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“I came here for Asheral.”
What did she mean she was here for Asheral? I scanned the room to find Rayvien but I didn’t see her anywhere. I had more questions and this time I’d ask them. I might have even asked the people who were sitting at my table, but they were quietly leaving, one by one.
Were they afraid of me? It was probably good if they were.
“All right. And what of your guard?”
“Van is already sending a replacement. Tell me if you need funds to clean your carpets of his blood, but I’ll not pay for the blood of yours.”
Was that even a thing? Paying to clean the rug when you killed someone? The fey were messed up if that’s all they could talk about in that moment.
“No. I wouldn’t dream of making you pay to clean rugs.” He looked her up and down with a hungry grin, and I wanted to smash his face in. “And yet, no blood on you. Just as I remember.”
She shrugged and lifted her chin in the air. A classic sign that she wasn’t going to tell him anything.
“If you figure
it out, you’ll tell me?”
“Not on your life.” She smiled. “I think I’d like something harder than tea. Wine?”
“As you wish.” Ziriel bowed a little.
“But no blood in mine. Of any kind.”
Blood? In the drinks? That made me glad that I’d stuck to water.
But blood combined with soured meat seemed really off to me. Was this normal for the fey or just exclusive to Gales? I was going to have to ask Cosette once we got out of here.
“Of course. I wouldn’t dream of giving you anything not vegetarian. I think I learned from my mistake last time.” He clapped his hands and a man came running.
I sat there, waiting for my nerves to calm, but I didn’t think that would happen. Especially now that she was here and even the people guarding her couldn’t be trusted.
For a second, I thought Eli was wrong about her needing saving, but now as I saw them scrambling to clean up the blood, saw her ignoring me, and saw ownership in Asheral’s eyes as he stared at her—as he reached for her and held her hand—I was left wondering one thing: What type of saving did Cosette really need? And who did I need to save her from?
Chapter Ten
COSETTE
I was sitting, smiling, nodding appropriately, but my mind was seventy-two feet away. Halfway across the room. Wishing I was sitting, smiling, nodding appropriately next to Chris.
He’d definitely heard how I skirted the truth about wanting to talk to him, and I’d seen the flash of hurt. But didn’t he know that it was because I more than wanted to talk to him—I needed to talk to him. I had so many questions.
Like what in God’s name was he doing at the Court of Gales? And how much had Eli told him about my situation? Because it was very clear that Chris knew something was going on. He hadn’t seemed fazed at all, and that led me to one more question:
How did he learn to throw a knife that well?
But I couldn’t ask any of those things. We were at court and in public. I was sure the rumors about how I’d given away so many bargains to find out where Chris was had made its way to Gales. I was sure everyone in this room was laughing at me, but I wasn’t sure I cared.
I was supposed to be deciding if I could marry the man sitting next to me, but how could I even think about Asheral when Chris was right there. Seventy-two feet away, maybe less.
It was too much. Too much for me to—
“Are you sure you’re all right?” Asheral asked.
“I’ll be fine. My mind’s a bit scattered though.” I took a sip of the wine, and my hand didn’t shake, despite the fact that I was on the brink of a meltdown.
Chris was here. How was I going to do this with him here? Eli was such an asshole.
