Page 110 of Artemysia
“We finally agree on something.” I chuckle.
She laughs. “The universe must be falling apart. You’re a Syf prince, and here I am, fallen into a magical world hidden from us this whole time. Now we’re pretending to be married nobility.”
“As my pretend wife, you’re going to have to address me asmy lord.”
“Hoo. You’re a dickhole, my lord.”
“It turns me on either way.”
She grips my hand tighter and laughs again.
My heart bursts when I hear that sweet sound burble out of her.
We compare what we’ve learned. Apparently, the Syf controlled information so well that even after a week, we both have the same questions and very few answers.
We discuss our pretend backstory and practice the roles we will play once we set foot in the North Kingdom.
It devolves quickly into speculating which one of us “married up.”
“Perhaps you had the looks and the money and married me as a boy toy?” I suggest.
“Or you—a sullen, lonely heir—found love with a poor farm girl?” Her face flushes at the thought as she lays a hand on my thigh.
“We were forced to marry because we are both nobility, and in our loveless arrangement, we cheat on each other with the kitchen help?”
“Yes. Yes we do.”
I laugh so hard that no sound comes out. Every new backstory we create tops the previous one in ridiculousness.
Soon, Delphine is gripping her belly with her arms. “Are you cry-laughing?” She stabs a finger at my face.
I’m roaring, and a tear does indeed roll down my cheek.
She stretches a hand to my chin and swipes her thumb across my jaw, catching the tear before it drops onto my coat collar.
An indecipherable expression crosses her face. It almost looks like regret or sadness, but she’s jolted back into a smile with the next bump in the road. I catch her by the waist and pull her into me as she lurches off her seat.
I don’t ask what she’s thinking, because I’m not ready for rejection. I’ve been rejected by society all my life. That I can take. I’m used to it. But I can’t stand the thought of it coming from Delphine.
We sit with our unspoken words, her head on my shoulder, my chin resting on top.
Our carriage reaches the north end of the Artemysian forest.
The mood sobers as the prince’s dark estate appears in the foreground, painted in an inky black that reflects no light off its manyjagged, shadowy corners. Gold fixtures and accents line its tarred and tiled roofs.
Our carriage joins a procession of other guests approaching the immense country house alongside the East River. Ghostly mist wafts eerily from its shores, shrouding the property in a bleak gloom that chills me to the marrow.
Delphine tenses, her grip on my palm tightening.
Who and what we will encounter, I have no clue. But with Delphine by my side, I am never afraid.
“Obviously, there’s nothing I can’t master.” - Riev
How can someone feel so familiar and yet be so incomprehensible? Riev is daggers and danger on the outside, but every so often, he surprises me with how much he understands and cares for me. I failed to contain my emotions. They erupted from a deep, dark place I rarely let out, and he managed to navigate both our feelings at once. He made my heart feel…
Safer.
Did we just switch roles for a bit? Dear gods, that man is out to destroy me.
