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She lowered her head. “Yeah. Like I said, I kind of know a bit about what’s been going on… honestly, I don’t blame you for leaving.”
“You don’t?”
“Your mother would’ve probably done the same. Hell, she kind ofdiddo the same.”
“What?”
“I mean, she was accused of murder at the time, so we didn’t have a choice but to flee the castle.”
“What?!Murder? Why haven’t I been told about this?”
Gullie’s hand shot to her mouth. “Oops. I probably shouldn’t have said that.”
“When was my mother accused of murder?”
“I guess she never told you about that part of her journey… don’t worry about it.”
“What do you mean, don’t worry about it?”
“Seriously, don’t worry about it. The important thing is, your mother was just as much a fighter as you are. She would be running away from the Royal Selection to make a point right now, too.”
“I’m not just trying to make a point. Or… I guess I am. I just don’t want them to dictate how I live my life. It’s not right.”
“It’s not. And she’s on your side, believe it or not. There’s just very little she can do, given the circumstances.”
I paused. “What circumstances?”
Gullie slammed her hand against her mouth again. “Fuck,” she mumbled.
I scooted closer to her. “Gullie… if something’s happening, I need to know.”
“Nothing’s happening,” she said, but the way she turned her face to the side and refused to look me in the eyes told me otherwise.
“Really? Why don’t I believe that for a second?”
“I don’t know. But there’s really nothing to it… I don’t know what I’m saying.”
“You speak to my mother every day—you know exactly what’s going on.”
“And even if I did,” she said, looking at me, “I couldn’t tell you. You just have to trust your parents that they know what they’re doing.”
“I don’t believe that.” I shook my head. “I’m starting to feel like everyone is in on some big, cosmic secret but me, and it’s getting really frustrating.”
“I know. Believe me, I know. But you just need to—”
“—please, don’t tell me to trust my parents.”
“I’m going to say it, because it’s true.”
“How can me marrying some Royal Selection idiot be such a big deal to everyone but me? Why does no one think I deserve to know the reason?”
Gullie sighed. “For the record, I think you do. So does your mother.”
“It’s my father that’s keeping something hidden from me then, isn’t it?”
“You know what our father is like,” came Radulf’s voice. He entered the tent with a couple of bowls in his hand. Both bowls were filled with a kind of warm stew, fingers of mouth-watering steam rising from them. He set one bowl down in front of Tallin, who wasted no time digging in, then he handed another bowl over to me.
It smelled delicious, and I also didn’t waste much time digging in, savoring the first few bites of meat and potatoes like it was the first meal I’d had in my entire life. “Did you make this?” I asked, my mouth partially full.
