Page 129 of The Heir's Bargain

"Brother," I spat, "Now that was just rude."

"Get up," Terin commanded.

I rolled my eyes, turning away from him. "I am the heir, remember? You do not command me."

"Are you? Because, based on the man I am looking at right now, I would never have guessed."

"Piss off, Ter," I grumbled, stuffing another pillow from the couch behind my head.

He snatched that pillow, too. "You are pathetic."

"Add it to the list. Perhaps next to disappointment and coward."

Terin released a heavy sigh. Footsteps padded across the floor before the couch sunk slightly near my feet. "You've been here for over a week, Fynn."

"If this is about some princely duty, the council can handle it without me. None of them wish for me to be in that seat, anyway."

"Is that what this is about?" Terin asked, slapping my leg. "And here I thought it was because of you and Dani."

I kicked him. "I said piss off."

"Mother is worried. We are all worried."

"Go worry somewhere else then," I said, pressing the heels of my palms against my eye sockets, willing the burning to disappear. At least when Lance or Telis had bothered me, they buggered off when I commanded.

Terin hummed, but he did not move.

Groaning, I asked, "If you will not leave, then out with it already."

The silence that followed was a heavy weight upon my head. For a moment, I did not think Terin would give me a response, but then he finally did.

"I didn't think you would be this upset. You've never been this distraught over someone you have courted before. What makes this different from any of those courtships?"

I bit down on my tongue. However, the searing pain did little to distract from the ache in my chest.

"Dani," I said at last.

"What about her?"

"She is the difference."

"Why?" Terin asked. "I thought this was fake."

My eyes sprung open, and my limbs grew cold.

Terin wasn't supposed to know. No one was. If Terin knew?—

"What did you just say?"

"Oh, calm down." Terin shoved my legs off the couch. "No one else knows."

"But how—why—" My tongue twisted in my mouth as I struggled to sit up.

Terin scoffed, scratching his head. "You and Dani are quite loud when you argue."

My brows twisted.

Terin continued, "The day she interrupted our training? Before I even got out of earshot, Dani had said something about the importance of making your courtship believable to the generals." He shrugged a shoulder and added, "Plus, you are not as good at keeping secrets when you are asleep as you are awake."

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