17 #2
“I know, but arrow sounds more dangerous. A good survival story needs stakes.”
Marisol laughed. “Even on what was almost your deathbed, you’re making jokes.”
“If I got upset every time I almost died, I’d be miserable by now.
” Teo attempted to sit up, rumpling his bandages in the process.
Marisol considered protesting, but she wasn’t his physician or his mother.
She helped him into a comfortable position instead, adjusting his pillows so that they were behind his back.
He only winced a little as he settled down.
“At least this time, I essentially did it to myself.”
“To save a fake fawn.”
Teo ducked his head. “It didn’t look fake in that moment. It was so small, and it sounded so scared.”
“How did you and Bas meet?”
Marisol and Teo stared at each other in silence, both puzzled by the words that had unexpectedly left her mouth.
It felt like a question she should have asked earlier.
It felt like a question she’d been scared to know the answer to.
This was the boy whom Bas had chosen over her; the Castellans were the family that Bas had hated less than the Seawards.
His words in the forest still waited at the back of her mind, daring her to face them, but it wasn’t until now that she realized how much it bothered her, the mystery of this friendship she was trying to use against him.
“Well,” Teo said, blinking. “He applied for a job in the kitchens, and he was my age, which was all I needed in a friend at the time.”
“How”— original , she thought bitterly—“nice.”
Teo didn’t notice her tone, lost as he was in his memories.
“My brother, Itzal, was already pulling away, carrying the weight of preparing for the throne. And the other children at court saw me as a prince first and a boy second. Bas was different. He was normal around me, and I became very comfortable with him. We grew up together. I asked him to transfer to my personal guard—mostly because I wanted to spend even more time with him. And he agreed.”
Marisol picked at a loose thread on the sheet. “How long have you been courting?”
“I—No. We’re not. No.” Teo’s hand covered hers, stilling her restless fingers. “With respect, if I were bound in love to someone else, I would never have agreed to fake a betrothal with you. And, false or not, I would never betray you or embarrass you by starting something now.”
“But you’re in love. Aren’t you?” She didn’t raise her eyes. There was a lump in her throat that made her worry about what her face looked like. “It’s obvious that the two of you are more than friends.”
“I’ve never had a relationship that would qualify as more than my friendships. Bas is an important part of my life. He’s part of who I am. How could I possibly label or quantify a once-in-a-lifetime love like that?”
Marisol managed a faint smile. “I understand now.”
She’d had a person like that once. And Bas had taken her away.
“Hey.” Teo squeezed her hand briefly, until she met his gaze. “I hope it’s not too forward of me to say, but… I care about you, too, you know?”
“My lord, we’ve only just met.”
“Don’t start the ‘my lord’ stuff now.” Teo leaned back against his pillows with a smile.
“I don’t say that to embarrass you. I’ve just…
liked getting to know you and working alongside you.
You’re intelligent, witty, and empathetic in a way that so many people at court have forgotten to be.
I think House Vinyet did the right thing by raising you away from all that.
You’ve already made me want to be a more caring version of myself. ”
Marisol had no idea what to do with that or where to start with his impression of her fake identity. She refilled his glass just to have something to do with her hands. “Tell me more about court. Is it truly so miserable?”
Teo’s eyes drooped as he described the “nest of vipers” that was the royal court, where sycophants and puppet masters thrived, linking themselves through chains of bargains to gain power and influence.
Marisol had been allowed to visit court only once, and she’d quickly lost sight of the Seawards in the crowd.
Courtiers had swarmed her, the crown’s ward ripe for manipulation, and she’d been overwhelmed by their interest. Their promises.
Their sugar-spun compliments, hiding the bitterness underneath.
The ones who had asked her for reasonable favors had been dismissed from court. The ones who had asked her for unreasonable ones had been exiled. And she had been barred from royal events until she was old enough to be discerning.
Footsteps sounded in the hallway. Marisol passed Teo his glass of water and stood. “I’ll give you and Bas some privacy.” She tried to swallow her next words, but they fell from her lips anyway, quiet and far too earnest. “I’m… I’m glad you’re all right.”
“Thanks,” Teo said gently. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”
She didn’t know how many tomorrows he had left before she went through with her plan—and she would, she had to, she would —but she knew this much: “Yes, you will.”