“Maybe.” It all depends on what kind of mood our king is in when I ask. Maybe I can suggest it to Leeri and have her put in the request instead since Boris would be more likely to say yes to her.
Kyff yawns. “I bet you’re excited. When you’re king, no one will be able to tell you what to do.”
His innocence makes me smile. If anything, a king has even more people making demands. Advisors, subjects, councils, generals, his wife. “Ah, but I won’t be king. I’ll be the prince consort.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means the queen will have all the power. I’ll just be there to look good on her arm, like a pretty handbag.”
Kyff snorts, but then his seriousness returns. “Can you take me with you? Boris is terribly cross all the time.”
“Maybe when I’m gone, he’ll be in better form.”
“You do cause a lot of trouble.”
“Do not.” I poke him in the ribs, sending him squealing to the other side of the bed.
“Do too,” he laughs, reaching for my hand. “Love you, Senan,” he murmurs, already half lost to dreams as he squeezes my hand three times.
I squeeze him four, mumbling, “Love you too, Kyff,” before following him into darkness.
Twenty-Eight
SENAN
I used to be charming,didn’t I?
Wooing females in my younger years had been a game. The thrill of the chase. The high of winning a smile. A laugh. A kiss.
A game that ended when I mether.
When I first saw Allette’s smile in the market, I craved more. When I first heard her laugh, the sound had breathed life into my careless heart. When I kissed her on the first day of spring, gods, it felt like I’d died and transcended to a higher realm.
Being with her had been effortless. Simple. Inevitable.
Being with Leeri is none of those things.
I glance sidelong at the violet-haired princess wandering through the library’s shelves, racking my brain for some sort of compliment to give her, each one that comes to mind more terrible than the one before.
Your eyes are…very blue?
Your hair is…dark? Long?
Your smile is…straight?
Your wings are so white?
I scrub a hand down my freshly shaven cheek. Those aren’t compliments, they’re statements of fact. Whatever spark used to live within me has been snuffed out entirely.
When I look back at Leeri, I find her watching me, her brow furrowed. “Are you all right, my love? You look confused.”
I really wish she would stop calling me that. I may have been with other women since Allette, but I haven’t loved any of them, and I certainly don’t plan on starting with this one. “I’m fine, princess.” I grab the closest book to give my hands something to do.Say something else. “How…ah…how are you today?”
Those ice-blue eyes of hers widen. “I am well, thank you for asking.”
Like the mindless fool I am, I hold out the book. “Do you like to read?”
Her face brightens. “Very much. You?”