Page 16 of Ira

“It’s fine,” Astrid grumbled, crossing her arms to hide her injured hand. Ophelia didn’t dignify that with an answer.

“Do you know what you need to get started, Meera?” Tallulah asked brightly.

“I’ll make a list,” I hedged, not really knowing what I needed. Seeds? A little shovel thing? Astrid had already brought me cutting implements, but I probably needed a few extra things to grow rather than just destroy.

Humans had been growing food for centuries, surely I could figure this out.

“Obviously there will be some trial and error,” Ophelia said. “And maybe the climate at the palace isn’t right for certain things? I guess we’ll find out. But it would be so amazing if you could give it a try, Meera. It’ll be a total game changer for us if we can grow our own food.”

She smiled, and something settled into place in my chest. In so many ways, I wasn’t the right fit for life here, but this was a way I could be genuinely helpful.

This, I could do.

Chapter 5

“Ifollowed you yesterday,” Andrus said as we handed off duties to our replacements to take our midday break. “I know where you’ve been going for lunch each day.”

“I’m aware. Your stealth skills are quite abysmal, you know. I continue to be astounded that you’ve risen as high in the Guard as you have.”

Insults always seemed to roll right off Andrus, it was an enviable talent. His ego was so astoundingly large that mere words had no hope of penetrating it.

“What are you doing, Verner?” he asked, shaking his head and tutting like a disappointed grandmother as we made our way down the hall. “I don’t know how to tell you this, but she clearly doesn’t like you. She doesn’t like anyone.”

“Meera likes me,” I replied confidently.As a friend. And I’d grown to cherish our friendship over the past few weeks, so I had certainly had no complaints on that front.

“She doesn’t like anyone,” Andrus asserted. “Her scent makes that obvious.”

“The emotion you’re feeling is bitterness,” I told Andrus calmly.

“What? Why would I be bitter?”

“You had hoped that one of the ex-Hunters would choose you, and they never did. It’s not acceptable, however, to direct any resentment you may be harboring toward them over that. I recommend you find a way to let it go.”

“I hate when you’re like this,” Andrus huffed, already stomping off. “You don’t know everything, Verner.”

No, I didn’t. And sometimes, I could be too quick to form an opinion and make that opinion known without collecting enough information first. It was a lingering bad habit from my childhood, where I was surrounded by staff who weren’t allowed to challenge my words.

This time, I was pretty sure I was right though.

Tallulah had become less open to suitors since the ball, and Verity seemed content not to make a decision. Tensions were running high among all the Shades at court who had been vying for their attention.

I stopped by the kitchen before making my way to the border with Elverston House, feeling the tension ease from my shoulders with each step. It was the highlight of my day—a quiet moment Meera and I had carved out for ourselves where we could justbe. We could sit in the peace and privacy of the garden, and no one tried to court her, and no one asked anything of me.

For that hour each day, I felt as though I was transported somewhere else completely.

She was in the garden again today, using the odd tools Astrid had sourced for her to cut away at some branches. Today, she was wearing a dark green top, and I liked it on heralmostas much as I liked her in yellow. The dark colors had a very sultry effect on her brown eyes, that I did my best to ignore.Friends. Friends, friends, friends.

I wasn’t sure that Meera trusted in our friendship the same way I did yet. That she trusted that there was stability and longevity in it, but hopefully, time would cure that.

Someday, Meera would see that I was a true and lifelong friend to her. In a different life, perhaps it would have been more. Perhaps she would have been my mate and my wife, and I’d have happily announced to the entire shadow realm that she was mine.

But Meera had given no indication that she wanted those things, and certainly not with me, and so I would appreciate her presence in my life exactly as it was.

“There you are,” she said, setting her tools down and peeling off the odd gloves she wore to protect her delicate hands as she made her way over to our usual spot.

“Sorry I’m late. I come bearing proper food for you—some of the colorful things that Calix usually sends up with the queen’s midday meal. Sadly, I have run out of cake.”

“Oh, Verner, you shouldn’t have…” Meera breathed, coming all the way up to meet me. Did she realize that she’d crossed the border in doing so? We’d always kept to our respective sides of the invisible line. I handed her the covered bowl, and she gave me another one of those smiles that almost reached her eyes. “Thank you. I really appreciate this.”

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