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His forehead wrinkled in concern.“I’ll ask Eisley to go with you.”
“No. I’d prefer to be alone.”
He studied me for a moment, and then finally nodded and turned back.
“Let’s go to the marketplace,”I told Bright quietly.“I need to get away from Kierden for a while.”
“We can ask Reo to make you dresses that fit,”she suggested.
It sounded like the perfect way to distract myself for a bit, so I agreed, and she ran.
We reached the marketplace a few minutes later. The handprint on my wrist was throbbing thanks to my distance from Kierden, but I ignored it as well as I could. A lot less people were at the marketplace than the last time—and the ones who were there seemed much more subdued.
Kieren had told me he was certain the elves would agree to protect the fae kingdoms from their assassins when threatened with war. The elves weren’t warriors. He also assumed they would send the other kings back to their own lands to make that protection easier, so the assassins couldn’t work together. Because of that, I figured most people would be gathered together to hear how the meeting went.
Personally, I wasn’t interested in fae politics, or elven politics, or… well,anyone’spolitics. I just wanted to live a peaceful life and spend the rest of my days with plenty of food to eat. How I was going to make that happen, I wasn’t entirely sure.
Although if Kierden was going to mate with someone else, I supposed he was going to make my decision easy. I’d find a farm, convince someone to let me run it, and spend the rest of my life feasting on berries and vegetables.
I would miss the castle chef’s incredible food and desserts, but I could sacrifice chocolate for safety and security.
There was no one in a few of the shops I passed, so I assumed those ones were closed. Reo’s shop was open, so I slipped off Bright’s back and walked toward a huge wooden bridge we’d need to cross to get there. Vines and flowers wrapped around nearly every inch of the bridge, but even that didn’t really help my mood.
“What’s wrong?”Bright asked me as we went.
“He said he was going to choose another mate,”I admitted quietly.
“I heard. He may have just been trying to calm the other fae.”
“I don’t think so. He told me that the couples being murdered are one of his greatest shames. It doesn’t seem like a stretch that he would risk his life trying to fix it, especially now that the war is over and the fae are trying to figure out how they want to live. A lot of them probably want to take mates.”
“Perhaps. You’ll need to talk to him, to find out,”she mused.
“It seems like he’ll say anything he can to get what he wants, though. I don’t know if I can trust him.”
“What does he want?”
“I don’t know. Sex?”
“If all he wanted was sex, he would’ve asked or tried to make a move on you at night,”she pointed out. Though she and Death always left when things got steamy, I’d kept her updated on the developments between us because she was the only woman I could really talk to.
Or female, at least.
I would’ve liked to find Kaelle or Laeli and talk to them, but Kaelle was gone with Vayme, and Kierden hadn’t let me out of our room since things started progressing. Eisley was obviously out too, since she was his sister. She wasn’t hanging out in the room reading books with us or anything, so even if I wanted to talk to her, I couldn’t.
I heaved a sigh.“Stop being reasonable, Bright.”
She chuffed as we walked into the clothing shop.“Esu are not like fae. We don’t appreciate drama. If a male esu wants you, he tells you. Kierden has told you that he wants you, so trust him. He’s never lied to you before.”
“But if there’s really a chance he’s going to mate with someone else after the eclipse, I can’t risk letting myself develop any more feelings for him. I’d rather not have him than have him and lose him.”
She rubbed her side against mine.“I understand.”
We walked up to Reo, who was sitting in a chair with a book in his hands. The back of his chair was leaned up against a wall, and one of his ankles was draped over his knee. He lifted his eyes as we approached, and his lips curved upward just a tiny bit. “Hello.”
“Hi. I need a few more dresses,” I said apologetically. “Mine don’t fit. I don’t have any money, but—”
“You’re keeping our king alive, from what I hear. I’ll send him the bill.” He winked at me, and I relaxed. “Come with me.”
