Page 65 of A Court Bright and Broken

And then I decided to go for broke. Being completely honest with Wyn was the only thing likely to break through the wall of reserve that had grown around her since earlier in the evening.

Maybe if I gave her something real, if she saw who I really was—behind the title and the trappings of palace life—she’d realize I didn’t care at all about her social status.

“My father isn’t the easiest person to deal with,” I said. “It’s been… difficult to be the one he places the heaviest expectations on. And please accept my apologies on his behalf for his behavior with you tonight. It shocked me, honestly. He must have been quite deep in his cups of wine already to act so familiar with a lady he’s never even met.”

Wyn looked up at me, her sharp eyes studying mine and seeming to drink in my sincerity. But she looked sadder than ever.

“It’s not your fault. I’m not angry with him—or any of you.”

She clutched her handbag a little tighter, and I had the strangest feeling she was about to bolt, run across the yard and leap over the hedges surrounding it, like a wild colt who’d been spooked.

“Did you at least enjoy the food tonight?” I asked, desperately grasping for any conversation that might make her stay.

“It was delicious,” she said. “The only problem was there was far too much of it. I don’t believe I’ve ever eaten so much in my life.”

“Good. Good. We’ll go back in for some dessert in a little while if you like. The pastry chefs here are so gifted. Their cream-shells are fit for the gods. They look like lobster tails and are almost as large.”

“Oh my little sisters would love to taste those,” Wyn said.

“Did they come with you to Merisola?” I asked, instantly intrigued by her revelation of a sliver of personal information.

“I’ll have some set aside for them and sent to wherever your family is staying.”

“No.” Her expression sank again. “They’re back at home. They would have loved to have come, though, and to see all this.”

I’d never visited Altum—its location was remote, and Lord Elardis wasn’t known for his warm welcome to visitors. But I’d heard conditions there were more primitive than they were here in the royal city, and reportedly Lord Elardis’ underground palace wasn’t nearly as large and opulent as my home. I took Wyn’s hand again.

“We shall have to have them visit then—very soon. I will personally show them around, including all the hidden passages. My brother and sister and I used to have the best time sneaking through them and making mischief.”

With a smirk, I added, “Pharis probablystilluses them to sneak around and make mischief. He’s quite a night creature. Mareth and I used to tease him that his real father was Tenebris himself.”

“Or Hermod, the god of wrath,” Wyn said. “He doesn’t like me very much.”

“Oh, I don’t think that’s true.”

In fact I wassureit wasn’t. I’d watched my brother dance with her while I’d been following my father’s orders to spread my attention around, thoroughly miserable.

Pharis had looked quite…investedin Lady Wyn.

It had surprised me actually. He had never shown any lasting interest in any woman before. I certainly hoped it wasn’t because this was the one I wanted for myself.

We’d always shared a friendly rivalry, but neither of us would ever do something truly malicious to the other. He probably just didn’t understand the depth of my fascination with Wyn.

And how could he? I didn’t understand it myself.

I’d talk to him later and explain why I was going to do what I intended to do tonight.

“You are close to your brother and sister,” Lady Wyn said.

It wasn’t a question but a statement. And she was absolutely correct. They were my closest friends, my confidants, my allies against the manipulations of our common tormenter—the king.

“Yes. The closest,” I said. “They’re not just my siblings—they’re true friends. I would trust either of them with my life, with my most treasured possession.”

“And what is your most treasured possession?” Wyn asked.

I answered without hesitation.

“A portrait of my mother. I keep it on the dresser in my room where she can watch over my sleep the way she did when I was a young boy. I remember being little, waking at the feel of her fingers playing in my hair and seeing her smiling down at me as if I washergreatest treasure.”

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