Page 32 of A Storm in Every Heart
“What do you mean?”
“I love having you here, obviously, but I don’t want you to think you have to work for us if you don’t want to. You could do anything. Travel, or spend some time in the ocean. Whatever you want.”
I ignore the ocean comment because that topic is far more than I feel like getting into now…or possibly ever. “I don’t mind working. I like helping with the kingdom. I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do. I don’t have a real title or official responsibilities, and everyone else has managed to find a role here. Fox is running the army, Jett’s the spymaster, Kastian is the advisor.”
“You’re an advisor too,” she insists.
“You don’t need a second advisor. You need an emissary. Isn’t that what we’ve all been saying for months? Hydratta is a wildebeest.”
“A wildcard?” Alix corrects, smiling.
“Yes, that. We don’t know nearly enough about them to determine if they’re a threat to us, and given the King’s history with Kastian, I don’t think we can rule out that they are.”
Alix nods. “True.”
“This is the perfect opportunity to gain more insight. They’re our closest neighbor, and now that the curse is lifted and people are traveling to Vernallis again, don’t you think we should know what kind of relationship Hydratta wants to have with us?”
“I agree,” Alix says, surprising me.
“You do?”
“Yes, but you’re talking about beingouremissary, nottheirqueen. There’s no reason you need to marry the king for us to have a cordial diplomatic relationship.”
“I know that. I’m not planning to. Just because I agree to visit doesn’t mean we’re really getting engaged.”
She cracks a smile. “Are you sure? Because we don’t have the best history with fake engagements.”
I wave her off. “What happened to you was unusual, because of the timeline of the curse and because Thorne had already met Isabelle, but royal matches don’t usually work like that. Usually there’s an official meeting with one royal household hosting the other for several days, or maybe up to a week. There are dinners and balls and lots of opportunities to get to know each other without any obligation of commitment.”
“You sound very sure.”
“I am. When I was sixteen, Daemon and I both traveled with Prince Thorne’s entourage to meet one of the princesses of Hydratta. That was when I…” I clear my throat. “I mean, that was when Daemon and Kastian first became friends.”
She nods, seemingly unaware of my verbal misstep. “That’s when you met King Magnus?”
I nod. I wish more than anything that I could elaborate on that meeting. I want to warn Alix about Magnus, but I can’t. Ican’t talk about anything that went on back then, no matter how much I wish otherwise.
Alix’s brow furrows. “If he only met you once as a teenager, isn’t that strange that he wants to marry you? It’s giving creepy age-gap romance.”
“Not really. I can see why you’d think that, but age is sort of relative for us. It would be odd if he’d been a close acquaintance when I was a child, but if Fae spent time worrying about large age gaps, we’d never have survived as a species.”
“I guess that makes sense,” she says, still looking dubious.
“I’ll admit that it’s a little odd because King Magnus has a daughter my age.”
She wrinkles her nose in disgust. “Do you know her?”
“Yes, unfortunately.” I scowl, thinking of the last time I saw Lyra. “But it doesn’t really matter because I’m not actually planning to marry him.”
I would rather die.
“Right,” she says briskly. “So for this diplomatic engagement summit, would we all have to travel with you?”
I press my lips together, thinking. “Normally yes, but I don’t think that can happen. You and Daemon can’t go right now. Both because the court is still so new and because if Hydratta doesn’t have friendship in mind it would be dangerous to have both of you there at once.”
“That’s what Daemon said too. He said he’d normally send Kastian with you.”
“No!” I say too quickly. “Anyone but Kastian.”
