I fell in step beside her, careful to avoid puddles of what smelled like piss. “What was that all about?”
“What was what all about?”
“You gave that girl your purse.”
“What girl?”
“The one in the brown dress.”
Roisin gave an exaggerated glance over her shoulder. “I see no girl in a brown dress.”
And with that, she mounted without assistance and rode off toward the castle, making me wonder if I’d imagined the entire thing.
5
ROISIN
The skinbeneath Alrec’s blue eyes looked bruised, the creases across his brow deepening with his frown. I shifted closer on the settee, reaching for his free hand. “How are you?” I asked, even though the answer was obvious.
He set his teacup on the low table in front of us, forcing a smile. “As well as can be expected. And you?”
After our trip to the city the day before, I’d spent most of the evening consoling a distraught Lowri. When I’d asked Alrec at dinner what was to become of the man who had accosted us, he’d told me that he would handle it.
Whether I was fae or human, there would always be people who hated me. I could only do my best and hope that would be enough to assure the humans that I had Vellana’s best interests at heart. “I had some trouble sleeping, but other than that, I am well.”
Chuckling, he swiped a hand across his brow. “It’s no wonder, with how unseasonably mild it is so close to September. We could take a ride to the seaside if you’d like. There’s always a fair breeze along the coast.”
The thought of leaving the castle so soon after what had happened left my stomach in knots. I hadn’t been scared, per se, but the situation could’ve gone downhill very fast. Lowri hadn’t wanted to set foot out of her room this morning.
A fat bumblebee meandered through the open window, finding one of the many bouquets of fresh blooms decorating the solar.
Alrec squeezed my fingers. “Fear not. I will bring so many guards that you will see red uniforms everywhere you turn.”
“Tomorrow, perhaps?”
Sighing, he collected one of the tartlets from a stand beside the gold tea service. Although my own tea had gone cold, I sipped it anyway to rid myself of the dryness in my throat.
“I’ve meetings tomorrow, I’m afraid.”
“What sort of meetings?” I asked, as if I hadn’t already heard Alrec speaking of the brewing conflict in the south.
“The sort that vex me,” Alrec said around a bite before wiping his hands on a lace serviette. Crumbs dusted the dark blue breeches stretched across his muscular thighs.
Lovely. Another day of sitting around with nothing to do. Who would’ve thought living in a castle would be so boring?
As much as I’d enjoyed getting out yesterday before everything went pear shaped, all of the dresses ended up looking the same after the third shop. It wasn’t as if I needed more garments. I’d simply used shopping as an excuse to spend some time with my fiancé outside of these walls, to try to grow closer in hopes that he might open up to me. That he might see that I could be his partner as well as his love. Then he’d invited Kerrington and suggested I bring Lowri, and all my plans had evaporated.
“Did you receive my gift?” he asked, his hand falling to my knee.
Ah, yes. His gift. This time it was a new pair of gold slippers, delivered to my bedroom before breakfast.
I showed him my feet encased in gold. “I did. And they’re beautiful. Thank you.” As were all the other gifts he’d given me over the last four years.
His eyes gleamed when he smiled. For some reason, my heart didn’t flutter the way it usually did. Must have been the heat.
“Have I told you about the statue I’m having commissioned?”
Heavens above. Not more statue talk.As much as I loved him, his obsession with statues was becoming ridiculous. Still, I pinned a smile to my lips. “Which one?”