Page 90 of Prince of the Northwest Forest
Is Justice my boyfriend? We haven’t talked about it, but I hope so. “It’s very new. I don’t think we’re at the meeting-the-parents stage yet.”
“What royal family is he from?”
Of course she’d care more about his lineage than his gender. I clear my throat. “He’s a commoner.”
Her eyebrows rise to her hairline. “Oh, Kalle. No.”
“Mother, I’m fully aware of my duties. But I really,reallylike him. He feels like he might be my other half.”
She shakes her head. “Kalle. What about our realm? It’s not acceptable to ignore our responsibilities?—”
“You don’t get to decide what is acceptable in my life,” I hiss. But as I say the words, I know they’ve never been true. Since I was a child, my parents have told me that they were going to choose my partner.
And I don’t want them to.
“Actually, Kalle, we do. You would be endangering the entire Northwest Forest?—”
“Mother, I’m perfectly aware of my duties as a prince of this realm. But I am who I am. You don’t get to pick who your children are, and you can’t decide who I fall in love with.”
“But wecandecide who you marry.”
“Or I can disappoint you,” I blurt.
Could I live with that? My cheeks heat.
Yes. Yes, I think I could.
As it did when I learned Eleanor was safe, a great weight that I had no idea I was carrying around feels like it’s been lifted off my shoulders.
The peacemaker inside me has an idea. “Actually, yes, I think you should meet him. I’ll have him come here for a meal, and you can make up your own mind as to whether you think he’s inappropriate for me. Because I think he’s perfect.”
She sighs, and then her lips press tight. She gives me a bitter smile that makes my stomach clench. “All right,” she says.
I nod.
Mother stands and goes to the doorway. “I take it that you need some time to yourself?”
“Yes. I’m tired from the journey.” And from fucking my I-hope boyfriend all night.
“Then I will leave you. But come down to luncheon, won’t you?”
“Sure. Just ask Risteárd to wake me in time.”
A few hours later, sort of rested, I’m sitting in the dining room with my parents and Einar.
We’ve received reports of more firecats in our realm, and one inn near the border with the Fire Realm has said that they can see lava flows in the distance, coming in our direction.
“So, I hear you have a … person you are seeing?” my father asks, as I take a bite of cheese fondue. I suppose it’s no surprise that Mother told him.
I swallow hard, and Einar stares at me. “Yes,” I reply. “He’s a commoner named Justice Laurel. He’s kind and brave and helped with my search for Eleanor.”
“Justice Laurel?” my father asks, and his face pales. My mother looks equally haunted.
They’re acting guilty as fuck. My heart thumps, and I set my jaw. “What’s wrong?”
My father says slowly, “I wonder if he’s related to the Laurel family who used to live in this realm. Horace Laurel was pretty well known in these parts.”
I shake my head. “I doubt it. He lives in Princedelphia and was raised by a single mother.”
