“Exactly.”
I understood jealousy. After all, hadn’t I been jealous of the person I loved most in this world, my very own sister? But jealousy served no purpose other than to destroy and make enemies where there were none. “How do I make them like me?”
“You’re asking the wrong person for advice. Go find Ruairi. For some unknown reason, everyone seems to like him.”
Everyonedidlike Ruairi. I had hoped having him accompany me outside the castle would let people see that I was kind and caring and worth getting to know. Instead, my efforts appeared to have had the opposite effect.
Rían flipped to the next page in his book, seeming to put me and this conversation out of his mind. I sipped the terrible wine in silence, falling deeper and deeper into despair. It wasn’t as if I could leave, unless I wanted him to get an eyeful of my knickers.
Rían muttered, “You could try to find something useful to do that will convince these halfwits that you aren’t entirely a waste of breath.”
Bloody hell…
Had I just gotten good advice from Rían?
What would be useful to these people? I’d been raised to be a rich man’s wife. Besides playing piano forte and sewing the odd needlework, I could plan a parties and throw balls. None of those skills seemed relevant here. At least Aveen had her gardening. What did I have to offer them?
The ones I’d visited today appeared to live simple lives. Food and shelter were their priority, not the colors of their gowns or the style of their hair. They worked hard for what little they had while I’d been handed everything. Even if I wanted to get a job, I wouldn’t know where to start.
A job.
That’s it.
I’d been raised to be a rich man’s wife. And that meant hiring household staff, giving people jobs. Tadhg hadn’t kept much staff in the castle while he was cursed, but now that he was free, perhaps we could help the community by hiring a few maids and footmen.
“I’d like to hire a maid.”
Rían rolled his eyes and flipped to the next page. “So hire one.”
I would, except I didn’t know the first thing about how to go about it here. “Will you help me?”
“What do I know about maids?”
I set my glass down and glared across the space at my former husband. “I seem to recall you being very close with our maids at the townhouse, so I imagine you know a great deal.”
He dragged his narrowed eyes to mine. “That was low.”
I couldn’t help my grin. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
16
RÍAN
When my ex-wifeand soon-to-be sister-in-law (for the hundredth time) suggested hiring a maid, I probably should’ve deterred her to save Keelynn the heartache. However, since I was miserable, I saw no reason that everyone else in this castle shouldn’t be miserable as well. Besides, why did this irritating, useless human get to flit around this castle planning her wedding while I spent every waking moment trying to keep her sister safe? Why did my drunken wastrel of a brother get to spend his nights in his soulmate’s bed and days playing the hero to those affected by the blight while I slept alone, destined to watch Danú get killed for crimes they didn’t commit?
So many times I’d been on the verge of throwing caution to the wind and giving in to love. A few days ago, I’d gone to the gardens and found Aveen in dress cut so low, I’d been this close to dragging her straight to the dungeon. That afternoon, I accidentally walked in on her having a bath in the middle of the feckin’ day.
This morning, I’d run into Aveen on the staircase, her cheeks flushed and hair around her face and neck damp. I’d been transfixed by a single drop of bath water still clinging to her skin, rolling down the smooth column of her neck to the hollow at her throat. How I longed to trace its path with the tip of my tongue.
I scrubbed my hazy eyes and forced myself to swallow past the lump in my throat.
The Queen could arrive at any moment.
Although she still hadn’t responded to Tadhg’s request for a meeting, it was only a matter of time before she did.
I had to keep reminding myself of the danger we were in. If the Queen recognized Aveen’s scent wrapped around me, surely she’d learn the truth.
I couldn’t let that happen. The best thing for everyone was to keep Aveen at arm’s length. Misery was my only companion.