“Are you sure?”
“Well, he made Eina up.”
“No, he didn’t,” Ilain whispered, leaning in on Thom’s other side.
“What?” they both asked in hushed tones.
Ilain’s green eyes glimmered slyly. “Eina is my middle name. Sea travelismy worst fear, though he gleaned the abandonment bit for himself. And he did, in fact, count the freckles on my nose just last night. Forty-seven.”
“Please, don’t inform us about anything else that happened last night,” Thom muttered ruefully. “Now, we’re not supposed to be friendly, so turn away and act like you hate us.”
Ilain chuckled in a snide manner, then did as ordered.
Thom offered Evylin an apologetic shrug. “So it seems Ethenn knows random, odd facts about his wife. That doesn’t mean he knows her better than you know Deckard.”
Tugging on her wedding rings, Evylin glanced at her husband. Her heart thudded with agitation. Deckard looked up then, a curiosity in his air. He’d felt her frustration.
With an appeasing grin, Evylin dismissed his concern. Then she turned back to her meal. It didn’t matter what Thom said. Evylinshouldknow those random, odd facts about Deckard. She should know his greatest fear and his deepest desire. She should know if he wanted children.
For how else was she going to love him with the same dedication and care with which he loved her?
CHAPTER THIRTY
The dinner proved to be miserable. Entertaining the king’s whims was worse than appeasing all the egos of the magistrates in the Shires combined. Ephren was a lazy monarch, a frivolous man, and blatantly prejudiced against the Waulden people. Yet, Deckard had to smile and nod, partaking in the conversation with faux enthusiasm.
The meeting that followed was no better. With the influence of Auden’s magic, they more than adequately convinced the king that the Relic replicas were real. Then Deckard had to lie carefully, explaining the last two months of their lives, Hewitt’s death, and their continued mission.
“We’ll leave in the morning,” he said in conclusion. “And hopefully, we will return within a month with the final two in our hands.”
King Ephren believed the story but pulled Deckard aside before they left. “There are spies in my court,” he said in a hushed tone.
Deckard frowned, shock rolling through him. “Your Majesty?”
“The captain of my guard has discovered strange inconsistencies in—oh, I don’t remember the exact details.” Ephren waved his hand in agitation. “But there are spies inmy court, that’s what he said. And I’m starting to suspect the Calders aren’t who they appear to be.”
Deckard lifted his chin. “I see,” he replied thoughtfully. “If I may, Your Majesty?”
Ephren beckoned for his response.
“I’ve been questioning the siblings myself. I have yet to see true signs of duplicity, but one can never be too careful. Especially when it comes to Wauldeners.”
“Mm,” Ephren agreed.
Playing on his prejudice and paranoia, Deckard dropped his voice a decibel lower. “I will continue to keep an eye on them, Your Majesty. If they’re up to no good, I will discern it, and my men and I will stop them.”
King Ephren gripped his shoulder, gave a firm nod, and dismissed him.
Deckard had a headache from the pressure of maintaining such duplicity when they arrived back at the house, but he was relieved that Ephren had bought his lies. Vayden, Isla, and Brea sat in the parlor, greeting them happily on their arrival. “We found a few bottles ofcairenin your cellar,” Vayden said, holding up a glass of the red wine. “I hope you don’t mind that we opened two.”
“We’ll replace them,” Brea added, then frowned at the bottles. “Not that they’re very good.”
“No, it’s all right,” Deckard assured, then moved for the kitchen to retrieve a glass. “I’ll join you.”
Once they were all gathered, Deckard accepted the Night Relic back from Vayden, feeling a dampening sensation washing over his emotions at its touch. After weeks of wearing the Relic, at last, he was beginning to experience its true effects. He was unusually tired, worn down from the dinner, from their travels, and from the weight of all that was still to come.
While Rafferty exuberantly filled the Alliance members in on the laborious affair of maintaining their cover during dinner, the group began to split. Ilain grabbed Ethenn’s arm, tugging him toward the stairs.
“I need to get out of this dress,” she proclaimed with exasperation. Though Ethenn blushed and Rafferty sniggered, it seemed she hadn’t meant it nearly as provocatively as it sounded.
