Page 239 of Night's Fall
So eventually,I’dhave no choice but to find out.
Chapter36
Wrong
Iwas ensconced in the daybed in thePrincess’sRetreatChamber(Inamed it that myself), reading (not really,Icouldn’t concentrate) and cuddlingNova(Iwas doing better at that) whileJupiterlay on the back of the daybed, his tail swinging lazily, andCometwas giving his pudge the opportunity to spread by laying on his back on the floor.
I was waiting for everyone to be done with work soI’dhave people to hang out with, but more to the point,Icould grab my gals and get their take on what was up withAleksei.
I was also recovering from the two commsI’djust made.
I’d askedNatato get me the sequences forAntheme’sfamily, as well as the wife of the man who’d died yesterday.
I hadn’t had the opportunity to ask the queen if this was the right thing to do, andIdidn’t askGermainebecauseIdidn’t want her to say no.
I could imagine both families being angry with me, because if not for me, their loved ones would be alive.
But no matter how hard it was going to be (andIknew it was hard beforeIfound out exactly how hard it was),Ialso couldn’t ignore the fact, because of me, their loved ones were no longer alive.
During the comms,Igot the opposite of anger, which weirdly made it worse.
Both were openly movedItook the time to connect, express sympathy and chat with them.
AndAntheme’smom and dad were both reduced to laughing tears that heartened, at the same time broke me, whenIshared how muchIliked their daughter and the reasons why.
In the end, it was the right thing to do, but it was horrid all the same.
It was on this thoughtAlekseiwalked in.
After my convo withTimothee,I’ddecided to give him his bad mood of the morning, considering all that was going on, and pretend it didn’t happen.
SoIsmiled at him.
He did not smile back.
He took us all in, looked to me, and asked, “Enjoyingyour day?” in a tone that said,Therest of us are taking this threat seriously, and you’re in here, chilling out.
I ignored his tone, put my book down and replied, “I’vebeen waiting for your meeting to be over.”
I did not share it was nearly three in the afternoon, his meeting was at seven in the morning, and maybe it lasted that long, butIwas guessing it didn’t.
And if it didn’t, in between times, he didn’t come to me.
“Did you get anything accomplished today?” he asked.
I was in a holding pattern with work, something he knew.
His mother was away from thePalacefor an appearance, somethingIsuspected he knew.
SoIwasn’t sure whatIwas supposed to accomplish.
ButIoffered, “TimotheeandIhad a conversation aboutCaelynKnightstarand theBattleof theChasm.”
“You askedTimto explain the instincts of a male shifter?” he all but sneered.
No.
It wasn’t “all but.”
