Chapter Forty-One
Tem’s blood ran cold.
“I found them one day when I was wandering the castle,” Evelyn said, twirling her champagne glass. She hadn’t taken a single sip. “Funny thing to leave lying around, don’t you think? Where anyone could find them?”
Tem’s heartbeat slammed in her chest. Evelyn had read the letters.
Her letters. The ones she had told Leo to write—the ones where he had written everything he couldn’t tell her now that they were with other people.
Fierce jealousy whipped through Tem. Evelyn got to read them?
It wasn’t fair. But more importantly, it was dangerous.
“He doesn’t know I read them,” Evelyn continued calmly, as if this weren’t earth-shattering information. “But I did. Every single one.” She leaned in. “He loves you. He always will.”
It wasn’t new information. But it wasn’t something she ever thought she’d hear from Evelyn.
“But I have him, Tem,” she continued. “He’s mine. I won.”
Tem opened her mouth, but Evelyn still wasn’t done.
“I had him before you, and I will have him for the rest of his life.”
Tem almost laughed. Unless she slept with Leo, the rest of his life would not be very long. “You will never have him,” she said. “Not as long as he loves me.”
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
Both Evelyn and Tem stood abruptly, their conversation immediately abandoned. Evelyn opened the door to reveal the one person Tem wanted to see more than anything.
Leo was wearing a dark suit, his hair slicked back. He looked similar to the way he’d looked for their wedding, and the thought made her want to cry. His eyes went to Tem’s before settling on Evelyn’s.
“The guests are arriving,” he said. “Are you coming downstairs?”
“Yes, of course.” Evelyn threw a glance over her shoulder at Tem. “We were just finishing up.”
But they were far from finished. So much had happened in the past few minutes that Tem could barely process it.
There were a hundred loose ends, a thousand new problems, and no way to solve them.
Tem realized suddenly that if there were to be no more Sunday dinners, this might be her last chance to talk to Leo.
She had to seize this moment right here, right now.
Tem squared her shoulders, stepping forward so she was right in front of Leo. His eyes flicked to hers as she said, “There is something you must know.”
Evelyn’s head whipped around, her eyebrows raised in disbelief.
But Tem would not reveal her secret. Evelyn’s undoing would be her own.
Instead, she would tell Leo the one thing she hoped would make him see reason—the only thing that could convey the gravity of just how bad things had gotten between the kingdoms: “Earlier this week, a weasel was released underneath the mountains. Forty-six basilisks died.”
Leo’s eyes widened. Evelyn’s narrowed.
Tem knew Leo was imagining, just for a moment, what life would be like if forty-six villagers died on his watch. She let the silence sit, wanting him to stew in that thought.
“So many deaths,” he said. “From a weasel?”
“Their scent is fatal to the basilisk. Everyone knows that.”
Leo nodded quickly. “Of course, it just seems…unbelievable.”
“Well, believe it.” Her answers were tight. Stilted. Tem was not in the mood to coddle Leo right now. She needed him to see her pain.
“What about you?” Leo asked.
“What about me?”
“I mean…does the weasel…affect you?”
He was asking if she was hurt, if she had been in any danger. Evelyn’s lips pursed.
“No,” answered Tem. “I’m fine.”
Unmistakable joy passed over Leo’s face. “Thank Kora.”
His words hung between them. It was entirely inappropriate for him to act so relieved. But there was nothing Tem could do about it. It was not her responsibility to monitor Leo’s emotions. If he wanted to act this way in front of Evelyn, that was his choice. Tem was past the point of caring.
“I will make sure to find Caspen tonight,” Leo continued, “and tell him he has my condolences.”
Tem noticed how he didn’t say “our.”
“You can tell him,” Tem said. “But it won’t make a difference.”
Leo ran a hand through his hair, displacing several strands.
“He’s angry, Leo,” she continued. “And he has every right to be. The villagers are the ones who did this.”
“But why would they do this?”
“It was retaliation,” Tem said. “For Jonathan’s and Christopher’s deaths.”
Leo sighed. “I would never sanction such an attack,” he said quietly. “Surely, Caspen knows that.”
Tem didn’t answer.
Silence fell.
Evelyn stood between them, her arms crossed defensively. Tem couldn’t read her mind, but it was clear she didn’t approve of any of this, that she was upset they were even talking about such things on the eve of her wedding.
“You said that forty-six basilisks died,” Evelyn said.
“Yes. They did.”
“So…” Evelyn said slowly, her eyes flitting first to Leo, then back to Tem. “Are they buried? Or do basilisks practice cremation?”
Tem blinked. Why was Evelyn asking about basilisk funerary customs? It wasn’t like her to care. “They will be burned,” Tem said.
“Oh,” Evelyn said with obvious disappointment. She seemed extremely put-out.
“Is that quite acceptable to you?” Tem asked.
Evelyn sighed. “Of course. I was merely inquiring.”
“Why do you care what we do with our dead?”
She shrugged. “It just seems like a shame.”
Leo went pale.
“How is it a shame?” Tem asked. “They will be properly honored.”
“It’s a waste.”
“A waste?”
Horrific comprehension crashed into Tem. She finally understood why Evelyn was inquiring about the bodies. To her, there was still a use for them.
“You want them for bloodletting?”
“If there are forty-six basilisks available, we should—”
“They’re not available. They’re dead.”
“I just think that—”
“Evelyn,” Leo snapped. “Enough.”
Evelyn pursed her lips, then fell silent.
Tem’s insides turned to flame. She was beginning to think that Caspen shouldn’t have left her unoccupied.
Caspen, with his centuries of self-control, would be just fine.
Tem, on the other hand, was a hair’s breadth away from committing murder.
She directed her words only at Leo: “The attack must be addressed. And soon.”
Leo nodded. “I understand. I will apologize tonight, in person.”
Evelyn interjected. “You cannot apologize.”
Tem stared at her. “Excuse me?”
Evelyn turned to Leo. “We must show solidarity with our people.”
“Your people caused this,” Tem snapped. “My people died.”
“Your people are not people at all. They are snakes.”
All the rage she’d suppressed toward Evelyn was threatening to spill out at the seams now.
Tem wanted to lunge at her, to rip her apart limb from limb.
She wanted to throw her down in the dungeons with Maximus so they could both rot together for all eternity.
She wanted to kill her. But before she could do any of that, Leo placed his hand on Tem’s waist.
Not her arm. Not her shoulder. Her waist.
A moment passed as they all stared at Leo’s hand. Suddenly, Tem realized how he was standing: his body facing Evelyn, his shoulder between them…protecting Tem.
“You should leave,” Leo whispered to Evelyn. “It’s what you do best.”
Evelyn raised a singular eyebrow. Her fists were clenched at her sides, and for a very real moment, Tem wondered if she was going to hit Leo. Then her shoulders relaxed, and her lips formed a cold smile. “We will discuss this later,” she said. “When we are alone.”
Then she swept out of the room.
The moment she was gone, Leo leaned against the mantel, the color drained from his face.
Tem immediately crossed to the cart and poured him a drink.
He took it, gulping it down without a word.
Tem refilled it immediately. This one he sipped slowly, still leaning against the mantel.
He looked completely worn down, and Tem wanted to reach for him.
But they’d crossed so many lines already—she wasn’t willing to cross any more.
Instead, she just watched him as he watched the fire, wishing she could make things better.
His scent had changed, she realized. Leo used to smell like a summer breeze. Now he smelled heavier. Darker.
“Leo,” she whispered.
He didn’t look at her. “My guests are arriving,” he said stiffly. “I’ll see you downstairs.”
“Leo, wait—”
But he was gone, leaving Tem alone once more. She cast a single last glance around Leo’s bedroom before crossing the hall to hers. Caspen was sitting at the desk when she entered. He stood up the moment she opened the door.
“Tem,” he said. He had a curious expression on his face, as if he’d just realized something.
“Caspen.”
A pause. “I think it’s starting. We should go downstairs.”
“Very well. Lead the way.”
He didn’t ask her about her conversation with Evelyn.
Tem didn’t know what she would have told him about it anyway.
Instead, they made their way downstairs in silence.
The ballroom was filled with familiar faces—all the royals who had just been at her wedding mere weeks ago were here again, for this one.
Some of them looked rather wary, especially around Caspen, and Tem couldn’t help but remember that the last time they’d been here the basilisks had attempted a hostile takeover.
She wondered whether they were worried it might happen again.
Notably absent was Maximus. Tem hadn’t expected to see him.
Still, she found it significant that the father of the groom would not attend his own son’s wedding.
Even Lilly was here, despite what she’d told Tem in the bathroom with the golden sink.
When their eyes met across the room, she gave Tem a knowing look. Tem simply looked away.