She pushes herself upright, dropping her feet from where they were propped on the coffee table next to a tray of uneaten biscuits. Normally, I love shortbread, but ever since Everett told me the awful news, food doesn’t taste the same. Which is a travesty considering how much I used to enjoy sweets.
“You know what I mean.” She shoots a glance over her shoulder toward the empty hallway before scooting so close, our knees knock together. “The guards don’t patrol the streets during the day, so I thought perhaps we could go to the well.”
Why would she suggest such a thing when she knows I’m barely holding myself together as it is? “I don’t want to go to the well.”
It’s a damn lie and we both know it. I want to see Everett so badly my soul aches, but there is no point torturing myself.
“Come on, Kerris. No one has to know.”
I’ll know.
Besides, I made a promise that my dealings with the Unseelie were through. If I go back on my word, they’ll ship me right back to Gravale as husbandless as I arrived. When I leave, I want it to be my decision, not because I was kicked out by my own family.
“I don’t want to go to town,” I insist, flipping to the next page and staring down at the text.
I expect a lecture or some sort of bargain. Instead, Nia nods and rolls off the couch, leaving me alone with a book I have no desire to read and memories of a man I’ll never see again.
* * *
Thursday arrives on a breeze and leaves on a gale.
Friday is still as death, as if someone has put an invisible lid on the world.
This morning, a letter from my brother arrived, saying that he would love a visit from his favorite sister. As I trace his handwriting scrawled across the parchment, my chest pinches at the thought of seeing him again.
I’ll stay with Theo for a month, maybe two, and try my hand at finding a husband there. Perhaps he has a friend who might consider a match with me.
Now to find a way to tell Nia.
Speaking of Nia… Where is she? I haven’t seen her since breakfast. Probably because I came back to my room to wallow.
As if I called her name, Nia bursts through my door, her cheeks flushed and curly hair wild. “Do you still want to find a husband?” she blurts.
The longer I put this off, the harder it’s going to be. I need to tell her the truth, to give her time to adjust before I leave. “Yes, but not in Rosehill.”
“What do you mean, ‘not in Rosehill?’”
From beneath my leg, I withdraw my brother’s letter. “I’ve decided to move to Applewood.”
She opens the missive with trembling fingers, her lips moving as she silently scans my brother’s letter. When she looks back at me, her expression is as dark and threatening as a thunderstorm. “So that’s it? You’re giving up.”
Rosehill gave up on me first. “No one has called to our door all week.” Not even Nolan has come by to visit her. When I asked about his absence, she blew me off with a wave of her hand, saying that he was busy hunting for the wolf.
A wolf they still haven’t caught.
“Because you haven’t left the house!” Nia tosses the letter onto the bottom of the bed. “Ivee is telling everyone that she plans on proposing to Ronan at the end of the month, and as soon as the prince accepts, the rest of the men will come out in droves. You’ll be beating them off with sticks. Just be patient.”
If only this were a matter of being “patient.” “Don’t you see? I have no desire to tie myself to someone who won’t stand up for me. Someone too scared of the prince’s wrath to go against his wishes. The men of Rosehill aren’t worth my time.”
A knock reverberates from downstairs. Nia and I trade looks before we both hurry into the hallway to watch my aunt saunter out of the kitchen, her serviette still clutched in her hand as she fixes her hair. When she sees us at the top of the stairs, she asks if we’re expecting any callers.
I shake my head.
Nia smirks. “Perhaps not all the men of Rosehill are cowards after all.”
Please. Whoever is at the door isn’t there for me. It’s probably Nolan coming to apologize for neglecting her.
At least I hope it is. If she loses him because of me, I will never forgive myself.