Page 61 of Courting Death & Desire
Perhaps he’d convinced himself it was nothing, too.
“…and beyond that, I firmly believe we need to be more considerate of the Inner Courts’ sentiments before we make a final decision. If your court does not fully embrace the Plutonians, the Living Courts will feel those ripples in the water—oh. Oh! Oh,” Kahlia, the High Regent of Venus, had been deep in conversation with Oestera when they stumbled over their words, their brows arching in surprise at the morning’s mysterious tension.
Lunelle had not been fully engaged, she knew, but she heard the startle in their speech. Her eyes flickered to Kahlia’s and then followed as they widened and darted between Lunelle and the king as he hovered near the door.
“At any rate,” Kahlia recovered and continued. “We cannot move forward if there’s any… hesitation… on the princess’s side.”
Oestera nodded, watching her daughter’s face carefully as she sipped her tea, the hot liquid hardly registering to her.
“Good morrow, Your Highness!” Kahlia called as Lunelle felt the cursed rope around her heart circle her. Mirquios kept a wide berth as he rounded the table and sat between her mother and the other Venusian courtiers.
Five sets of dreamy, lovelorn eyes watched in silence as the Lunar princess and Mercurian king avoided acknowledging one another.
Oestera cleared her throat.
“I understand your concerns, Kahlia. Deeply,” she added. “There is plenty for Lunelle and me to discuss on the matter. We will be thoughtful in our decisions.”
“Excellent,” Kahlia mumbled, the tension at the table pulsating through the morning air.
“Arcas!” Oestera called out as the prince appeared. She stood, rushing toward him as she looped her arm through his, disappearing into the palace gardens beyond the dining hall.
It was just as well, Lunelle thought. She didn’t need another man with whom to avoid eye contact.
“I believe we’re late for our conference with the Martians,” Kahlia said to their courtiers. They all rose in fluid motions, their soft gazes avoiding falling between the young king and princess.
And then they were very much alone.
“Lunelle,” Mirquios whispered, his voice tight.
She risked a glance at him.
The second their eyes met, there was no possible way to deny their unfortunate truth.
“Godsdammit,” Lunelle cursed, her chest on fire with seething anger, and something else. Something she’d spent so very much of her life pretending she did not have.
Desire.
“Lu,” Mirquios said again, leaning forward. His courtiers filed into the dining hall, as well as the rest of the Lunar Court. “I do not know where to begin?—”
“You can start with how in the Nether you’ve managed to Tether to not one sister buttwo,” she growled.
Mirquios scoffed, a sound that stoked the rage within her.
“I only… I only Tethered to one,” he said. For just a moment, her mind turned over the possibility that she was once again wrong. “Astra… she did not think your mother would approve of her choice of suitors, so we… we concocted the Tether story.”
Lunelle rolled her eyes. “My mother invited you expressly to court my sister, you knew she would approve!”
“I did,” Mirquios nodded. “That is true. But Ialsoknew that if your sister knew that, she’d run off with the next fool, and I did not want to risk losing her to another court. Not all of the monarchs are as bought into the vision as we are. I knew Astra would be safe in Mercury. She has the experience we need from her time in Celene. I thought it was harmless. I never—never—would have gone along with it if I’d known! If I…” He swallowed, his eyes softening. “If I had known what I was missing.”
Lunelle sighed, the tension melting just a tad in her shoulders. It did not solve any of the problems it presented, but it did ease her overwhelming guilt enough that she could breathe again.
“You and Astra…”
“If you asked her, she’d tell you the exact same story, I swear it. She’d also tell you, while laughing, I’m sure, that romantically… we were not much of a pair.”
Lunelle blushed, the delicate rose shade sending a companion heat to his neck.
“I do not need to know the details of your intimate encounters, Mirquios, I assure you?—”
