“I didn’t bring you biscuits expecting anything back.” That’s considered bartering, not gifting.
His black brows come together over narrowed eyes. “Seelie do nothing without asking for something in return. They are not kind. They are not gracious. What do you want, Kerris Dawn? Do not lie and sayfriendship.”
I have spent my day being lied to and disappointed by the men I’ve met in Rosehill; why would this one be any different? Who cares about the bloody flower? It meant nothing. He was only reciprocating because he thinks I’m like all the other Seelie fae who hate them.
I was willing to go out on a limb, to give Everett and the rest of the Unseelie the benefit of the doubt, and now he’s throwing my kindness in my face.
Straightening my shoulders, I infuse my spine and tone with steel so he doesn’t hear the tears clogging my throat when I say, “I want nothing from you.” I crush the flower in my palm, toss it on the ground next to the bones, and turn and run away.
18
“Not all suitors will make a solid match.”
A Seelie Guide To Matrimony
Nia sweeps into my room, a white box with black ribbon in one hand and a silver flower in the other. The box, she tosses on the bed and the flower she tucks into the vase with the first one Everett gave me. I wonder what heexpects in returnfor the “gift.”
My cousin’s lips quirk as she stares down at me still lounging abed. “I should be mad at you, you know. You ditched me, which meant I had to spend the afternoon with Ivee bloody Lynch.”
“I’m sorry.”
She drops onto the mattress and starts to bounce with glee, her hair springing every which way. “You can make it up to me by telling me all about your date with Trevor. Spare no details. Did he bring you back to his cottage? Did you let himkeep your records—if you know what I mean?”
“Stop waggling your eyebrows like that. You look ridiculous.”
“I’ll stop when you start talking.”
“There isn’t much to tell. I went to see Trevor, but he was busy working. Then my stomach started hurting so I came home and took a nap.”
Nia’s bouncing and waggling come to an abrupt stop. “I had to sit across from Ivee—Ivee, Kerris. The least you could do is have some sort of scandalous love affair with Ronan’s rival.”
If she wants scandal, perhaps I should tell her about meeting Everett, after all. Instead, I shrug. She has made her feelings on the Unseelie quite plain. “Sorry to disappoint.”
“Kerris, dear!” my aunt calls from downstairs. “The prince is here to collect you!”
Collect me for what?
Oh, no…
I completely forgot that I agreed to accompany him to the castle today.
Nia launches off the bed, tripping over my discarded slippers on her way to the wardrobe. She flings open the doors and starts combing through my gowns. “What about this one?” She holds out the yellow one with the daisy corset.
How about none of them? “I don’t really want to go.”
“Tell me you’re joking. Kerris, you have been given an audience with the King and Queen of Willowhaven. That is not something you cancel at the last minute unless you’re dying.”
It’s not the king and queen I have an issue with. It’s their deceitful son. Not that I can tell Nia that because then she will ask who gave me the flowers and that would lead to a conversation about Everett and then an argument.
I’m too bloody tired to argue.
So I roll out of bed, prepared to bite my tongue until the day is through.
She withdraws a deep violet gown from the back. “What about this one? It looks very regal.”
It does look regal, but there’s only one problem. “Madame Ella made the skirt too long.”
Nia’s lips purse as she holds the dress up to her willowy frame. Sure enough, the dress is too long for my cousin as well. “That’s not like her. All the dresses Madame Ella has made for me have been perfect.”