Page 68 of A Fae in Finance
“Good morning,” he said, only the barest hint of mockery in his tone. “How are you? Did you sleep well? Did you have interesting dreams?”
I absorbed this for a half second. “I dreamed about blue magic,” I said, unable to keep the irritation from my voice. “But, my lord, what do you know about Romans?” I asked.
“Roman’s what?” He seemed a bit befuddled.
“The Gray Knight told me to ask you about Romans.” I glanced back at her. Maybe it was a prank. Did pranks count as lying in Faerie?
“My lady, I do not know much of Roman. I can tell you only that his father helped construct the First Ways into our realm, and that he knows more of our tunnels and pathways than any other. If you fulfill the terms of our bargain, I shall commission him to hunt a safe path back to the mortal realm for you, if such a thing can be found.”
I facepalmed myself so hard that my ring made a dullthwackagainst my forehead.
“Roman is adude?” But the Princeling’s gaze had caught on my hand.
“Where did you get that ring?” the Princeling asked, leaning toward me with the most intensity I’d ever seen in his eyes.
“What?” I glanced down at my ring. Dull, boring, gold. “My mom gave it to me. Her mom gave it to her. It’s a family heirloom.”
“May I,” he said, holding out his hand.
Clearly, he may.
I twisted the ring off my finger and dropped it into his palm. He closed his fingers around the ring, and sparks of green danced off his nails. I stared, mesmerized, until Sparkles took a particularly uneven step and I almost fell off my horse.
“What’s wrong with my ring?” I asked, uncomfortable. My finger felt too light without it.
When he looked back at me, the expression in his eyes had changed.
“Nothing,” he said, opening his palm and proffering it to me.
“What did you do?”
He frowned, considering. “I want to be honest with you, Lady of the True Dreams,” he said. “To give you a favor freely, in deference to the freedoms I have taken from you.”
“A favor would be a great start,” I said, taking the ring from him and sliding it back onto my hand.
“It’s an old ring, of value beyond your ken. The enchantment upon it could not have been wrought without true moonlight. It is likely older than our realm, and very precious. If it has adorned the fingers of your mother and grandmother, then you are not the first friend of the Fae in your family.”
There was something so odd about the way he saidfriend. I opened my mouth, but he steamrolled over me.
“When will we release the presentation to the buyers, lady?” the Princeling asked. I looked at him, easy and tall in his saddle.
We should have released it two weeks before, and the Princeling knew it. I spun the ring around with my thumb as I spoke.
“Jeff and Levi think next week,” I said. “We’re just waiting on a few more potential investors to sign nondisclosure agreements.”
“Do you think this is the best strategy?”
This was the most transparent attempt to distract me since I was six and my mom baked me cookies before I got my tonsils out.
“Oh, well, Jeff and Levi have done this a lot more than me,” I said.
“That is not what I asked, as you well know.” The Princeling didn’t sound annoyed, though. More amused. I looked at him. He had such a clear face—no blemishes or wrinklage of any kind. Our knees brushed, and I glanced down.
“You dissemble quite well.” I heard the smirk in his voice.
“No, I don’t,” I blurted.
He shifted in his saddle to face me. The horse didn’t seem to notice or care. “Do you know whatdissemblemeans, lady?”
