Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-two
Jacinth
We left Alfrikr behind at the gates, prompting Azurill to raise a brow in question. I smiled charmingly at him, not saying a word, but reaching out to flip his cape’s hood over his head. He huffed a laugh as I flipped my own up, following after me as I took off down the street.
“If my guards hadn’t obviously approved of this, I might think you were bringing me out here to kill me,” Azurill said jokingly as we descended into the poorer part of town.
I froze for a millisecond before forcing a laugh, winding my arm around his and bumping our shoulders together. “Oh no, too many witnesses saw us leave together.”
“Of course,” he nodded, all faux solemnity, “Probably best not to take me out when you were the last one to be seen with me.” He couldn’t hide his smirk, and I forced that veil of truth over myself once more, matching it.
“Exactly.” I smiled brightly. “Don’t worry, it’s good to get out of your palace now and again.”
We rounded the corner, and I saw the dirty, white brick building with the hanging sign in front reading ‘The Bubbling Gem’, with a depiction of a bubbling potion being poured into a stein painted under it. I stepped up to the door, swinging it open and dragging Azurill with me.
I watched as he looked around and took a moment myself to take in the dingy tavern.
A bar took up the back wall with stools lining it, all of them full.
Worn, cracking wooden tables that looked hundreds of years old were placed close together throughout the rest of the space.
I spotted a small table hidden in a corner that would serve perfectly for my needs and brought us directly to it.
“Leave your hood up,” I instructed Azurill as we sat down. “Unless you want them to figure out who you are, of course.”
“We certainly wouldn’t want that.” He nodded, his eyes glinting in the dim light of the tavern. “Not when tonight is supposed to be just us.”
A barmaid quickly appeared to take our orders and asked with a smile, “What can I get you two?”
“How about a sparkling ale, since we’re in the kingdom they originated from,” I smirked at the king as I ordered the diamond-inspired drink, and he leaned back in his chair, smiling up at the older woman.
“I’ll have the same.” He flipped her a coin that had to be worth four times our order, and her wide eyes and open mouth showcased her shock quite clearly. I nearly sighed in defeat. The man knew nothing about how to blend in.
I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. He was meant to glitter and shine from his throne, not hide among the rabble.
“Sir, this is too much.” The woman argued, but the sheen of tears in her eyes made me soften. It was obvious she needed it, but her morals were at least solid enough to argue.
“I insist,” Azurill said plainly, a gentle smile on his face.
The woman took a deep breath, gathering herself, “Veritx bless you, sir.”
She nodded before taking off to get our drinks, and Azurill turned his gaze back to me.
“I’d argue that was foolish, but it’s nice to see you actually care about these people,” I conceded begrudgingly.
“Did you think I didn’t?” he asked, his brows shooting up in surprise.
“Many nobles don’t.” I sighed deeply. “But…you’re truly not what I was expecting,” I wrenched the words from deep in my soul, admitting the truth—to both of us.
“And what were you expecting, Mini-Dite?” He leaned forward, his elbows landing on the table in a way he’d never dare at the palace.
My smile snuck out despite myself, but I was saved from having to answer right away when our drinks were quickly delivered.
Obviously, the woman had rushed in an effort to earn her substantial tip.
I chugged back the sparkling, silver ale, watching as Azurill did the same. He almost fit in here, chugging ale in his peasant clothing, but something about him was just too much for a commoner.
He stared at me quietly, waiting patiently for an answer to his question.
“I expected you to be a pompous noble who didn’t give a shit about the less fortunate.
” I finally told him, watching his brows furrow.
“That you’d be eating up having the ladies in the competition fighting over you.
That you’d be violent and cruel, capable of doing anything to secure your throne.
” I made myself shrug casually, like my heart wasn’t beating out of my chest, like I wasn’t hiding years' worth of contempt deep in my soul.
His teal eyes widened a bit, and he looked me over critically for a moment. “Well, I didn’t expect such a scathing review.”
His voice sounded uneven, and I knew he was trying to hide the hurt I saw brewing in his eyes. It shouldn’t have caused the pang in my heart that it did.
“I said I was wrong, didn’t I?” I replied, knowing that I had to fix this. For the sake of my vengeance, or perhaps…
He huffed a slight laugh, “Still, that isn’t the impression I want to give to any of my subjects. I don’t want them thinking I’m like Car—”
He cut himself off with a cringe, and I couldn’t help the curl of my lips as I continued his thought, “Like Carnelian?”
He laughed quietly, taking a swing of his ale as he shook his head.
“You must know how he is.” He raised his brows at me, but there was something deeper to his question, something searching.
“I have an idea.” I shrugged as casually as I could. “We don’t spend much time together, if you can believe it,” I said dryly.
Azurill leaned forward, and I couldn’t help leaning in as well, until we were close enough to whisper, and for other things I shouldn’t be considering.
“I have my suspicions about him. I’ll tell you that truthfully. But I’m less sure about you.” He shook his head ruefully. “I shouldn’t even be telling you this.”
“Then why are you?” I murmured, our eyes locked on one another’s, and it felt like the space between us was heavy with heat, like a flame could catch at any moment. Or perhaps it was more like a bubbling potion, about to combust and spew smoke into the air.
“I find that despite what my mind tells me is smart, the rest of me feels like being quite foolish when it comes to you.” He admitted candidly, lifting a hand to push a curl behind my ear. My breath caught in my throat as my eyes fluttered.
“Something about you seems to make me quite foolish as well.” The whisper was wrenched from my gut, and I couldn’t stop it before it landed heavily between us. His intense stare burned through me as I licked my suddenly dry lips. “I shouldn’t trust you.”
“And why not?” He asked quietly, leaning a bit closer.
“As High King, you’ve done awful things,” I tried to make the words land like the accusation they were, but my next ones came out too softly to make it land. “Haven’t you?”
The uncertainty in my voice struck me like a blow.
Knowing of the nebulous figure of a high king who had my family killed was one thing, but seeing the actual man before me, I couldn’t quite reconcile him with that figure.
My instincts screamed at me that something didn’t fit, and I never ignored my instincts.
His eyes darkened, looking more kyanite than teal in the dim lightning of the tavern, and his face fell slightly before he took a swing of ale. I rushed to take one myself, anything to wet my parched throat.
“I have done terrible things,” he finally said, a weight behind the words that made my heart race into my throat as my stomach fell to the floor. “But everything I’ve done has been in the interest of our kingdom. In protecting the people who live here.”
His arm flung out to indicate the rest of the room, all of the people going about their nights as normal. “They’re the lifeblood of our kingdom, whatever the other nobles may think, and I will always do everything I can to be the kind of king that deserves to wear the crown on my head.”
His hand suddenly reached forward, grabbing mine. “What would you do to protect the people you love?”
Mother. Father. Juvela and her husband, Zav. Peony, and my aunt and uncle. Cor and our other guards and household members. Ula. Their faces flashed through my mind in a rapid shuffle, leaving me dizzy. What wouldn’t I do?
My eyes closed, but my fingers curled around his. There was a tragic irony to clasping his hand while the memory of reaching for my mother’s and never making it stirred. And it was all because of him.
Right?
Confusion swam within me, and I opened my eyes, telling him nothing but the truth, “Anything.”
“As would I.” He smiled, matching my whisper and squeezing my hand, but that smile dimmed a moment later. “And there are some who think my brother’s death has made the throne weak. Your lord among them.”
He watched me quietly, and I dipped my head in agreement. He wasn’t wrong; Carnelian was already taking advantage of this. To get me in. I was the one who would ultimately destroy this man, and for the first time, I questioned if it was the right thing to do.
Vengeance had been an unattainable goal for so long that it felt like a dream to get the opportunity for it. But was taking out this man, who apparently cared for the people he ruled over, and replacing him with someone like Carnelian, truly the best thing for Gemaria?
And since when did I care?
Street rats learn first and foremost that you must protect yourself because no one else will do it.
But as a memory rose in my mind of sitting on my father’s knee as he explained his duty to take care of the people of Pearl Court, of how, as nobles, it was our job to protect them, my entire worldview felt shaken to the core.
What was I? Street rat or noble?
Who was I? Jacinth or…Lady Linnea Jacinth Marit?
“The people deserve rulers who truly care. Who do their duty and serve them, not lord over them,” I murmured, forgetting for a moment where I even was.