The way his tone soured when he spoke of Olwen, his sister who was rumored to now reside in a tower crafted of vines after refusing to go forth with the marriage arrangements King Marken had prepared for her, I didn’t think it best to pursue the subject. The papers made it seem like Evander and Olwen had never gotten along, and the way his jaw clenched at the thought of her, I was inclined to think the articles weren’t simply hearsay.

“I figured,” I said, returning the conversation back to Blaise, “but you never know.”

Evander crinkled his nose as if I’d presented him a rotten spud. He cleared his throat. “Do you have someone back home? Someone you love?”

The question startled me, especially since I hadn’t expected the conversation to turn so quickly to me. Not after what the prince had just confessed.

“Um, no.”

“Are you telling me the truth?”

“Yes, why wouldn’t I?”

“So you’ve never had anybody? Loved anybody?” he asked. “No rugged window-installation man you had your eyes on? Anyone like that?”

“No,” I said, laughing. “My father installs all the windows. Besides, I’ve been too busy with my glassmaking. I love it. And, well…” I paused, not sure that I was ready to reveal the next bit.

He cocked his head to the side. “What?”

“Well, I guess I’ve been waiting until my business takes off, until I have some real money to my name, to worry about it.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Don’t your peers typically solve the problem the other way around?”

“Well, yes. But I didn’t want to have to marry for money. I wanted to marry for love. And I figured if I had the money to support myself, I wouldn’t have to worry about money being a barrier.”

“Huh,” he said.

“What?” I asked, suddenly embarrassed.

“Marriage for love…” He grinned. “What an interesting notion.”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, don’t act as if you couldn’t have married for love if you had wanted to.”

“I tried, didn’t I?”

“Well, yes. Let me rephrase that. Don’t act as if you couldn’t have married for love if you had wanted to and been smart about it.”

“Ouch.”

“Well.”

“Why do you think I was free to marry for love?” he asked.

The question surprised me. Why couldn’t he see it? “Because you’re one of the richest people in the kingdom. Money isn’t an object for you.”

He laughed. “Is that really what you think?”

“Isn’t it the truth?”

“Ellie, you have to understand, the rich hardly get away with marrying for love, even if they think that’s what they’re doing.”

“Why not?”

He threw his hands into the air. “Because everyone wants us for our money!”

I shrugged. “Then just find someone who already has plenty of money, and it won’t be an issue.”

He plucked a leaf from a tree branch above us and brushed my nose with it. “That’s not how this works.”

I jerked away from the leaf tickling my skin and stopped. “Then pray tell me how it works, exactly.”

“It’s not like really rich people get to a certain amount of money and then decide they’re satisfied with it. It doesn’t matter how rich a rich person is, they need for that wealth to grow and grow, otherwise they feel like it’s slipping away from them. So no, I couldn’t have just picked a wealthy woman. Then it would have certainly been for the money.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. Why would you need more wealth when you already have more than you could ever hope to spend?”

“Security, Ellie. It’s all about security.”

“Security?” I laughed. “Is having castles and servants and enough gold to fill the Gulf not enough?”

He shook his head and smiled. “Nope. Never.”

“But to be as rich as you, these women could lose, what, ninety percent of their wealth and still be clothed and fed with a roof over their heads?”

“How would you feel if I asked you if I could cut off your pinky toes?”

“I’d rather you not.”

“Why not?”

“Because it would hurt.”

He shook his head. “No, women choose to go through childbirth all the time. So it’s not the pain. It’s because you’re used to having it. Used to living with it. Used to how it keeps you balanced and from toppling over. Sure, you could live without it. But you’re not used to living without it. It’s a part of you.”

I crossed my arms. “That’s not a perfect analogy for so many reasons. I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

He shrugged. “Still. It’s like that for the upper class. Our money defines us. That’s why we can’t marry one another for love. There’s always some business transaction going on underneath the surface, even if it’s subconscious. That’s why I was so thrilled to find someone of no material or social consequence at the ball.”

“You mean the same person who stole my property so she could fake being rich?” I asked. “Yes, I’m sure your money never crossed her mind.”

“Yeah, well, maybe she thinks similarly of you.”

I huffed in exasperation. “And why would she have any right to think that?”

A wicked grin spread over his face as he shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. You did steal her man, after all.”

We almost made it out of the forest without me asking a question I’d regret.

Almost.