60

“I hear you’ve been spending most of your free time with Fina and Adora,” the king said. He took a bite of the well-seasoned meat first, and I did the same. It was so tender it nearly melted on my tongue. “And that this is why Fina has chosen to stay in Efra for the remainder of the competition despite her dismissal.”

I nodded. “They’re lovely women. They’ve been so kind to me throughout this process. The competition is a bit nerve-racking” –that made the king smirk— “and having those friendships has made it much easier. Especially for me, since I’ve never had many friends at home.”

The words were simply spilling off my tongue, but this time it wasn’t the wine forcing my hand. It was just the king’s presence. Even with my nerves and my wolf’s sudden wakefulness, the king’s attention was so…simple. In this context, without the council around us, or the prying eyes of the court, or my confusion about his attention in the quiet of the halls or the spell of the forest, he looked curious. Interested. Like this was just a conversation—like there was no ulterior motive. He always had that same intoxicating pull.

“No friends?” he asked. “I have to say, I find that hard to believe.” “That was the way of things in Daybreak,” I said.

“What do you mean, the way of things?”

I sighed. “I was a Lady of the Court before anything else,” I said. “My father, the duke, preferred that I prioritized my duties.”

“Which meant you weren’t allowed to have friends?” the king asked.

“I didn’t do much besides manage the Daybreak trade,” I said.

“No balls? No dates?” He took a sip of his wine, brow furrowed thoughtfully.

“Certainly not,” I said. “My father…” I trailed off and took another bite of the meal, though this time I hardly tasted it.

“It sounds like he kept you on a short leash,” the king said.

“That’s one way of putting it, I suppose,” I said. It was only here in Efra that it was so obvious how much my father had controlled me. Sneaking away to see Griffin was the only reprieve I had. And we’d never had a date like this—he’d never listened to me so intently. He’d never poured my wine for me.

The king hummed. He watched me carefully, over the rim of his wineglass, like he was figuring something out. There wasn’t pity in his eyes, but something similar. An understanding of some kind.

Like he was putting a puzzle together.

“Well,” he said finally, “a Lady of Nightfall is under no such control.”

Control. Is that what it was? As if I wouldn’t be under a different kind of control here in Efra.

“So what would a Lady of Nightfall do instead?” I asked. “What are the duties of your queen?” I wanted to steer the conversation away from my past, from Griffin, from the guilt and confusion starting to twist in my gut.

From the king’s arched brow, though, it was clear my curiosity had piqued his. “Oh? What would you be interested in doing?”

“That’s not what I asked,” I said curtly.

The king grinned, and his face came closer to that smirky, flirtatious look I’d grown familiar with. Usually, it irritated me. Now, I felt more comfortable back in this territory, instead of under the scrutiny of that more genuine, almost concerned gaze of his.

“Well,” he began, “there are plenty of possibilities.”

Conversation was easy after that—discussions of the court, and Nightfall’s history, and Frasia’s trade possibilities. Light but serious. He was surprisingly easy to talk to, once I got used to the intensity of his deep brown eyes. It was comfortable. By the time we’d finished dinner, my wine glass was down to the dregs and my initial anxiety had melted into a warm ease.

“It’s a beautiful evening,” the king said. “Shall we step onto the balcony?”

I nodded my assent. He stood and offered his hand, then led me through the curtain-covered glass doors onto the balcony. It was a gorgeous, small space, with a comfortable two-person couch overlaid with fine furs. The air was brisk, cold enough that goosebumps rose on my bare back. But the view was gorgeous—the snow-capped trees and the still night. It felt like we were somewhere private, a mountain retreat, instead of in the Nightfall manor. He’d brought the carafe of wine with him, and nodded for me to sit on the couch as he poured two more glasses. Then, before he joined me, he picked up one of the thick brown furs from the couch and draped it over my shoulders. I tugged it tight around myself, immediately warmer from the soft fur and heated look in the king’s eyes.

He sat down next to me and offered me my glass. I took another sip as I burrowed deeper into the fur.

The king smiled. “You’ll have to get used to the cold, it appears.”

That made me start, rousing back into reality. I scoffed. “I don’t know about that.”

The king peered at me for a long moment. “What do you mean?”

I pressed my lips together. The anxiety bubbled back up in my chest. “I am a Lady of Daybreak,” I said. “Where the weather is warm year-round.”

“Lady Reyna.” The king slid closer in the couch, turned toward me, and rested the callused palm of his hand on my thigh. “You must know the outcome of this competition.”

“You’ll choose Adora,” I said. I only sounded a little frantic. “She’s a fine woman and will be a finer queen, with all of Starcrest’s resources behind her, and a true passion for leadership and bettering the lives of—”

The king leaned forward and kissed me.

I dropped the wine glass. The king gripped my nape, guiding the kiss, and slid his hand on my thigh up, under the fur, to my waist. His grip was firm and grounding with just the thin layer of silk between us. I couldn’t help but part my lips under his kiss, letting him guide it, letting him sweep his tongue into my mouth.