Page 13 of Until the Stars Fall

Yes, this was a good compromise. She couldn’t argue with this.

I was wrong.

“No, I can’t. You must—”

“I must do nothing of the sort, Blondie.” My patience was wearing thin. What part of my needing to get back to my guests didn’t register with her? “Did you not hear me back there with that fae? I don’t answer to you. Quite the opposite. Now, I’m willing to offer my help with one of your problems, but not both. I have enough on my plate as it is without taking on a human’s drama.”

She didn’t cower at all as I expected, but rather seemed to do the opposite. Pushing her lips into a tight line, she stared confidently into my eyes as she ground out the word “Fine” through her teeth. I waited another breath, but she didn’t say anything more. Neither did she make any move to keep walking.

“If you don’t pick one, I will. I’m sure my brother would be most amused to learn of your infatuation.” Perhaps it was a low blow, but I was quickly running out of grace for her. For all I knew, Brennan had found another fae to go frolic with while I was occupied with Lieke.

“No,” she said, cutting off my thoughts with her sharp retort. “We’ll tell Mrs. Bishop.”

With a silent nod, I resumed leading her inside and through the servants’ wing. The confidence she’d exuded moments ago withered away, and she refused to walk beside me any longer. Behind me, she released a shaky breath, whispering, “She’s going to kill me.”

CHAPTER 8

Lieke

I stood behind the prince like a child, clutching the skirt of my dress, as if I might be able to hide myself from the old cook’s view. Without hesitation, Prince Connor rapped on the door with three knocks that matched the pace of my runaway heartbeat. After several painstaking moments, the door finally opened, revealing the cook. Mrs. Bishop hastily wrapped her robe tighter around herself as she greeted her prince.

Connor’s head dipped in a sharp nod, and he stepped to the side to reveal me. “Can I assume you didn’t know she was out?”

I winced, even though there was no denying I was in the wrong.

“Is she all right?” Mrs. Bishop asked. At least she was inquiring about my well-being. That had to be good news for my fate, even if her tone indicated otherwise.

“I believe so.”

“Did anyone see her?” Normally I would have been annoyed that they would speak about me as if I weren’t here, but tonight I was more than willing to delay my consequences as long as possible.

“Unfortunately, yes. A male—”

“Which one?”

My chin snapped up at her casual interruption of the prince, and I held my breath as I waited for him to rebuke her.

But he didn’t.

“Griffin.”

She cursed under her breath. I couldn’t recall the last time I’d heard her use such language.

“Exactly my thoughts,” the prince said. “He won’t be calming down about my attacking him anytime soon.”

“You attacked him?” she asked with a mix of concern and humor.

“Of course. I couldn’t let him strangle one of our staff, even if she made a mistake. He will be expecting for us to take some course of action in response to her transgression though.”

My stomach clenched. I’d only been worried about disappointing Mrs. Bishop, maybe getting a long lecture about safety and being saddled with additional kitchen duties as punishment. I hadn’t considered that I might still be taken before the king.

“I will handle that, if you’ll allow it,” Mrs. Bishop said.

“I will,” the prince said, giving her another nod. Then he cocked his head. “But this is a one-time agreement. If she breaks the rules again, I cannot protect her from the king’s judgment.”

“Understood, Your Highness.”

Without another word, Prince Connor turned to give me space to pass him by. Our eyes met briefly, but I couldn’t read any emotion there, as if he’d already wiped his hands clean of this situation and of me.

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