game into the console. Falkor flopped into an armchair.
“Everything okay?” Kismet whispered after he joined her on a settee.
“Fine.”
“Falkor doesn’t look happy.”
“I told him to be nicer to your sister.” He glanced at Karma seated on an adjacent settee. It suddenly struck him as odd that the two sisters weren’t seated together. “Everything okay between you two?”
“She gave me an earful on Falkor’s faults. I finally told her I didn’t want to hear any more. She’s sulking.”
So was Falkor. “Maybe this game will help. My brother is very competitive. The game involves teams. You and me against the two of them.”
“Maybe they’ll unite against a common opponent?”
“That’s the hope,” he said.
* * * *
“Thank the Gods of Kaldor they’re gone!” Jaryk exclaimed after their guests had left, and they retired to their bedchamber.
Kismet giggled. “Tell me again why we invited both of them to dinner at the same time?” Their siblings had bickered throughout the entire game—yet still managed to win.
