I jolt to my feet, hope growing in my heart. “If you’ll excuse me for a moment, I will return shortly.” I quit the room, heading straight to the privy chamber where the king spends most of his days. Winged guards stand on either side of the doorway. When the men see me, their wide eyes track my movements, but they do nothing to try and stop me from entering.
I knock first—despite my brother’s low opinion of me, I’m not a complete animal. Boris’s deep voice calls from the other side.
Sunlight streams through the windows, hitting the king’s bare torso where he sits at the end of a long table, his discarded shirt and jerkin draped over one of the free chairs. Despite not training as often as he used to, he is still in decent shape. Although his middle is getting a little soft. Not that I’d tell him that.
“Shouldn’t you be with your betrothed instead of in here bothering me?” he asks, barely sparing me a glance as he drags a finger down a mammoth map of the fae realm.
“I spent the morning with her.”
He arches an eyebrow, his lips pressing flat. “Truly?”
I nod. “I left her in the library to come speak to you.” I need to be tactful. Make him think this is his idea. “I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but Rhainn has returned.”
Boris reaches for a glass of brandy sitting at the corner of the table and eases back in his chair. “I know. He arrived late last night.”
“And you’ve spoken with him?” I assume from the pinched look on his face.
“I have.”
“Then you know he is—” How do I put this without pissing him off?“—disheartened by his visit.”
Sighing, Boris finishes the drink and returns the glass to the table. “He will learn, as you did, that his duty is to his king, not his foolish heart.”
Boris is some man to talk about foolish hearts. Since he was destined for the Kumulus throne, he had his pick of the high-born ladies in our kingdom. Heaven forbid he gives us the same courtesy.
“Why are you so set on matching Rhainn with Allto?” I ask.
“You know our father’s plans.”
Our father wanted his sons to unite our realm; his descendants to hold thrones in every kingdom; his legacy to touch every corner of our world. Why it matters when he will never see it come to fruition still makes no sense to me. But I could argue with Boris until I’m blue in the face, and he’d never budge.
“But why Allto? Why not Nimbiss? He seems quite smitten with Princess Leeri.”
With a humorless chuckle, Boris withdraws the stopper from the decanter and pours himself a second glass. “Rhainn is smitten with every beautiful woman he encounters.”
“True, but they do seem to share the same interests. And they’re both wind elementals.”
Boris’s glass stills halfway to his lips. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Nothing, I suppose.” I’m reaching. Still, I owe it to my younger brother to try. Just because I must be miserable doesn’t mean he has to be miserable as well.
“And you would have no issue with your brother stealing your betrothed?” Boris asks, his brows high.
“Why would I? I hold no affection for the princess.” She has grown on me since her arrival, but so has my fondness forsprouts. I may eat sprouts, but they’re still my least favorite vegetable. I wouldn’tchoosethem if I were to pick my own menu, just as I wouldn’tchooseto marry Princess Leeri. “If the two of them could be happy together, don’t they deserve that?”
Boris watches me for the longest time, sipping and staring until a spark seems to light in his eyes. The glass slams against the tabletop, rattling the decanter. “I see what you’re doing.”
“Trying to ensure my brother’s happiness?”
He stands slowly, collecting his shirt and shoving his arms into the sleeves. “You are trying to get out of this arrangement. After you promised—no, youswore—that you would marry that girl.”
“I’m not?—”
“Enough!Youwill be the one to go to Nimbiss, and I will not hear any more discussion on the matter.”
Since when is ranting and raving a fucking discussion?
“Remember your promise, Senan. If you continue to cause trouble, I will be forced to take action.”