Page 114 of Crown of Hearts
I let out a long breath.
“Nervous?” Cai asked with a grin.
“Should I be?” I teased back.
“I don’t know. I have a pretty intimidating grandmother, as you mentioned.”
“Have you met my family?” I snorted. “I have Lance and a sister who can’t even speak to me.”
“I’m assuming you’re going to take her home?”
I nodded. “She’ll be safest in Everness, I think. And then Lance can spend all his free time taking care of her.”
“Do you think he’ll ever settle down, get married?”
“I don’t know. Somehow, I have trouble imagining him in this scenario.” I gestured to the two of us standing there. “Do you think if you hadn’t been enemies then maybe you would’ve grown up friends?”
“Perhaps when we were younger, but I doubt we would have been friends now.”
“Ironic that he’s going to be your brother-in-law.”
“As you keep reminding me.”
“The holidays are going to be chaotic, aren’t they?” I wanted to laugh. The things we were talking about seemed so far-fetched. And yet, there I stood, about to get married.
Ten more minutes passed. No sign of Jack.
“Something’s wrong. Where could he be?”
Cai was looking worried by now too. “We’d better go looking for him and Cordelia.”
We turned to leave, my mind running through every possible worst-case scenario. Just as we reached the stairs, Jack came around the corner.
“We have to leave right now,” he said, panic in his voice.
“Why? What’s going on?” I asked, but he’d already started escorting us down the stairs. I pulled up the hems of my dress to keep from falling.
“I wasn’t supposed to find out. It was an accident. I overheard someone talking.”
“Find what out?” Cai questioned.
“Aries is dispatching an army tomorrow. They’re going to march on Norrandale.”
Chapter 32
Cai
The wind appeared to be brewing up a storm and I held on tighter to the ship’s railing. We’d left as soon as Jack had told us what he’d overheard. It didn’t give us much of a head start but it was better than nothing. The only thought on my mind was that we needed to get back to Norrandale as soon as possible. Worst of all, I didn’t have any way of alerting anyone until we returned.
Elara walked up the stairs that led onto the deck and came to stand next to me.
“How is she doing?”
“She’s sleeping, thankfully, so all is calm.” It had been a mission to get not only ourselves out of the palace undetected but Eloisa as well. Elara had refused to leave her behind, which was understandable. We got lucky. Whatever state she was in, she was quiet and compliant.
“I’ll have to find a way to get her safely to Everness, but one thing at a time, right?” She placed her hand atop mine, which was still clutching the railing.
“I don’t think there’s any other choice,” I confessed.
