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He nudged me with his shoulder to get my attention. “It wouldn’t have to be forever. Just long enough to let things settle,” he said, trying to ease my burden, but I wasn’t sure that made this any easier to stomach.
Van eyed the binder again. “I bet you there’s not a single Lunar Court suitor in there.”
I closed my eyes for a moment. “I’d be an idiot to take that bet. They hate me here. It’s why I’ve been a spy for so long.” I blew out a breath as I considered. “And that means we start visiting other courts.”
“Yes.”
I looked at Van. “What’s more dangerous—a princess visiting another court filled with enemies or a princess staying at her own court, also filled with enemies?”
“I’m not sure. Because that body outside your door means that all traditional court protections against you will be removed.”
I laughed, but it wasn’t because I thought this was funny. It just kept getting worse. “That should make it even more fun. Good thing you used to be a god.”
“Good thing.” Van winked at me. “But I did find out one little tidbit while you were arguing with your mother that might improve your mood.”
“What’s that?” I’d take anything at this point.
“Your mother’s been playing with time again.”
My heart nearly stopped. Depending on which way she’d twisted time, that either meant Chris had been with Eli months or days, instead of weeks like I’d thought.
“How long has it been in the mortal realm? How long have we been down here to them?”
“Eighteen or so hours in the mortal realm to our three weeks at court.”
I let out a whoosh of breath. Nothing would’ve shocked me more. The power it took to make that much of an impact was immense. She was opening herself to attack wasting so much of it for so long. “Why? She’s never played willy-nilly with the underhill’s time like that before. That’s a massive lag.”
“My best guess? She been giving you time to come to terms with letting Chris go, and now that you know, you’ll be able to relax, fortify your power base with marriage, and then go find him and in time help with whatever Eli’s doing.”
“That’s…” I took another breath. “Okay.” That meant Chris was fine. I could cry from relief. But my relief didn’t last long.
“Oh, no.” If mother was going through that much—expending that much energy on time games—then she wasn’t joking around. I had to marry and quickly. “There’s no getting out of it this time, is there?”
“I’m afraid not. If it’s any consolation, you’ve lasted longer than any of your siblings. They married for power by their eighteenth year. Not that any of those marriages lasted, but…”
“I know.” And I was old. Much older than any of my friends in Texas knew. Only Chris knew the truth about me.
But I’d never needed to marry for power. I had enough on my own, just as my mother had enough. I could choose to marry for love, and so I’d waited. My siblings called me a hopeless romantic, but I didn’t care. I let them laugh at me behind my back—and to my face—for years.
Marrying for power now was a blow I hadn’t expected. “So, what do I do?”
Van stood and gave me a pointed look. “You shower before you get blood all over the rest of your furniture.”
I glanced down at myself. He was right. Blood had sprayed my shirt and pants, and now that he’d told me, my face felt a little itchy. I hated when blood got on my face. “I hadn’t realized any had gotten on me.”
“It did.”
“Yes. I see that now.” I snapped and then instantly regretted it. “My apologies.”
“Not needed. I’ll shower as well. We’ll meet back here in one hour. And just like before, I’ll be staying on your couch until it’s safe. I’ll move some of my things. I’d ask that you don’t dismiss the rest of your guards yet.”
“Why not?”
“I want to weed out who exactly has turned against us, but we’ll need to be on alert at all times until then. I’d be more worried if you still had more than fifty, but the good news is that you only have the required twelve guards for a nonheir princess on staff right now.”
I closed my eyes, letting myself wallow for a moment. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“We’ll get through. We did before, and you’re stronger now. Older and—dare I say—wiser?”
