Page 12 of Hollow Court

“Yes, well, I doubt that was ever really in the cards for me.” I deliberately ignored the sinking feeling in my chest.

Maybe that was true, but giving up the possibility of something more still tasted strangely like grief.

Shoving that thought down as deep as it could possibly go, I slapped my hands down on the table, getting up to refill Rowan’s vodka.

“Enough of that, cousin. We’re not wallowers, and we’re not spending our last night talking about all the dreary politics I’m going home to.”

A smirk tugged at her lips, though sadness lingered behind her gaze. “I regret to inform you there are no taverns nearby.”

I made a face. “This really is the worst place in the world. Well, I would suggest pranking your surly husband, but I suspect he might actually murder us for those efforts.”

A light laugh escaped her, just as I had known it would. “Murderyou, maybe.”

“True,” I acknowledged, grateful for the shift in mood. “He already doesn’t like that I’m prettier than he is.”

Rowan laughed harder. “Yes, he was expressing that very thing to me just this morning. The jealousy was palpable.”

“As I suspected,” I said, shaking my head dramatically. “Well then, best not rub salt in the wounds of his overwhelming insecurity.”

It was another few hours of making fun of Socairans and rehashing bittersweet stories before she was yawning more than she was actually speaking. Despite her protests that she wasn’t tired, she did eventually leave with one last hug, promising to see me off in the morning.

Only a few minutes after she was gone, a knock sounded at the door.

I huffed out a laugh. She had probably forced herself to get a second wind just to be stubborn.

I pulled the door open, a smile already on my lips.

“You’re ridic—” but the word died on my lips, because it wasn’t Rowan standing in the hallway.

It was Galina.

The First Misstep

GALINA

A Year and a Half Ago

I had called Davin an idiot, but I was no better, using my uncle’s name to save a man who probably deserved the beating he was getting.

And now, less than an hour later, I was in his bedroom, having already gone to my room to fetch a small satchel of herbs. For all that I had judged the other courtiers for throwing out a lifetime’s worth of good behavior for him, I was effectively doing the same.

Then again, I was still fully clothed, so I counted it as a win.

“Dare I ask which of their betrothed you cavorted with?” I inquired as I applied a poultice to the blossoming bruise on the side of his face.

Even with his lip swollen and his cheek well on its way, the sight of him casually sprawled across his bed was…difficult to ignore. Not that I would ever go there.

He shot me a rueful glance, wincing when it tugged at his split lip. “A couple of them, apparently, though in fairness I didn’t know they were spoken for. Perils of being in a new court and all.”

My eyebrow lifted of its own accord. “Would it have stopped you, if you had?”

“Yes.” He put a hand on his chest in a display of offense. “I do havesomescruples.”

Oddly, I believed him. What reason could he have to lie about it now?

“DareIask how you know about medicine?” There was amusement in his tone, in spite of the circumstances.

“You can ask,” I said dryly.