42. Unhappy Fortunes #3
“We’re all grasping for something, Faren,” I said.
“Not very Storybook Hero of me,” he quipped.
“It’s better,” I insisted. “It’s real.”
Faren’s gaze went distant, lifting to where birds were flitting in and out of an old oak grove.
The high road had flattened into a basin of pastureland, and Faren raised a brow in silent question, a language we’d developed over countless days of riding together.
In tandem, we veered off the path, heading into the shelter of the trees, where we dismounted and sat in the grass, allowing our horses to graze while we drank from our water skins and rested.
I tipped my face toward the sun, musing on what Faren had told me. I knew that, in spite of his complicated feelings toward Lothgaim, he loved his family fiercely. I wanted to know more about the people who’d shaped him.
“Your family,” I said. “Will you tell me about them?”
Faren nudged the toe of my boot with his own. “Are you taking an interest in me?”
“Yes,” I replied honestly.
His eyes filled with warmth. “The firstborn is Rown. Growing up, he always felt more like an idea than an older brother—he took his role as a noble heir very seriously—but I looked up to his sense of duty.” Faren shined an apple on his sleeve, carved out a thin slice with his dagger, and handed it to me.
“Then there’s Kate, who is opinionated and bull-headed.
She’d rather go on a hunt than don a ballgown and make small talk, which put her in contention with my mother for much of her adolescence. She took her frustration out on me.”
“How so?”
“Mind games, mostly,” Faren said, crunching on his own slice of apple.
“Convincing me there was a cursed spirit in the attic. Telling me one of the maids fancied me, only for me to flirt with her in front of a footman who happened to be her husband. That sort of thing.” A fond smile.
“I have Kate to thank for my unflappable nature.”
“You are quite forgiving.”
“Makes life easier.” He handed me another slice. “I was born next, then Persephone. She was always quiet, bookish. She’s a scholar in Lothgaim City, now, married to a sculptor. It was a scandal at the time, but she’s earned a great deal of respect for herself.”
“Do Rown and Kate have partners?”
“Rown, yes. He and his wife have already produced two heirs, making my role in the Hayward lineage obsolete—which I’m happy about.” Faren chewed thoughtfully. “Kate is unattached, but she seems happy.”
Finishing my snack, I committed the names and details to memory.
“Beatrice,” Faren went on, tossing the core of the apple in Sunny’s direction, “is equal parts humor and mischief. The life of any party. I can’t keep up with her love life, and don’t wish to.
” He removed the fox figurine from his pocket and turned it over in his fingers.
“Eva is the youngest. She’s sweet, genteel.
Just got married, which is strange for me to say, as to me she’ll always be an eight-year-old with pink ribbons in her hair. ”
“And your parents?”
“Within the parameters of court life, they had to raise us with certain expectations. They are kind and loving but had high standards. There was always a sense of pressure. I don’t blame them for it, but I’m grateful to have escaped.”
“Do you miss them?”
“Immensely.” His grin was brighter than the sun reflecting off his armor. “My surname might be a burden at times, and I’m glad I don’t live at court, but I love my family dearly. They’re a lot, but they’re my lot. I would do pretty much anything for them.”
Thinking of my own family, I said, “I understand.”
Stretching my legs out long, I recalled our first night at the Lark, when I’d asked if he’d ever brought a woman home to meet his family. My paramour would be better off facing a pack of wolves, he’d said.
“Do you think…” I trailed off, feeling coy about my question. “What would they think of me?”
Without missing a beat, he said, “Oh, they would love you.”
“They would?”
He returned the figurine to his pocket. “Eva would be enamored by your spiritedness. Beatrice would admire your fearlessness and also ask to hold your sword, which I would advise against. Persephone would appreciate your smarts. Kate would relish your recalcitrance—especially the ways you test me. Rown would respect your strong principles. And my parents would like you because I like you.”
The compliments—so freely given—made my head spin. “That sounds too favorable to be true.”
He stared at me a moment, as if he were viewing me in a new light—then the expression cleared.
“You’ll see for yourself in six weeks. They’ll be in Fenrir for the Unity Ceremony, as members of the Lothgaimian court.
” His gaze dipped to my mouth, and he leaned in, a smile dancing across his lips. “I’d love to introduce you.”
The Unity Ceremony.
My stomach sank. I’d almost forgotten that the Valiant were planning—
A faint whistle parted the air, whizzing past Faren’s head as he met my lips; an arrow thunked into a tree trunk behind us, and we were on our feet in an instant, weapons drawn.