Laurel cackled.
“Are you from Vindyrst, then, Deering?” she asked.
“Unfortunately,” Hans replied with a grimace.
“So it should come as no surprise to you that even though Kole is the acting Lord of the House, it’s Cecelia who runs that whole show, yeah?”
“Quite. A toast to the Lady of Gales,” Hans said sarcastically, raising his glass.
“No chance in Hel,” Kieran muttered under his breath, before turning towards me.
“Do you want anything to drink now that you’ve actually got food in your system, Little Conduit?”
“I wouldn’t mind some cider, if they’ve got anything local,” I said, smiling. “I’m not picky.”
Though I, like Kieran, had no real interest in the political direction of conversation, I was having a good time. The mushroom tart that Laurel had brought us here for was indeed worth the trip, and the past few days in general had been rather pleasant.
Kieran nodded, briefly touching my shoulder as he stood. The brush of his fingertips was so subtle that it was likely unintentional… But that didn’t stop it from distracting me entirely from the conversation at hand. It wasn’t until the captain was halfway across the room that I managed to tune back into Hans and Laurel’s gossip session.
“Obviously the woman isruthless,you know that. And she’sconstantlybutting heads with Lord Ymir in private. Like, let’s be real, none of the other Lords and Ladies can even stand her. So it’s not like Penelope had a long line of suitors, anyway. Just between us? I think the real reason why Lady Zephirin is so furious is that she’d been trying to groom Pen to be some perfect bride so she could negotiate a proposal from the Lord of Embers.”
Hans snorted.
“A second-born heir, matching with the most eligible bachelor in Atlas? Is Ceceliahigh?”
Laurel shrugged. “Lord Ymir speaks very highly of the High Lord de Laurent. I doubt that her position within the House of Gales would matter much to a man like him, but heisnotoriously picky. Every attempted advantageous pairing fell through when he was younger, I guess… And now, the man simply doesn’t date.”
“We havegotto hang around more often, Ansari,” Hans said with a wicked grin. “You clearly haveallthe insider information.”
Laurel feigned a curtsy while remaining seated.
“See, Ark? At leastsomeonehere appreciates my socialite expertise!”
I shook my head gently, still bemused.
“I’ll be right back,” I promised.
All of the ice water that I had gulped down when we first arrived had run straight through my system, so I excused myself to find a restroom while Hans and Laurel resumed their chatter.
After washing up, I was about to round the corner and return to the main dining room of the Arrowhead Inn when I heard Kieran’s voice, dropped low and deadly serious.
“You know I trust you, right, Jer?”
I should have kept walking. This conversation was clearly none of my business—Kieran had pulled his lieutenant to the quiet side of the inn for a reason.
Unfortunately, when my curiosity and my moral compass went head to head, it was often a coin toss on which would win. Adding in my absolute fascination with Kieran meant the game was rigged. I continued to eavesdrop, like an asshole.
“I know,” Jeremiah was murmuring back, tension clipping into his tone.
“Why haven’t you said anything?”
“It’s not that serious, Captain. We haven’t…”
I heard Kieran exhale slowly.
“Don’t bullshit me, Fairchilde. I saw the way he was looking at you. Grant Kraiggson is very clearly into you. Are you saying that’s unrequited? When you literally just up and left lunch to approach him at the bar? Come on now.”
“No, sir. It’s not necessarily unrequited, but that doesn’t matter. I acted on impulse and I apologize. I shouldn’t have approached him. It won’t happen again.”