Page 16 of Pretense

“Yes.” He gave in to his own smile for a moment before he turned serious again. “But I’m willing to try it, for Essie and Farrendel’s sake. Any little bit of pressure we can take off them—off Farrendel especially—could be the difference between him taking a week or two to recover or facing months of recovery before he’s functioning again.”

He hadn’t seen the worst of it last time, as he had been spying in Kostaria. But he was enough of a spy to figure out just how bad it had gotten while he had been gone.

But considering just the mention of the coming week had sent Farrendel into a panic, how much worse would experiencing it be for him? If Edmund could do something to spare both Farrendel and Essie even a little, then he was willing to do it, no matter the cost to himself.

Yet this plan wouldn’t just cost himself, but Jalissa as well.

For the first time, Jalissa looked away from him, delicately biting her bottom lip as she always did when she was considering something, too deep in thought to remember that a poised, elven princess did not bite her lip in front of others.

He understood why she would stop and consider. His plan to become just friends sounded good, but it could just as easily go wrong, and they’d find themselves falling in love yet again.

He was willing to try it. If the choice was between his pain or Essie and Farrendel’s, then the choice was easy. Farrendel didn’t need anything more to shatter him while Edmund wouldn’t break from this. He would be fine, eventually.

Jalissa drew in a shaky breath. “All right. I agree.” She lifted her chin. “I am willing to do whatever it takes to protect Farrendel.”

Unlike her sister Melantha. She didn’t say it, but Edmund could hear the note of anger anyway.

“So am I.” Edmund let those words steady him.

This wasn’t about him. It was about Farrendel and doing whatever it took to prevent the pressure of public opinion from breaking him. It was about Essie, who would stand at Farrendel’s side and suffer alongside him.

And, perhaps, it was about Jalissa. She was so hurt right now. Hurt by her sister’s betrayal. Hurt by how their romance had ended. Alone in trying to pick up the pieces of her life.

If he could be there for her right now, maybe he could leave her a little less broken and hurt when they ended things than she was right now. He had played a role in her pain. Perhaps it was only right that he helped her put herself back together before he let her go once and for all.

* * *

Jalissa curled on the bench in the seating train car and stared out the window as the Tarenhieli forest flashed by in a blur of vibrant green.

What had she been thinking, saying yes to a fake courtship with Edmund? Did she want to get her heart broken again?

But he had sounded so certain that this would help Farrendel and Elspetha. Weylind seemed to think so as well, even if he did not know the entire plan. He had not argued when Jalissa had shown up at the train with her luggage and her faithful guard Sarya in tow and stated that she was going to Escarland with Farrendel and Elspetha. All Jalissa had to say was that Farrendel could use all the support he could get, and Weylind waved her onto the train without another word.

Was Edmund right? Would this fake relationship help them end the real one that had come so close to starting?

If that were the case, why did her heart insist on beating harder, her breathing going shallow, whenever she caught sight of him? When he had looked at her with those swirling blue eyes of his, the morning sunlight glinting on the slight curl to his brown hair and turning the strands a hint red, she had been helpless to refuse his fake courtship plan.

She was supposed to be choosing not to love him, not letting her heart have free rein once again. But it seemed she was just as weak as before when it came to Edmund.

At the other end of the train car, King Averett, Edmund, and Elspetha talked quietly. Jalissa probably should join them, but she did not feel up to it at the moment.

Farrendel had disappeared into his and Elspetha’s private sleeping car as soon as they boarded the train. Jalissa could not blame him for wanting to soak up what little solitude he could find before they reached Escarland. She was tempted to seek the comfort of a private car herself, except that huddling there sounded even more lonely.

Jalissa sighed and leaned her head against the window, not caring who saw her slumped in such an undignified fashion.

She heard his footsteps crossing the train car before she saw him sit on the bench across from her. The vibrant blue shirt he wore paired well with his deep blue eyes and emphasized the muscular curve of his shoulders. His belt hugged his trim waist while black trousers and black boots completed his look, a mix between rogue and prince. She wanted to snap at him to go away—to stop distracting her with that heart-fluttering smile—but that would not be a good start to their fake courtship.

“I was thinking…” Edmund spoke in a lowered tone, glancing at Averett and Elspetha as if checking that they were still ignoring him and Jalissa. “What if, once Farrendel and Essie retreat, we invite some of the elven nobility to Escarland? We could disguise it as part of the treaty celebrations, to host some select members of Tarenhiel’s court in Aldon.”

“What good would that do?” Jalissa was too tired to deal with more planning right now.

Then again, she had suffered this lethargy for months now. She should be used to functioning while emotionally weary.

Edmund gave her a small smile, though something of the clever glint had returned to his gaze. “We could make sure to include those elves whom you have been considering. It would be a good chance to really see their character. It’s important to you to find an elf who won’t scorn Farrendel. If he’s willing to travel for the treaty celebrations and face the scandal of Farrendel’s birth in the Escarlish court, that will tell you he’s at least still in the running while you can eliminate any who refuse to even come.”

He had a point. It would be a good test to winnow her options down some. She had resigned herself to a loveless marriage, but she could not marry someone who hated her brother. That was a line she would not cross.

Jalissa blinked, then sat up straighter to better face Edmund. “Are you offering to help me…” She trailed off, not even sure what to call it. Was he truly offering to help her move on and find the elf she would eventually marry?

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