Page 40 of King Foretold
“Are you tired?” Ethan shifts beside me. He clears the table away with a wave of his hand, and a neatly folded blanket appears in its place. “You should take a nap. I’ll watch over you.”
“What are you? My nanny?” I scowl but ruin the effect by yawning again. “I don’t need a nap.”
“Right.” He reaches for the blanket and shakes it open, then he pats his thigh.
“What?” I ask crossly, even as my traitorous cheeks heat.
“At least lie down. You don’t have to sleep. Just rest a little.” He pats his thigh again. “I’ll be your pillow.”
“You’ll be my pillow?” I know I’m just repeating what he said, but my brain is trying to shut down. I tug on my bottom lip with my teeth, then get a grip on my libido. “It’ll be like laying my head on a brick block.”
“I promise it’ll be an upgrade from those wooden blocks they use as pillows here.” His lips stretch into a lazy grin, and my pulse flutters. “Come here.”
My center turns molten at his low command, but I give him a sardonic smile. “I’ll pass.”
“You keep pushing me away.” Ethan stares out at the pond, his throat working, then he turns back to me. “I think I know why.”
How?My heart lurches as my eyes skip around the garden.How does Ethan know?I have to fix this.Oh gods.My thoughts churn aimlessly in my head.
Stop it, Sunny.
I take a calming breath. The best lie is a half truth.
“We have a history, Ethan. I’ve known you since you were a teenager, and I’ve come to think of you as a friend,” I say in an even tone.You can do this.“And I can tell you want something I can’t give you. I care about you, but if you keep doing this, we can’t even be friends.”
“Then I’ll take friendship.” Ethan’s shoulders sag on a shuddering exhale, and I’m both heartbroken and relieved. “And you don’t have to feel responsible for my feelings. That’s for me to worry about.”
“Easier said than done,” I whisper. I’m in love with him. I care more about his feelings than mine.
Suddenly, I’m dizzy with exhaustion. I slide down the wooden railing onto the floor and use my own scrawny arm as my pillow. After a forlorn sigh, Ethan covers me with the blanket—it smells like him—and carefully smooths it over my body.
I would purr if I were a cat. Even the fox in me wants to lean into his touch with a happy growl. But I hold myself stiff, and he removes his hands without lingering. Being friends isso awesome.
“Go to sleep, Sunny.” He tucks a stray strand of hair behind my ear as though he can’t help touching me. “You need to rest.”
“I want to hear your story.” I close my eyes.
“You do?” He sounds hesitant. “It’s not a happy one.”
“I want to hear your story,” I repeat. Then I blink my eyes open and rush to add, “I’m tired of being in the dark about things that everyone else knows.”
“M ... my mother was kind and full of life. When my father forced her into marriage, she didn’t give in to despair and tried to make thebest of their life together. And she tried to see the good in my father, even though he stole her dream of becoming a mother.
“Then, despite the impossibility of beings from two different life sources having a child together, she conceived me.” He swallows thickly. “You said I was a miracle, but I can’t help thinking it would’ve been better if she never had me.”
“No, don’t ever think that.” I shift to look up at him. “Your motherneverwould’ve thought that.”
“I know. She was ecstatic when she found out she was pregnant with me.” Ethan gets a faraway look in his eyes. “She thought she would finally have a child to love with all her heart. She thought she and the King of Mountains would be a real family at last. Happiness seemed within her grasp, but ... she couldn’t have been more wrong.
“When my mother foresaw my destiny and shared it with my father, he became obsessed with killing me. Becoming areal familywas the furthest thing from his mind.” His smile isn’t a smile at all. “And you know the rest of my story.”
“No, I don’t.” My hand twitches at my side, but I don’t reach out for him. “No one does. Your story has only just begun.”
“Has it? It doesn’t feel like I’m living my own story, though.” He brushes his knuckles down my cheek. I don’t have the heart to pull away, but he catches himself and snatches his hand back. “I feel like a pawn in my grandfather’s story. A story of war and vengeance.”
“I know you don’t want to risk ruining your relationship with your grandfather, but can’t you talk to him?” How can General Bak not understand that a war against his own people would devastate his grandson? “You need to tell him you don’t want more bloodshed.”
“You think I haven’t tried? He is dead set on starting a war. He won’t evenconsideranother way.” Ethan straightens and looks out at the water. “He said that it’smyduty to liberate the Kingdom of Mountains from the tyrant king, and an outright war is the only way. He told me it’s what my mother would have wanted.”
