Page 74 of Hollow Court

“No,” I said shortly.

His expression shuttered, and I found myself offering an explanation I wasn’t entirely sure he deserved.

“I didn’t put it together by myself,” I clarified. “I had a visit from your dear friend, the maid.”

He let out a bitter huff of air.

“Of course you did,” he said. “And did Aino happen to mention why she felt the sudden need to betray her own kingdom?”

He remembered her name.How charming.

“She claimed she felt that I deserved to know, under the circumstances.” There was an edge to my tone I couldn’t quite suppress.

He snorted in disbelief, and my lips parted in ire. Heat washed over me, chasing away the sting of the cold from the icy stone floor and the metal of my ring.

So much for not being angry with him anymore.

“You disagree?” I demanded, my voice only slightly less irritated than I felt.

Davin leveled a look at me. “I think we both know that’s not why she told you.”

He wasn’t wrong there.She had told me because she was jealous, but I didn’t especially love having that confirmed. Any lingering doubt that they had enjoyed…a relationship, effectively vanished.

“That’s not an answer,” I said evenly.

He shook his head, sighing. “It wasn’t about what you did or didn’t deserve, Galina. It was a lot more complicated than that.”

It was my turn to scoff. “And here I thought I had left all the patronizingsvolochibehind in Socair.”

“I’m not trying to patronize you, Galina, or be a bastard.” Davin sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

He went on before I could assure him that he didn’t have to try to be a bastard. It was one of his many natural skillsets.

“It’s just not as simple as a yes or no answer,” he said. “Rowan was in danger, and I was in an impossible situation.”

“And you thought I was a threat to her?” I wasn’t sure if I was indignant or just genuinely curious at his faulty rationale.

He shook his head, not as much a denial as a show of frustration. “Ithoughtyou were loyal to your uncle, who could certainly have been a threat to her. Besides, you hated Rowan.”

I tried very hard not to wince at the implication that I hadn’t been loyal to my uncle, or that I wasn’t now. Even though it was true. Instead, I focused on the second part of what he said.

“I didn’t hate her,” I corrected.

I just hated that she had waltzed into my life long enough to be more important than I was to my uncle, my almost-betrothed…and later, Davin.

“And I certainly didn’t wish death on her,” I went on. “If anything, I would have gladly helped you get her back to Lochlann and out of my life.”

Tucking his hands in his pockets, he tilted his head toward the sky, releasing a slow breath through his nose.

“I know that now.” If he had sounded frustrated before, there was only resignation in his tone now. “And for whatever it’s worth, I am sorry for the way…everything went.”

Sorry for lying? Sorry I found out? Sorry for our night together?

I found I wasn’t brave enough to ask.

“Don’t apologize for something you would do again,” I told him, not sure which of those things I was referring to.

“I wouldn’t,” he responded, his gaze meeting mine once again.