“You look thrilled to be chasing the girl,” Sinister remarked.
I glanced at him briefly, then continued my fast-paced hunt through the ornate palace hallways.
“I might feel some semblance of kinship to her, that’s all. I was an outcast when I first arrived, same as her.”
“Mhmm, you keep telling yourself that.”
I didn’t pick Sinister to be paired with me for the conversation he offered. I picked him because that way I could keep an eye on him, not that I thought he’d do something to hurt Isay after the king’s show of power. Out of the four of Hiko’s men, I trusted him with Isay the least.
Regar might’ve joked around, but he was a good guy. Ferro had his kinks, but duty came first, and once Hiko had his talk with the king, he’d walk the line.
I couldn’t get the fury on Isay’s face out of my head when Grath brought out the ring after he’d sentenced the servant to death anyway. I understood where the king was coming from, as keeping Isay safe was about the mentality of the fae in the court and the only thing any of us was afraid of was death, ironic as that sounded. But he didn’t have to play her like that.
“How long do you think that ring of hers lasts?” Sinister asked, and I stopped in my tracks to stare him down. A knowing smile tugged at his lips, and his eyes glinted with mischief. “Just curious, you know.”
I grabbed at his collar and shoved him against the wall to our right, the itch in my gut rising up to a tornado of knives that I intended to ignore. “Do not even dare to touch her—”
Sinister barked a laugh, and I narrowed my eyes at him. “Quite a kinship you’ve got there, Kar. Don’t worry about me touching your girl. That’s a shit I won’t mess with, no matter how enticing. Worry about you touching her instead.”
“I’m not going to,” I grunted and released my hold on him.
He rolled his eyes. “Exactly my point.” I thought I heard some sympathy in his voice, but it must’ve been a fluke since his face was betraying none of it.
We soon caught up to Isay as she was standing by the hallway to the kitchen not moving towards it, but not leaving either.
“Normal people get their food from the dining hall,” I said, stopping next to her.
Her brows rose. “There’s a dining hall?”
I sighed.“No, I made that up as a conversation starter. Isay, of course there’s a dining hall. All of those fae have to eat somewhere. Do you think this kitchen would be this busy if there were no mouths to feed?”
Isay studied the bustling kitchen. Unlike the other morning, there were more than eleven fae now rushing between sterile countertops. More than one pot of stew bubbled away. Shouts of instructions rang out, being met with replies of ‘ay chef’. From where we stood, it looked like chaos.
“May I show you the way, my princess?” My princess? Must be because I’d called Grath my king. Nothing to it.
She glowered. “Don’t call me that!”
“What?” I smiled. “Princess or mine?”
I heard Sinister cough behind me. Yeah, too far. I could agree with that assessment. But the blush on her cheeks was adorable, and the scent of forest flowers flared up, making me breathless.
Sinister was holding his breath again. In a few weeks’ time he’d likely have learned how to survive without oxygen whenever Isay was around.
“Neither!” Isay sputtered, crossing her arms.
I couldn’t deny getting satisfaction from seeing her flustered, but Sinister was right—I never thought the day would come when I’d say that Sinister was right—I had to worry about not touching Isay. Even with the ring, it was too risky.
“What would you like me to call you then?”
“How about my name?” she snapped.
I shrugged. “Sure thing, Isay. As you wish.”
She huffed as if hearing her name didn’t give her any satisfactory effect. I however enjoyed saying it more than I should have.
Isay was pointedly not looking at me, and I was wondering if I was getting under her skin. She finally said, “Show me to the dining hall.”
“Kar,” I interjected.
Her eyes narrowed. “What?”
“’Show me to the dining hall, Kar.’ I just figured if we were going to be on a first-name basis you should use mine.”
“Fine, whatever. Karmuth, just show me the way. I’m starving”
My heart leapt at the way she sang out my name, but then again anything from her lips was a melody I could listen to for eternity. “Full name, even? I don’t think I introduced myself this way.”
She grumbled, “You didn’t have to.”
Well, that filled me with satisfaction. If she wanted to call me that, I wouldn’t stop her. That gave her one more syllable to pronounce and left my name on her tongue longer.
“The dining hall is this way, Isay.” I pointed my finger toward the way we had to go and started walking, certain she’d follow.
If not, Sinister was still shadowing us and would wait until she made up her mind. It didn’t take long for her to catch up and fall into step next to me. I noticed her looking behind us at Sinister and fidgeting.
Ah, he left her uncomfortable. I wasn’t surprised; he gave me the creeps too.
“Think of him as a rottweiler,” I suggested. “Dangerous when treated wrong, but incredibly loyal. Helps me look past his grim appearance every time.”
