“Lucien basically already did. He stumbled across us and beat the shit out of him. Tesson is rotting in the prisons right now.”
“Not good enough.”
I look at Prince Alaric, hoping for a voice of reason, but his expression is dark. “When you go to see the Hollowborn, we’ll go to visit Tesson and have a little talk with him.”
“Seriously,” I tell them, thinking that Tesson has more than learned his lesson. “Lucien handled it. I’m fine.”
“Lucien?” Prince Alaric says, suddenly jerking his head to me in surprise.
My cheeks heat. “Prince Lucien. It was a slip of the tongue.”
“You know, you can call all of us by our first name now. We don’t really need the formalities,” he tells me, and it seems like this is important to him.
I shrug my shoulders, then change the subject. “But, really, I think Tesson learned his lesson.”
“We’ll see,” Prince Gareth says darkly.
We eat for another long minute before Prince Alaric gives a thoughtful look. “I am grateful Prince Lucien was there to protect you. I’ll have to thank him for that.”
Prince Gareth nods. “He did a good job.” Then he looks at me. “How are you doing?”
I stiffen. “Me?”
“It must have been scary,” Prince Alaric adds. “Did he hurt you?”
I point to the small cut on my throat. “That’s all the bastard managed to do. Seriously, I’m fine.”
Prince Alaric shifts awkwardly. “And you’re fine… emotionally too?”
It’s hard not to smile. These men aren’t exactly good at talking about their emotions. “I’m fine.”
“And how are you feeling about delivering the message to the Hollowborn today?”
He seems so sincere, I can’t help but answer. “A little nervous, but I’ve gone through every possible scenario in my mind. If they really want peace, we need to do what they ask and just have me deliver the message. And if this is some trick, I’m going to stay close to Ebron and get out of there as fast as I can. I’ll be okay, either way.”
“You’re more confident than most seasoned warriors,” Prince Gareth tells me, and I’m not sure whether or not it’s a compliment.
I shrug. “I might just be stupid, honestly. I’ve always been a little too cocky for my own good.”
Prince Alaric grins. “That’s one thing the three of us have in common. I’m sure, with time, we’ll find even more things we have in common.”
“Maybe,” I tell him, wondering if hewantsto find more things in common between us.
“Prince Gareth and I were also talking last night. We decided that it might be a good idea to spend more time together after you return. If we’re going to marry, and we’re going to have a happy marriage, we need to put the work into it.”
“Really?” I’m surprised. “None of you seem like the type to focus on relationships.”
“We’re not, but we want things to be different between us. We don’t want to have relationships like the ones our father has. We want peace and happiness in our marriage.”
Again, I’m surprised. “How long have you been thinking like this?”
Prince Alaric looks at his brother, then picks up his fork again. “Probably around the time we realized that being married to you wouldn’t be so bad. I mean, we’re all clearly able to have good conversations. We have similar interests. We’ll be able to spend time together even when we’re training and with our dragons. And we, obviously, find you attractive and think you might feel the same way in return.” The last sentence is said more quietly, with a hint of embarrassment.
It’s cute. They really seem to be trying.
“We’d certainly be able to fuck each other’s brains out,” I say. He chokes a little on the eggs he’d just shoveled into his mouth, so I give him a minute before I continue. “But whether we can put the past behind us and learn to get along is still certainly up in the air.”
“But you’ll give us the chance to try?” Prince Gareth asks quietly.
