Page 24 of Midwinter Wiles & Valerian Dreams
He’s smiling as he sets dishes down, but his eyes drift away at some hidden thought. I dislike that bit of sadness after the bright, happy meal we just enjoyed. It brings back the unease from the doorstep earlier and the sentry who smiled too much but still made Lark tense.
“So, CPS…” I really need to think these sentences through before speaking.
“Right. I should probably explain.”
“You don’t have to. It’s none of my business.”
His lips twitch. “I think I might have made it your business when I declared you my fiancée without asking.”
“True, you did do that.” I can’t help smiling back. “But you also shared your breakfast with me, so I guess we’re even. I’m just glad to see your baby didn’t hold a grudge.”
“Who, Happy? Nah, she was all giggles again before bed last night. I let her play with Hugo, so she was basically flying high.”
“Hugo?”
“My hedgehog. A pet.” There’s a grunt from his pocket. Lark snickers, pointing at it. “He’d like to say we’re his pets.”
“Oh. I have a—” I nearly bite my tongue at the icy chill from Lumi’s moonstone against my skin. “Nothing. Never mind.”
He appraises me, but lets me off the hook. “The kids…they’re not mine, obviously. Well, theyaremine. They’re more mine than anyone else’s.” His voice grows fierce as he talks. “But we’re not related by blood.”
“None of them?” The way he went for the baby last night, I assumed he was her father.
“They’re orphans. We all are. When the orphanage closed down last year, I was all they had left. It’s been just us ever since. But we’re doing great. We are. We do just fine, just us.”
I’m not sure who he’s trying to convince, because I know what I just sat through. There was more love at that one meal than I experienced in maybe my whole life. He might say he can’t keep up, but they all seem to be happy with what he’s providing. Maybe that one little girl seemed grumpy, but we all have our days.
“You look after them all? By yourself?”
“Now you sound like muskrat-face.”
“Uh…”
“Sorry, that’s what I call Sentry Niemi in my head. Which I definitely should not have told you.”
Surprised, I laugh. “Oh, he does kind of have that beady-eyed, twitchy thing going on.”
Lark’s head tilts back with his full laugh. It’s a wonderful sound, deep and rumbly. “I knew I liked you,” he says, which is such an unfiltered thing to say that my stomach gives a startled little flip.
I don’t know how to respond. One doesn’t just come out and say one likes someone. It isn’t done.
“Can I ask you a huge favor?” Lark sounds more nervous now.
“Maybe.” I’m wary too, especially since, in my experience, favors between Fae come with strings.
“Would you pretend to be my fiancée again, just for the hearing with the Sentry board? I hate to even ask, but Niemi really seemed to think it would help if they believe I have a partner to raise the kids with, and I don’t need one. Idon’t. That’s not what I’m asking. I mean, ha, obviously. Just acting! Would you play the role of fiancée one more time for this hearing? I would gladly owe you a favor in return.”
Nerves stretch his voice thin. For him to offer an unspecified favor like that, this clearly means a lot. Part of me wants to say of course, just to ease the ridge between his eyebrows. But the sensible part of me screams torun. I’m trying to go unnoticed here, not present myself at a legal hearing.
What if I’m discovered?
I can’t take scrutiny. What if they look into where I come from, who I am…
I have nothing—no identification, no possessions, no one to vouch for me. Then again, these are Wilder Fae. They’re uncivilized, right? Wild and unorganized. Supposedly, they don’t even have proper families, let alone official records.
Only that’s not what I’ve seen. There are families in the tavern, eating together as they discuss their days, their upcoming plans, even their dreams for the future. I’ve heard them worry about the lasting cold, and how to support their families. I’ve witnessed parents scooping children onto their laps, seen friends greeting each other with hugs, even watched people offer to help their neighbors without hesitation. The homes around town look like proper homes, if rather small. They’re not like the ramshackle shelters outside the walls of the capital, which is all I’ve ever known Wilder Fae to inhabit. This backwoods town is different from what I was told.
My brain flashes to that boy in the red coat with the blue lips outside Rimne’s walls. Does he have a family? Was there someone who came to collect him, who cares for him and made sure he warmed up after our carriage passed by?
