I hate that Luke is hearing this, but he reaches out to pat my thigh.
“Maybe this is a good opportunity?” Luke suggests, already slowing his horse, as if to make the choice for me.
He’s right. It’s childish of me to avoid an unpleasant interaction. I’ve killed, I’ve spent weeks alone, and I pored over books on taxation and Court policy. I can talk to one woman, who thinks I used to be her lover.
“All right,” I say, pretending that my stomach isn’t cramping as I nod at Tristan, to let him know it won’t be long.
I invite the Marquise along with a broad gesture and ride into a thatch of dragonweeds growing a bit farther to the right. The thick, purple leaves slap my face the way the Marquise surely wants to, but I use those last moments of silence to gather my thoughts. Maybe I shouldn’t have stalled. Maybe I should have been clear with her early on instead of waiting for her to get the hint and maybe focus on some other man? Just a few moments later, we reach a moonlit clearing and I pull on the lead to turn my horse and face her.
With black paint outlining her eyes and mouth, she appears intimidatingly somber, as if she’s about to attend an audience with the emperor, not end a relationship. Then again, maybe she still refuses to acknowledge that whatever flame she believed used to burn between her and my twin has long been extinguished.
“Marquise,” I say, nodding at her with stiff politeness.
She takes a deep breath and one more look around before our eyes meet. “I understand that you have brought your future Dark Companion into the fold, that you need to court him and pander to him, but is there really a need to toss me aside like some old plaything? We never made promises, but it’s not right. I deserve an explanation.”
Whatever words I believed I had for her are gone, as if her gaze has poured acid into my skull. “I— that’s not—” I clear my throat and comb through my horse’s mane, hoping that avoiding her face might make this easier on me. “You know what kind of man I am,” I say, and while this is exactly how I thought about my twin, I flinch at the scoff she answers with.
“And so I never assumed you’d only have one lover, but why disappear from my life? Did we not have fun? Did we not become close? I’m fine with sharing, even if I didn’t expect a man in the picture.”
“Well, I’m in love with this man,” I say, meeting her gaze as chills trail down my spine. This is the first time I’ve said that. The first time I thought of it so consciously, and all of a sudden I want to ride back to Luke andtell him too.
She scowls at me. “When did that happen? Two months ago you told me in dramatic fashion how your heart cannot be tied down by love, and now all of a sudden you have feelings for this human? Feelings that pulled you out of every bed you frequented other than mine as well? Explain it to me, Kyranis, or I will begin to worry you have been charmed!”
I take a gulp of air, and it fills the empty space where my brain used to be. I’m not used to being confronted like this, and I’m not sure how to handle it. Should I just dismiss her and show my authority as prince? It doesn’t feel right. It also doesn’t feel like something Kyranis would have done, or she wouldn’t have spoken to me the way she does. Then again, I’m not Kyranis.
“I don’t know what to tell you. Maybe it’s because he’s human?”
She shakes her head, increasingly desperate. “So all we’ve had means nothing? Above all, I was sure we shared a friendship.”
I hang my head, feeling guilty even though I’m not the one she clearly had feelings for. My brother didn’t deserve this kind of affection. “I truly am sorry. Maybe after the wedding, I will be able to rebuild our friendship,” I say as my shadow reaches out for Luke, seeking comfort in his closeness.
But he isnotclose, and my head jerks up as I focus on the path. “He’s too far,” I mutter, nudging the horse with my heels.
“The stag?” The Marquise perks up without a smile, but doesn’t look like she’s about to throw a tantrum, which is mature of her in the position we’re in.
“Luke? Tristan?” I call out, turning my horse around, confused by the faltering thread of connection between Luke and me. The only time it’s felt this broken was when Vinia gave him a lantern filled with Sunlight.
Could the stag’s proximity do the same?
I sigh a breath of relief when Tristan emerges from between the trees in his black and red glory. “Is everything all right, Sire?”
I stall, and the worry I’ve been feeling turns into a violent throb in my temples. “Where’s Luke? I can feel he’s far.”
Tristan opens his mouth, and the need to punch him makes me grab my own wrist to prevent that from happening. “He’s close. Sire,youare the one I’ve been guarding since the day he was born.”
Hardly. Despite his skill and good heart, if Tristan was the only one trying to keep my late brother alive, Kyranis would have left us all much, much sooner. There are many eels on my skin to prove that.
“I can take care of myself. You were meant to watch my promised!” I roar and dash to where I last saw Luke.
While the Marquise’s face still looks as if she’s bitten into a rotten sardine, she turns her attention to the forest around us and joins in the search. “Luke?” she yells out into the darkness between the trees as my stomach turns into stone.
I don’t even have the time to yell at Tristan, because all I can think of is golden antlers piercing Luke’s heart.
Chapter 31
Luke
Do I know that the forest is dangerous? Yes. Am I taking my chances in order to talk to Carol before the wedding? Also yes.
