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Chapter2
My teacup shook and clattered on its saucer as I stared at the king of the Unseelie.
With a nervous laugh, I used as much energy as I could not to stammer. “What?”
His eyebrows shot up as he sipped his own tea. “Have you been seeing stars with my son? With the telescope? I thought I’d seen you two in the garden quite a bit.”
“Oh, right. With the telescope…” I took a sip of my own tea, hand steadier, even though the liquid felt like it was lodged in my throat as I did.
The king’s chuckle turned into an all out laugh as my cheeks heated.
“To be young and in love,” he said.
I set my cup down. “I assure you, Your Majesty—”
“Stop right there,” he interrupted. “My son would be lucky to have your heart, and I believe you’d be lucky to have his. I know what you’re thinking; we’ve broached the subject enough before for me to understand your fears of your station and the opinion of the queen.”
I set my teacup and saucer down on the small marble stand next to my chair and folded my hands in my lap, looking down instead of being able to meet King Remus’ eye.
“You’ve saved each member of the royal family on more than one occasion and have more than proven your loyalty to the Unseelie. You’ve shown your heart to those around you, and in the short time we’ve been enjoying our discussions, you’ve displayed your intelligence as well. Coraline, there is no one else Prince Noah’s equal. I’m sure of it. No matter what anyone else thinks. Including the queen.”
The finality of his tone, and the kind words from a man I’d grown so much to admire would have sent me over the edge, had I not been pinching the inside of my palm to prevent my tears.
“Thank you, Your Majesty.” I smiled, finally meeting his gaze.
His beard twitched as he watched me before he reached out his free hand. “Don’t forget that love’s path is never free of stumbling stones. No love story is. But in the end, it’s worth the battles.”
I nodded, cupping his hand in mine. “I can’t imagine yours was easy.” I hesitated, yanking my hands back. “I didn’t mean anything…”
I squeezed my eyes shut, realizing a snide remark about the queen at a time when the king had just complimented me was the dumbest thing I could have done at that moment. Regardless of his fondness for me, I was still a feeder mocking a member of the royal family.
But the echo of a barking laugh bounced off the walls around our tea area, and the king wiped at his eye. “No, it was not easy. But I will deny ever saying that.”
“My lips are sealed.” I closed my eyes, hiding my grin as best I could.
The smell of the tea hit my senses like it was heavily spiced. So much so that I almost gagged. Frowning, I put a hand to my heart. Extra strong smell wasn’t a symptom of a stroke, was it? That would be just my luck.
As I went to take another sip of the tea, I braced myself for it to have somehow grown stronger since my first taste.
But it was perfect. This blend had a hint of cinnamon and cardamom, and with a few more spices, it would be the perfect chai tea. I stared at the cup. Funny, I’d never picked up on different spices so well before. Small things like this had changed ever since Prince Landon had me with the Seelie in their camp and gave me the concoction in my soup. He’d rambled about restoring my senses. If it was just supposed to wake me up back in the Seelie tent, it certainly had lasting abilities.
Or perhaps my intelligence was a strong suit of mine after all, and after only a few weeks of meeting with the king for tea, I was able to differentiate the flavor combinations in our various drinks.
The latter was less concerning.
“Have you discovered anything interesting from the constellations here? Any ideas about the similarities with Earth and Faerie?” he asked.
I shook my head. “A few similarities, but more that I don’t recognize. The sky is breathtakingly clear here.” I looked around, noticing he had a few books stacked on a nearby table. “Do you have any other books I can borrow? I’d love to look for more.”
“That’s why I pulled them.” The king rose, picking up the stack of books and setting them on the marble top table between us. “Some of these give a better history of the constellations, so it may be easier to tie their earth counterparts together.”
“Maybe I can plan time to go to the border and see what the sky looks like on either side—”
I stopped talking.
For some reason, when I was here in the private library of the king, laughing and discussing the stars or Earth or anything else that flowed and popped up with us, I forgot what this world was dealing with.
Selfishly.
