Page 47 of A Court of Bones & Sorrow

Leora studied me for a long moment. “Are you sure about this, dear?”

Reluctantly, I nodded. Leora could help spread the rumor, giving more legitimacy to the claim. I didn’t like that it would be yet another complication between Vail and me. He wouldn’t like it either and would take out his frustrations on me, but it’s not like that would be anything new.

Pushing Vail out of my mind for now, I refocused on our immediate problem.

“We need to distract Draven.” I thrummed my fingers against the table. “Whatever Roth has discovered shouldn’t be heard by him, and I have something I want to discuss as well.”

I twirled the ring on my pinkie, the two embedded gemsshining bright against the dark silver band. Rynn, Cali, and I were long overdue for a chat anyway, and I wanted to make sure they were caught up on all the latest developments. Plus . . . Rynn was an important part of what I was planning, as was Vail.

Neither of them were going to like it. In fact, nobody was going to like it, but I was confident I could convince them to go along with it. Mostly.

“Maybe we should wait until late tonight?” Alaric suggested.

“No.” I shook my head. “Draven is clearly keeping an eye on my nighttime habits. We’re lucky he didn’t follow us to the cave, but going forward, he’ll likely be monitoring my whereabouts more closely.” Kieran didn’t say anything, which I thought was odd. I studied his expression as he slowly nibbled on the muffin. He seemed relaxed; there were no lines of tension, and the corners of his mouth were quirked upward slightly. Even his eyes were bright.

It was a lie. I knew that mask. It was the one he slipped on when he knew he’d have to do something he didn’t want to. Usually, I saw it when he made the rare journey home to visit his parents.

“Kier?”

His eyes flicked to mine, and he sighed before putting down the half-eaten muffin. “I’ll distract him.”

“No,” I said immediately. “You don’t have to do that.”

“Well, I’m not planning on doingthat.” His lips twitched into a wry grin. “You know there are other ways to distract people, right?”

I pursed my lips stubbornly. “You don’t have to do this—whatever this is—if you don’t want to. We can find another way.”

“This makes the most sense.” He shrugged with a casualness that made me want to scream. I knew this plan botheredhim, and I hated that he was trying to hide it. “You don’t need me for whatever conversation you all want to have.”

“I always need you.”

Kieran’s eyes softened. “While I have many skills, we all know the three of you are far smarter than I am. My skills are suited towards being a decoy, and if I ask Draven to go for a ride with me, he’ll go.”

“I bet he will,” I grumbled, still not liking this one bit. It wasn’t that I was jealous of anything that might happen between them, but Draven was a complication, and while I suspected there was more going on than we were seeing, he was technically the enemy right now. One who had betrayed our people.

He’d hurt Kieran before as well. I loved Kier with all my soul but he was also the most kindhearted person I’d ever met. It was difficult for him to trust people, but once he did, he did so absolutely. Draven had broken that trust and his heart. Kieran would forgive him for it though, whether the prince deserved it or not. I just didn’t want to see him hurt again.

“Will one of you please tell me what is going on?” Alaric finally asked, raising his gaze from the table to glance back and forth between me and Kieran.

“I’ll explain later.” Kieran grimaced before rising and grabbing one of the folded-up towels Leora kept stacked throughout the kitchen, then he stuck a few muffins in it. “How much longer do you think he’ll be meeting with Yolanthe?” he asked Alaric.

“They’ve been talking for almost an hour already, but you know Yolanthe, she’ll go on forever. Could be thirty minutes, could be another hour.” Alaric stared at his friend for a long moment. “Are you okay?”

“You know me.” Kieran shrugged. “I’m always okay.”

Alaric narrowed his eyes. He knew just as well as I did that Kieran had a tendency to suppress his feelings around us, likewe would think less of him if he presented anything but a strong, confident front.

“I need to get some things from my room.” Kieran leaned down to kiss me on the cheek before straightening and looking at Alaric. “I’m guessing they’re meeting in Yolanthe’s study?”

Alaric nodded, still studying his friend, trying to figure out what was going on that he was missing. Kieran ignored his best friend’s gaze and headed towards the back stairwell, his bundle of muffins in tow, and left without another word. I wasn’t any happier about this than Alaric, but I had to trust that Kieran knew what he was doing.

“Let’s give him some time to get Draven out of here. We can meet in two hours.” I snatched up Kieran’s discarded muffin and tore off a chunk full of berries. Mmm . . . so tart and yummy. The spring berries didn’t last long. They flowered, grew, and ripened over a two-week period, and that was it until the next year, but they were the first fruit of the season to grow and always marked that spring was in full swing. Hence the name. “Any chance you can find Vail and bring him with you to the library for the meeting?”

Alaric frowned. “Why can’t you do it?”

“Because Vail isn’t in the best of moods and will probably say no just because it’s me asking.” I let out a bone-weary sigh. “Given that we want the rumor of Vail and me sleeping together to spread, him rejecting a simple request from me in public would be less than ideal.”

I shoved the rest of the muffin into my mouth and closed my eyes while I savored the flavor.

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