Page 119 of A Crown of Lies

Well, Mercia had always been beautiful, but that night, she was stunning.

She snorted at his reaction. “Pick your jaw up off the floor and quit drooling. We’ll belate.”

“Make sure he behaves himself, Mercia,” Ruith said with a grunt.

Mercia flashed him a smile. “Don’t I always?”

Ruith’s accusation irritated Aryn all the way to the carriage that was waiting to take them across D’thallanar. Even as he settled in for the ride, he couldn’t shake it. Perhaps he should have told Ruith the truth from the beginning. He didn’t like having his brother’s faith in him so shaken. Ruith trusted him implicitly, and he worried he had abused that trust for his own ends. He’d said he didn’t tell Ruith because Niro was the best choice, but that was only half true. He’d also neglected to tell him because Aryn was interested in Niro, and he didn’t yet know what to do with that information.

“There’s something you should know before we arrive,” Mercia said suddenly.

Aryn looked away from the window and at her. “Oh? What is it?” His eyes were immediately drawn to the way Mercia chewed on her bottom lip when she was nervous. It made him want to lean forward and bite it so she’d stop.

“I…” she started.

He frowned. It wasn’t like her to be so timid.

Mercia sighed and looked away, a hint of pink coloring her cheeks. “The woman I was kissing at the Starfall party… It was Saya. Niro’s wife.”

That’s it?Aryn thought, a little annoyed that there had been so much build up for such a small confession. “I know,” he said.

She blinked at him, her bottom lip protruding the way it did when she was irritated. “You know? How didyouknow before me who had her tongue halfway down my throat?”

He almost smiled at how enticing that image was, but he figured she’d only be mad at him so he forced himself not to and shrugged instead. “I’m very good at reading faces. Simple masks aren’t enough to make people unrecognizable, so long as I see them frequently enough.”

“Well,” she said, shifting in her seat, “remember when we went to that chocolate shop? It wasn’t just a trip to the chocolate shop, Aryn. She propositioned me.”

He tilted his head curiously. “And what did you say?”

“What did I…” Her face had gone red, and she looked suspiciously like she wanted to murder him before she put her face in her hands. “Oh gods, I ran away like a coward.”

“Poor thing,” he said, sliding across the carriage to put an arm around her. “It’s all right. I’m sure she didn’t see it that way.”

She lowered her hands to look at him. “But you can see why I’m dreading this dinner, Aryn. What if… And then there’s Niro. I don’t know where he stands on it. Maybe he’ll hate me. He could throw us out and it could sour this whole election!”

Aryn smiled and tilted her head toward him. “Mercia… That won’t happen. I suspect we are being invited to the Wolfheart clan house tonight for more than just dinner.”

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

He leaned down to catch her lips briefly. “You are not the only one who’s been propositioned. I did get information at the party, love. Just from a very unexpected source. Niro himself gave it to me in exchange for a kiss. After which he promptly invited me to join him and his wife for a much more intimate sort of party. I politely declined, of course. But he doesn’t seem the sort to accept no very easily.”

Mercia stared at him for a long moment, trying to make sense of what he was telling her. The carriage went over a bump, jostling them. “They want to fuck us,” she said at length. “Like… trading partners.”

“Probably,” Aryn said with a shrug.

“And that doesn’t bother you?”

“Should it?”

“I don’t know,” Mercia said. “You never liked the idea before.”

Aryn took her hands and lifted them to his lips, kissing her knuckles. “I’m as surprised as you to find it doesn’t bother me to think of you and Saya together. If anything, it’s been… enticing to think about.”

She gave him a shove. “Is that why you can’t keep your hands off of me?”

He grinned. “Perhaps. But it doesn’t matter what appeals to me. You have a say here. We had best go in there with a united front, and bear in mind it could very well color the rest of this campaign.”

“You’re right,” she said, pulling her hand away from his. “We shouldn’t distract Niro from winning, or you from your work.”

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