Page 85 of Bride of the Midnight Prince

“Very.”

“Oops.” She covers her mouth with her hand. “I didn’t want to get drunk.”

“What were you trying to do?”

“Lose a game.”

I cross my arms over my chest. “Did you succeed?”

“I lost the game. But I won a lot of tricks. It wasn’t good.”

A drinking game with other servants. That is . . . a choice, I suppose. Not one I thought she’d make, though she is not the type to walk away from a challenge. She will have a killer of a migraine tomorrow morning while we get ready for the queen’s luncheon.

I wave my hand and march back to the table. “Go to sleep. The alcohol will wear off during the night.”

I drag back my chair and drop into it with a sigh, refusing to look over to where Nat is lying on the bed. I open my book and stare unseeing at the page. What an unexpected turn for this evening! Did she forget she was playing the part of a young boy? Who shouldnotbe drinking? She has a tendency toward chaos, but this isnotthe sort of chaos I thought she’d—

There’s a tap on my elbow. I look up.

Nat stands right next to me, her face flushed, her hair standing out in every direction.

“Go to bed,” I say sternly.

She holds up her hands, pressed together like in prayer, her eyes rounded and pleading. “Please, Master, there is something I must tell you.”

My heart skips a beat. I hope my voice doesn’t sound as gruff to her as it does to me when I reply, “What is it?”

She wraps both her arms around one of mine. I startle sharply and only barely restrain my instinct to toss her across the room. “Nat—”

She brings her face toward mine. My eyes widen. I find myself going very still. I search for her pleasant scent in the air, but I can only detect a muted thread of it. Why did I have to apply thatollea?

The turn of my thoughts shocks me. How could I think like this? I’m glad she cannot read my mind and see what a fool I am.

“It’s a secret, my lord,” she whispers into my ear.

I fight to keep my composure with her so near, my hands fisting on the armrests of my chair. “A secret?” It comes out in a rasp.

Whatisthis? What is with me?

She wobbles slightly, her grip on my arm tightening as her lips brush the shell of my ear. “Oops. Sorry. I am a little dizzy.”

You need to lie down and sleep,I almost say as she leans into me, but withhold it for fear she’ll forget to tell me hersecret.

“I have a secret,” she says again, clutching tighter to me. I resist the urge to catch her by the waist to steady her—and then immediately give in when she pitches forward. Her hands brace on my elbows as I hold her, her face coming close to mine.

Our eyes lock. Her mouth is open, her pretty eyes catching the flickers of the candle above the fireplace. “Prince Rahk.”

I flinch slightly at the title. I’m the one who told her I was a prince. Her use of it still strikes me as very strange. “Nat,” I say gently, “you need to go lie down on the bed. I don’t want you to fall and hurt yourself.”

“I’m a woman,” she blurts suddenly.

My shoulders sag in relief.Finally,the truth is out. Finally, she confides in me. Now I can get to the bottom of this ridiculousness. I smile slightly. “I know.”

Her mouth drops open even more. “Youknow? How long have you known?”

She seems to be drifting closer and closer to me. I swallow and find my voice with difficulty. “From the beginning.”

Her punch to the shoulder is not what I expect, and if she was sober enough to aim properly, it might have had enough gusto behind it to hurt a little. “Fae,” she spits. “You all are so annoying.”

---