Page 33 of Stars May Fall

Kasten pulled a disgusted look, and I frowned at him, spreading my hands. “You can’t rule him out, just because you don’t like him. You need a good reason.”

My husband held up his hand. “I’m not ruling him out. Honestly, I’m not. And you’re right. At the moment, he should be our first choice since he’s the heir. But, well, I can’t ever see him allying with us. And he may be part of the plan with the halfsouls. At least we know Annabelle was ignorant of them and is, in fact, actively trying to stop them.”

“And Prince Clarence is too young,” Callum finished, leaning back in his chair.

A heavy silence suspended the room. The king had one other child.

Callum rocked his chair back forward. “You could…”

“No,” Kasten said too quickly.

Callum frowned. “In an emergency. You might have to, Kasten.”

My husband glared at his friend. “I said no.”

I took a sip of tea. Maybe this was an area where I could be of use. “So we need to befriend Prince Stirling and Princess Annabelle. We find out where their loyalties lie and whether Prince Stirling is involved with Lyrason and the halfsouls. Hopefully, we can get to the point where we can share our concerns fully with them. When I go to the palace for theevening dinners and parties, I will do my best to get to know Princess Annabelle and build trust between us in the hope that it will bring her to our cause. She will probably be the key to us understanding the relationship between Lord Lyrason and the king. Maybe you could get closer to Stirling, Kasten.”

He inclined his head with a grimace. “I can try, but I won’t be very successful. He hates me even more than I hate him. At least, we can focus on finding out whether he is involved with the halfsouls.”

Callum rocked his chair back once more. “While you’re glaring and arguing with people at the palace during the day, Sophie and I can find out more about the halfsouls and haemalcomy. I have some samples from our specimens in Kasomere with me and the fragments of the disks used to store Sophie’s vitality. We can use those to work out what Lord Lyrason is planning.”

Kasten tapped the table. “Good. Good. I gave orders to Sir Luke last night. He is finding more locations in Adenburg we could use to hide troops and working toward getting some of our soldiers employed by the palace as staff or guards.”

Callum nodded and waved his eggy spoon around. “I have some friends in the city that I will meet with this week as well. They may be able to help us.”

The way Callum stressed the word ‘friends’ made me wonder if these friends were connected with the mob that had gathered outside Lord Lyrason’s house when I had been bitten. The Red Men had been destroyed by Lord Lyrason when he had turned the majority of the group into halfsouls, but there had to be many people still angry with him. Lord Lyrason had killed whole families when the Red Men had attempted to assassinate him.

I stared down at my bread, my appetite completely gone. Was I really good enough for this? Was it even possible for me tohelp Callum discover anything about the halfsouls? Or for me to befriend the princess?

I desperately wanted to feel worthy of sitting at the table with Kasten and Callum. I would try my very best to be as useful as each of them were. But they were giants in this game, and I had only just begun.

Kasten stood. “I should go.” He squeezed my shoulder. “Get some more rest if you need it. I’ll see you this evening.”

I didn’t want more rest. I wanted to be useful.

I stood and followed my husband to the front door. Once we were out of sight of Callum, he faced me and took my hands. He lowered his voice. “I love you.” The look in his eyes grounded me and made my mouth dry. The sensation of not belonging at his side vanished.

I smiled up at him. “I love you too. Stay safe.”

He leaned in and brushed his lips over mine. I’d thought I would be used to his kisses by now, but I wasn’t. My lips tingled, and my heart ached. I looked away as my emotions heightened. Suddenly I acutely wished he wasn’t about to go. Especially somewhere so unpleasant where he would be surrounded by enemies. I wanted him by my side where we could be safe and happy.

But I knew that was selfish of me. Adenburg needed him far more than it needed me.

He caught my expression and curled a finger under my chin, lifting my head up. “Try not to worry, my love. I’ll be back this evening. Meena and Sir Philip will keep you safe.”

I nodded and forced a smile, even as tears threatened to overflow. Now was not the time for me to be pathetic.

He kissed my forehead once more before he turned away, and his expression became distracted and stern once again. He strode to the stables, and I waved him off into the unknown.

As soon as he disappeared from sight, I felt like I was missing a part of myself. This was ridiculous.

I pressed down on my reserve to help relieve my tiredness and went to find my apron so I could join Callum with his experiments.

The clock struck eleven,startling me from my thoughts.

I sat at our dining table and ran a nail back and forth over my lips as the machine I had asked Callum to build for me whizzed around, spinning a sample of my blood. Kasten wasn’t here, and I was left alone with my worries while I waited for my new experiment to work.

My skin itched with restlessness, but there wasn’t a proper garden here for me to retreat to. The tiny steps I was taking toward discovering anything that could help Kasten or Callum seemed infuriatingly small. Being here in Highfair only gave me more time to worry about Kasten and more dreadful scenarios to dream up.

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