Page 58 of Crimson Kingdom
At least I could feel confident in something when I walked down several sets of stairs to the Council Room on the second floor, since there were creatures far bigger than butterflies beating angry wings in my stomach with each step.
Avani gave my arm a final squeeze before dropping it to open the Council Room door.
Evander looked up sharply when I entered, and I couldn’t help but notice that I wasn’t the only one who didn’t sleep last night.
Though he was as freshly shaven and put together as ever, his hair was just the slightest bit tousled, like he had run his hands through it one too many times, and there was a purplish tinge under his eyes.
He looked on with something like wariness when Avani took the seat Theo usually occupied, and I sank into the chair next to her.
“Should we wait for Lord Theodore to begin?” my mother asked uncertainly. Theo was never late.
“No,” I said shortly. “That won’t be necessary. I informed him of my decision last night.”
Evander’s features could have been carved from marble for all the emotion they showed... all but the barest, bitter twist of his lips.
“I’ve taken all the factors into consideration, and have decided that for the sake of our people, the people of Socair, and the general promotion of peace, the most advantageous alliance is one with…” I met Evander’s eyes, steeling myself, “Bear.”
His lips parted in surprise, though wariness still coated his features.
“So,” I took a deep breath, “I accept Lord Evander’s proposal, assuming he is still amenable to that.”
A wan imitation of his usual arrogant smirk fell into place before he responded. “If you’re willing to make sacrifices for the sake of your people, then I could hardly refuse to do the same.”
“Have you decided whether you will return to Lochlann, then?” Laird MacBay asked before I could respond to Lord Arseling’s comment.
My gaze hadn’t left Evander’s, and I didn’t let it waver now, either. I raised my eyebrows in a silent challenge, and he raised his right back.
Well, then.
“As much as I would love to make that decision,” I said, all false pleasantries, “I’m afraid I couldn’t possibly know my own mind well enough to know what to do. Thank the stars I have a big, strong, Socairan man in the room to tell me what’s best, though. Lord Evander?”
I ignored the sideways looks nearly everyone in this room were giving me, although Uncle Oli definitely choked on a laugh, and my father sighed.
A muscle ticked in Evander’s jaw.
It might have been fury, but I had a sneaking suspicion that somewhere underneath the supreme irritation that was emanating off of him in waves, he was just the slightest bit amused.
“Ordinarily, I would be happy to oblige your...needs.” He paused meaningfully. “But I couldn’t possibly think of making this decision for you, even if I did know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was making the right one.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, about to throw back a response when my mother cut in.
“It doesn’t have to be decided today,” she said, holding out her hands in a placating gesture. “Let’s just get through announcing it at the festival tomorrow first.”
Uncle Oli cut in. “You will need to put on a convincing show for the people, though. They are most certainly going to balk at this arrangement, and we need their support for this alliance.”
“That won’t be a problem,” Evander said with a wry tilt of his lips. “We’re both good at pretending.”
I narrowed my eyes at the echo of what I had said to him at the cabin in Bear, the night we kissed.
“Are we?” I parroted his words back at him.
He raised a challenging eyebrow but didn’t respond.
Avani just shook her head with a subtle sigh, and my mother mirrored the gesture before looking at Aunt Jocelyn.
“And I suppose we have a wedding to plan.”
CHAPTERTHIRTY-TWO