Page 92 of Burn

“Agreed,” Briar said, her palms flanking my profile. “Mother understands that now.” The princess’s lips curved as she etched them over my mouth. “I told her. And she’s elated for us.”

The emphasis coaxed my jaw to relax. Briar had told her mother about my proposal and her daughter’s reply.

I let out a gruff chuckle. “How could she not be thrilled by the prospect of having a jester in the family? I hear we make things more interesting.”

Briar’s swift grin melted into a sigh. “The earlier part of our discussion was a lapse any ruler would eventually come to.”

“And she was acting for her child, who’d nearly died,” I acknowledged. “I might have some empathy for that.”

“So an alternative. It turns out we need Winter, but there’s another way to make that happen.”

My head cocked, and my thumb languidly grazed her hip. “I’m all ears.”

“More than that, I hope,” she urged. “Autumn will need your tongue.”

To that, my lips crooked, and I whispered naughtily, “She has it.”

Together, we schemed. A courtship, much less an engagement, would have been a commonplace tactic. To boot, it wouldn’t have seemed genuine to Summer or Autumn.

To convince The Dark Seasons, our deception had to be more subtle.

By no means did this erase the shit Jeryn had said in the pasture. If anything, it made him a new target in my eyes. However, other matters took precedence.

Summer first. We would deal with Winter later.

Karma tasted sweetly addictive on my tongue, like melted sugar mixed with alcohol. To fuck with Rhys’s ego, we’d have to pursue Jeryn. It would be suicidal for any Season to dabble against Winter. With this sort of advantage at our disposal, the Summer King would piss himself.

“This plan will prevent Rhys from attacking,” Briar confided. “Not wishing to involve Winter, he may not attack at all. He may very well stand down.”

“Best case scenario,” I said. “Though, we’d be asking Winter to stake its position.”

“Which means whatever we bargain, it had best be worthwhile to him.”

My eyes tapered with mischief. “There is the matter of Rhys’s spies being spread across the continent. We’ve been meaning to have a chat with Spring and Winter about that.”

That was the initial reason we hadn’t used this knowledge as an ultimatum against Rhys. Leveraging the details instead of informing Spring and Winter would have destroyed us in the long-term. Also, as Aire and Briar’s moral compasses had reminded our clan, it was the right thing to do.

Not that I often prescribed to such motivations. As the morally gray player in this group, I left ethics to the knight and princess.

Torch posts and maple leaves illuminated the dark atmosphere. Our shadows extended across the ground. If one were to look, they would find two silhouettes blending.

“If we do this, it will build trust,” Briar predicted. “But as far as making a pact, there’s no assurance Jeryn will loosen the reins entirely.”

“Sometimes, all we have is a leap of faith.” I ghosted my mouth across hers. “We’ll simply have to be ready for a chess game.”

“Would you say we’re up for that?”

A sly grin broadened my lips. I’d been tracking Jeryn’s every move and gesture, including the minutiae that tended to catch his attention. “Wear that cunning little silver dress tucked in your closet,” I suggested. “The prince favors silver.”

30

Poet

He filled the dungeon to capacity. Firelight reflected the bristles of his fur collar, giving the illusion that small needles grew from his body.

For fuck’s sake. In this dank atmosphere—in any atmosphere besides the tundra from whence he came—how did the man stand it in that coat?

I marveled for only so long, my attention returning to the prince’s colossal height. Whereas I stood statuesque, he was a fortress capable of surpassing an oak tree. ’Twas a miracle that dark blue head didn’t slam into the root-laced ceiling and cause a migraine.

---