Page 53 of Between Two Kings

Silence.

“Then again, if I’d moved on myself, I wouldn’t care whether he had as well.”

A razor-thin pause. Evelyn’s eyes met hers. “Is that what you think? That I moved on?”

“I don’t know what to think.”

To her surprise, Evelyn let out a small laugh. “I didn’t move on, Tem.”

The way she said it made it seem like it should be obvious. But nothing about this conversation was obvious. Evelyn was proving impossible to figure out, and Tem was tired of talking in circles. She leaned in. “Then why did you leave? What did Maximus write in the letter? Did he threaten you?”

“Of course not. A king would never stoop so low.”

Tem snorted. A king certainly would. “What, then?”

Evelyn slid her finger up the flute of her champagne. She didn’t answer.

Tem stared at her blankly. What could be worth leaving Leo? She herself had only done it because she’d assumed he’d be better off with Evelyn. An assumption, she was rapidly learning, that was a categorically false one.

Still, Evelyn said nothing.

In the silence, Tem’s brain worked furiously. Why had Evelyn really left? She didn’t believe for a second that a letter would have done the trick. Not if she were truly in love. It wasn’t enough. It didn’t add up. There had to be another reason.

How much did Evelyn know about their current circumstances? Did she know that Tem was the reason they were even sitting here—that Tem had been the one to order Leo to find her? Tem would have thought it would’ve been the first thing Leo told her. But according to Evelyn, he was secretive. He was keeping things from her. He was lying.

But Tem didn’t care whether Leo lied. She cared whether Evelyn did.

Perhaps it was all an excuse—the letter, Maximus, all of it. It was Evelyn’s way out—her story to tell so that she didn’t seem like the villain. Her lie.

Tem leaned in.

“Do you want to know what I think? I think Maximus never wrote you a letter. That’s why you don’t have it.”

Evelyn’s lips pursed. She didn’t reply.

But Tem couldn’t stop. “I think you wanted to leave him. I don’t know why—that’s between you and Kora—but I think you were too much of a coward to tell him, so you left town. When he came to find you, you made up the story about the letter so he would take you back. And now you’re looking to me for support, to corroborate your lie. But I won’t do it.”

Evelyn still didn’t reply. She was watching Tem with shrewd intelligence, analyzing her.

“I’ll tell Leo,” Tem said.

A cruel smile tilted Evelyn’s lips. Finally, she spoke. “Will you now?”

A tenuous silence fell. The two women stared at each other.

“You don’t know my story,” Evelyn continued, her voice dangerously low. “And you’d better be absolutely sure you’re right before saying anything to Leo.”

Despite herself, Tem faltered. Evelyn hadn’t confirmed her theory. She’d only smiled in that creepy way—hardly an admission of guilt. Tem had no proof that she’d left Leo of her own accord. Only suspicion. And she could not go to Leo with a suspicion. It wasn’t enough. It would ruin everything, and what if Tem was wrong? What then?

Evelyn leaned closer. “He might have been yours once, but he began as mine and he is mine again now.”

Fury built in Tem like a storm.

“You think you know Leo, but I know him better,” Evelyn continued. “And I always will.”

“If you hurt him, I will—”

“What will you do, Tem? You are the one who hurt him. You left.”