Page 93 of Crimson Kingdom
Truthfully, I could never quite see him as Van, though I knew that’s what his friends called him. He was always just Evander to me.
“If you say so,” I said dubiously.
“So,Van,” Avani cut in. “What about Mamá?”
“That one, I have no idea on,” he admitted.
“Hers is tricky,” I said. “She and Uncle Finn took tonics as children, making their traits a little less evident, but she has some affinity toward nature--trees, specifically.”
“And Uncle Finn is like Gwyn,” Davin added. “Though he’s a bit more…” He trailed off at the defiant look on her face.
“I will beat him one day,” she said.
“Sure, you will,” Davin said, shaking his head no at the same time.
She promptly punched him in the arm again.
We bantered and joked, the others taking the opportunity to grill Evander more now that it was just us. He took their intrusive questions with surprising grace, even chuckling a handful of times.
We got so caught up in the rare bit of fun we were having, we lost track of time until the palace clock chimed twelve times.
“Oh no,” Avani leaned over, throwing her hands over Evander’s eyes.
“What...” Confusion laced his tone.
“It’s tradition,” I explained, turning around quickly. “We can’t see each other the day of the wedding.”
“What if I don’t like this tradition?” he inquired.
And it definitely did not give me any kind of fuzzy feeling, knowing he didn’t want me to go.
“Our parents didn’t obey that rule, and look what happened,” Gwyn said. “War.”
“No one wants a war, Van,” Avani laughed, not moving her hands.
“All right, I relent,” he chuckled. “I’ll keep my eyes closed.”
“Then we will take Rowan back to Avani’s rooms,” Gwyn said.
“And we are going to go collect Van’s cousin and a few of his soldier friends and keep this party going in here,” Davin said.
“Only the soldiers, Dav.” My voice was firm, though not being able to glare at him somewhat detracted from that. “I mean it.”
“Cross my heart, Cousin.” He sounded far too flippant for my liking.
“Gal!” I called for assistance.
“I promise, Row.” Gallagher reassured me. “I won’t let him bring any of his lady friends.”
Evander’s low laugh sounded.
“All right then.” I sighed. “I will...see you tomorrow, Evander.”
I heard the smile in his voice when he answered. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Lemmikki.”
CHAPTERFORTY-EIGHT
Sleep had been nearly impossible, but I didn’t care. My mind spun with thoughts of Evander, his lips, his storm-ridden eyes, and the fact that he was mine.