Page 54 of Peril

Edmund opened his mouth, then realized he didn’t have a comeback for that one. Vriska was a troll. She probably wasn’t too turned off by the blood and sweat of a good fight. “In that case, go bother her and let me sleep.”

Julien grinned, easing his chair back onto all four legs. “Fine, fine. I’ll leave you to rest. Glad you’re safe.”

“You too.” Edmund would have to get the full story of what went down that night out of someone. Once he’d had a good long rest. And a shower. A very long, very hot shower.

After clapping Edmund on the shoulder one last time, Julien strode from the room.

As soon as his brother was gone, Edmund snatched the tin of mints from the table, opened the lid, and popped a mint in his mouth, sighing in relief as the fresh, peppermint taste washed over his tongue.

Barf breath really was no joke.

ChapterFourteen

Edmund sprawled in one of the comfortable chairs in the parlor of Buckmore Cottage. It was strangely quiet here without Essie and Farrendel.

Still, he closed his eyes and let the silence soak into him. It had taken some doing to convince Jalissa to leave his side when she was invited to spend time with Paige and Vriska that afternoon.

It was the first time they had been apart since all of this started, and it had been harder than expected. Perhaps they had both suffered more trauma than they realized. She’d only left because he’d told her he’d needed the rest after overextending himself to go to Winstead Palace for breakfast with his family that morning.

A knock came from the outer door a moment before it opened and Julien’s voice called down the hall, “Edmund?”

“In here.” Edmund didn’t bother to get up, staying sprawled where he was.

Julien strode into the room, halting just inside. He shifted, clutching a newspaper in his fist. “I’m not interrupting your rest, am I?”

“I was resting, not sleeping.” Edmund gestured to the couch across from him. Julien had a look about him, as if he wanted to discuss something. “Any word from Mongavaria yet? Or Essie and Farrendel?”

“No baby yet. And nothing from Mongavaria yet either. You know better than me that getting word to Lord Crest secretly is going to take a bit of time.” Julien curled and uncurled a newspaper in his hand. “That’s not what I came to talk about. It’s this.”

He spread the newspaper on the coffee table between them.

Edmund shoved himself a little more upright, focusing on the newspaper.

The header announced that it was one of the gossip rags, the ones that they usually avoided reading since they were so filled with lies and vitriol.

But he could immediately see why this one had caught Julien’s attention. A large, line-drawn cartoon filled a quarter of the front page underneath the heading, “Prince Julien’s Troll Bride.”

The cartoon depicted a lumpy, rock-like figure wearing a ball gown. She carried a hunk of meat in one hand, a club in the other.

The sight turned Edmund’s stomach. “I’m so sorry, Julien. I trust Vriska hasn’t seen this yet?”

“No, and there’s no way I’m letting her see this if I can help it. Averett is already talking with our lawyers, discussing if we can sue the paper for libel.” Julien stared down at the paper, his expression twisting, his eyes both hard and pained. “But they are unsure if going to court would be advisable. Normally the royal family wouldn’t respond, but this time if we don’t, the newspapers will take that as permission to continue publishing articles like this. Today, it is the gossip rags. Tomorrow, it could be more reputable papers like theAldon Times. If we are going to stop them from continuing to harass Vriska like this, then we need to take a firm stance now and stick to it.”

Edmund nodded, his stomach still churning. “It’s a prejudicial lie. This isn’t who Vriska is. You know it. The family knows it. I’m sure Vriska knows it.”

“I’m not sure even suing will be enough.” The pain in Julien’s eyes deepened, and there was something almost dead inside his gaze when he looked up at Edmund. “You didn’t hear the ladies of the court last night. They said such disgusting things, and they didn’t care who overheard them. Vriska was nearly in tears over some of the things said about her last night, and this is Vriska. She rarely cries.”

Last night, Julien had remained silent to let Edmund pour out his thoughts. Now it was Edmund’s turn to sit there and listen while Julien talked it out.

Julien shook his head and glared at the newspaper. “They’re never going to quit harassing her. Vriska is a troll. She isn’t traditionally beautiful. She’s going to be constantly compared to Jalissa, Essie, and Paige, no matter how unfair and horrible it is to pit them against each other in the press.”

Edmund resisted the urge to wince. It wouldn’t be fair. Vriska was an amazing woman and so perfect for Julien, but when it came to what the Escarlish press and nobility would consider beauty, she would fall short. Especially compared to Paige—who had years of practice at the regal bearing of a queen—and Jalissa—who was considered exceptionally beautiful even among elves—or Essie—who had a sense of style and charm that came naturally to her.

The prejudice against trolls was just too strong. It was even in the nametroll. An insult that the trolls had adopted as their own when they no longer wanted to be called mountain elves.

Perhaps they should re-brand themselves as mountain elves once again, though Edmund couldn’t see Rharreth and the trolls doing that. They had formed their own identity so apart from the forest elves that they wouldn’t want to go back to claiming that old kinship.

Even calling themselves mountain elves probably wouldn’t be enough regardless. This was going to get vicious, and Edmund wasn’t sure there was anything that any of them, even Averett, could do to stop it.

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