“Thank you for helping with my dresses, Falin.”
“It’s my pleasure, your highness.”
Lowri looked at me as though I’d lost my mind. I stole a grape and popped it into my mouth, feeling more hopeful than I had since Alrec’s death. The maids finished shortly after and flitted from the room.
Lowri poked my thigh with her long nail. “What was that about?”
“What do you mean?”
The dress I had on felt too heavy for the humid day. I snagged another grape before going to the armoire to choose a different one for the afternoon. What was Caiman’s favorite color? I wanted to wear something that would make my husband stare at me the way he’d done during our picnic.
“Why did you bother speaking to those wretched humans? They’re only servants.”
“Servants or not, I will treat them with respect. And if you plan on remaining in Vellana, I suggest you do the same.” I was about to give up my search when I found a dusty rose gown with a fitted bodice and a V at the neck deeper than any I’d dared to wear before.
“I feel like I don’t even know you anymore.”
The feeling is mutual.
“You used to be on our side,” she said, “but now you’re on theirs.”
“There are no sides in this, Lowri.” That was the whole point of this alliance, to erase the division between us.
“If you believe that, then you are a fool.” Lowri plucked a grape from the stem. The fruit crunched between her teeth when she shoved it into her mouth.
My hands clenched on the hanger. “This is my home now, and—”
“Is it? With the prince removing you from his chambers, I’d assumed the rumors of an annulment were true. I thought we’d be going back to Iodale with your mother.”
The dress slipped from my fingers. “Is that what you want?”
“There’s nothing here for me,your highness. Not all of us have a prince to shield us from these humans and their cutting remarks.”
Where was all this coming from? Not once had Lowri so much as hinted that she wished to return to our homeland. “Did something happen? You must tell me if you are having trouble again.” Had I been so blinded by my own problems that I hadn’t noticed my friend hurting as well?
She tore another grape free from the stem. “It’s mostly Kerrington. He’s changed since Alrec died.”
“Why does it matter? You said you no longer cared for him.”
“The man Ididcare for married another.” She gave me a pointed look, eyes swimming with tears, before she lowered her head. “And when I approached Kerrington to make amends, he said he wanted nothing to do with a fickle fae.”
“There are plenty of other men here.” The court was full of eligible bachelors. Lords and dukes and earls. Beyond these walls was an entire swarm of men, adventurous sea captains, dashing soldiers— “What about Broderick?”
Her nose wrinkled. “You think I want to be some lowly guard’s wife?”
Being the king’s personal guard was an esteemed position. “Caiman respects him. He isn’t hard on the eyes, and he is most loyal.” Something Kerrington clearly was not.
“If you like him so much, perhaps you can marry him when the prince dies.”
I hissed in a breath, my cheeks burning at the venom in her tone.
Lowri set the bowl of empty stems aside and stood, looking past me toward the door. “I came here not to live your life but to find my own. And all I’ve found is disappointment. I want to go home.”
I watched her leave with no desire to call her back, knowing the woman I’d grown up with in Iodale wasn’t the same one who had walked out the door.
17
ROISIN