“Is that so?” Juliana chewed her lip, thinking. “I didn’t always want to be a knight, you know. I used to want to be a bard. I gave up on that dream because one, I hate crowds, two, I can’t actually sing, or three, I preferred something more active.”
“Oh, I know this one,” said Hawthorn eagerly. “You can’t actually sing!”
Juliana opened her mouth. ”The maiden cried for the man she loved, and heartbreak echoed around, if you could hear her, you’d cry too, for her voice did fracture sound.”
Hawthorn stared at her. “How did Inotknow you could sing?”
Juliana swallowed a grin, enjoying the amazement in his face. “I’m not exactly a performer.”
“But your voice is beautiful. Quite the improvement on your usual barbs.” He smiled at her, clearly waiting for a retort. “You’ve sung to me before, haven’t you?”
Juliana’s cheeks heated.More than once.“I didn’t think you remembered.”
“I didn’t, until now.”
“It was just to fill the silence,” she added quickly. “Or to drown out your awful moaning.”
“Naturally,” he said, though he was still smiling. She was amazed he could remember anything about that time with something like joy. “That’s the lie, then,” he continued. “I think I’m playing this game wrong.”
“Do you want to stop?”
“No, but I’d like to suggest some categories, if I may?”
“Go ahead.”
“What colours do you think I look best in? Feel free to have ‘nude’ as an option.”
Juliana pursed her lips. “Too obvious a lie.”
“No, but that was.”
“Fine. You look best in magenta, midnight blue, or forest green.”
“Hmm, trick category. I look best in everything.”
“Blue,” she said quietly, hating the soft betrayal. “You look best in blue.”
Hawthorn blinked at her.
“Also, you didn’t guess, so you ought to drink.”
“Fair enough…” he said, still staring over the rim of his goblet. “First love.”
“Haven’t got there, yet,” she replied swiftly, feeling hot under the collar and too startled to come up with lies. “You?”
Hawthorn took a long drink. “Not Princess Serena, alas.”
They sat in silence for a short while. “She’s nice, you know,” Juliana said eventually. “For a faerie, at least. Asked me once what sort of person you were. It isn’t just about money or power for her. You could do worse.”
“She could quite likely do better.”
Juliana frowned. “Do you honestly think that?”
“I do.”
“Rarely have you conceded your own faults. I’m impressed.”
“I take great pains to hide my own poor opinion of myself,” he admitted, staring at the contents of the bottle. “Hardly seems much point, now, when I’m destined to become the Prince That Cursed All Faerie.”
