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Al looked up questioningly at Cass. It appeared that she was as in the dark as we were.
“With things being so slow at the wall these days, High Lord Dumont has asked me to come and spend some time at the High Court so I can get ready to head things up at the Golden Court. So, this will be my last trip back up north for a while,” Cass explained.
“Congrats, man,” Rhett replied. We all knew that Cass’s time at the High Court would be a short precursor to his rule over the Golden Court while High Lord Dumont manned his spot on the High Council.
“That’s great, Cass! Why didn’t you tell me?” Al asked, but the smile on her face told me she was happy for him.
“Because I wanted to see that smile on your face,” he answered.
And just like that, our little group of three—me, Rhett, and Al—was officially a party of six. Cass, Karina, and James joined me, Al, and Rhett everywhere we went around the Court if we were all in the same town. And that did not seem likely to change now that Cass was moving to the High Court and Rhett and James were engaged.
I rose from my seat next to Karina. “Yeah, congrats, Cass,” I said, patting him on the arm and then making my way to my study. I walked over to my white, marble top desk and grabbed the first stack of paper I saw and began to rifle through it. To my surprise, Al followed me in almost immediately after. She said nothing as she entered my study; instead, she found a glass candy bowl sitting in front of a stack of books and dug through it.
“What are you doing?” I asked, looking up from the random stack of correspondence in my hands.
Al and I didn’t necessarily talk directly about relationship type stuff, but we had our own form of communication. She knew I was asking why she had chosen to follow me into the room.
“I like to check out all of my options before I decide what I want,” she responded, continuing to pick through the different kinds and colors of candy.
She looked up from the candy bowl to find me standing right next right next to her with an appreciative smirk on my face.
“I know you do, Al. But I already know what you want,” I said confidently.
And my tone made it plain that what she wanted wasme. I’d been thinking about what Rhett said to me before I left for the Winter Gala. Specifically, what he had said about Al not knowing all of heroptions. The three months of courting I’d promised my parents with Karina would be ending soon. After that, I could renegotiate things with my parents and House Dempsey.
As far as the King’s expectations went, there was more than one way to strengthen alliances between Houses, and many of them didn’t require forced unions. I’d been waiting for Al to get back to Court to broach the subject of heroptionswith her.
“Hmm?” she said under her breath, still digging around in the candy. She momentarily moved her hand out of the bowl, setting aside a piece of green candy, then resumed her digging. But she took her lower lip between her teeth, biting it, and I knew exactly what that meant.
I reached into the glass bowl, grabbing her hand and stilling it. I ran my thumb gently across the top of her hand.
She looked up at me, and I think there was something close to fear in her beautiful green and gold eyes. She was scared. She was scared of her feelings for Cass. She was scared of her feelings for me. She was scared of the possibility of losing it all.
I took a deep breath and released her hand, grabbing a pink piece of hard candy.
“Watermelon,” I said with a smirk, handing her the pink piece of candy I knew she had been searching for. “Your favorite.”
I couldn’t do it to her. I couldn’t tell her, “Hey, Al, I know you are really happy with Cass right now, but you remember that one time we thought you might be Rhett’s mate because you are pretty much immune to his magic? Well, it turns out the reason his magic can’t touch you is that I accidentally magically imprinted on you. I don’t know how it happened. I believe it actually happened sometime before we ever had sex, which I didn’t even know was possible. But now, there’s an invisible magical string tying me to you, and my magic protects you even when I am not around you. Oh, and it hurts when I’m not with you.”
That was the gist of what I’d come up with to say to her today. But seeing her so happy with Cass, I just couldn’t say it. I wouldn’t make her feel like she had to choose between the two of us. I wouldn’t risk losing her, even if it meant I lost the chance to ever kiss her beautiful face again.
“Come on, you two,” Rhett called out.
I left Al with the pink and green candies in her hand. I walked back into the parlor and plopped down on the sofa across the table from Karina. Al plopped down right next to me.
“Whose deal is it?” I asked.
Rhett began throwing out the cards in response to my question.
“Don’t forget your ante,” Al said helpfully, unwrapping the pink candy and decisively popping it in her mouth.
33
Alarie
My days with Cass at the High Court were some of the happiest times of my entire life. Leaving Cass, with a smile on my face, I came home to find a gorgeous strapless white dress hanging on the front of my stained oak armoire. I traced my eyes down the long silken skirt of the gown, noticing a pair of silver stilettos just my size. I grabbed the small slip of paper resting on top of the heels.
I get to choose what you wear this evening. — N.
