Page 88 of The Crimson Throne
I blink at her. “The wisp didn’t lead us to the witch?”
She shakes her head. “Not yet, it would appear. I assumed that was who it was leading us to, but now—” Her wonder slips away, always so short-lived, and I hate that I didn’t revel in it. Didn’t do my best to extend it and instead just brought her right back to this massive weight she carries.
“Where are we, then?” I ask.
Alyth says, as though it should be obvious, “The goblin market.”
“Ah.” I blink. “Of course. How did I not recognize it?”
She gives me a sardonic look. “The fae realm. Not the Seelie Court, but a place within its rule. I’m not sure why the wisp led us here, but it would have had good reason to. Someone sent it to find us.”
We’re still standing awful close. I dropped my touch from her, which was a dumb move on my part; why would I ever stop holding her if she lets me? I take her hand now, needing that contact still.
“Why would someone here want to find us?”
Alyth shrugs, her grip tightening on my fingers. I wonder if she knows she’s doing it. I wonder if it helps her. “Probably one of myfather’s servants wanting to deliver a message.”
My brows flick up. “Your father’s in this realm?”
Her eyes jump to mine. She hesitates, then says in a small, soft voice, “He’s a member of the Seelie Court.”
There’s hesitation in her words, like she’s waiting for my reaction to blow up. What’s she thinking? That I—
Oh. If her father’s a member of the Seelie Court, then she’s likely got some nobility too. I think back on all she’s said about her duty in Scotland and her position over the other Leths, and I realize that she’s likely got rank in the fae realm.
Just when I think I’ve got her figured out, just when I think I have a handle on bracing myself to absorb her impact, a new facet of Alyth Graham reveals itself, and I’m knocked even more off-kilter. Everything I find out about her keeps putting her so far above me, and here I thought we were starting to be similar.
But we are. We can be, because she’s not expecting me to bow and scrape and hold her up on a pedestal. In fact, she looks damn terrified of that result, like she’s waiting for me to realize our distance and let it wedge between us.
So I smile, cockeyed and easy. “You know my father’s the same in England. So when yours neglected you, it was for a fancy court too? We really are cut from the same cloth, Alyth.”
I’m so far below her, so desperately unworthy of her.
And yet.
Her eyes shift over my face for a long beat. It makes heat pool low in my belly, makes me want to kiss that grin right off her face, and I twist our hands together where she’s still letting me hold her, threading our fingers alongside each other.
“Yours is still worse,” she says, eyes sparking.
“Ah, I know, being English and all.”
“Well, I meant trading in Red Cap weapons, but yes, that too.”
My grin is so wide, it hurts. I want her to keep teasing me, because if she’s teasing me, then she’s not thinking about any of the stresses in her life.
But she sighs and rubs a hand over her face, settling in with focus. “My father’s messenger is here somewhere. He usually frequents a booth across the square. Follow me, and do not eat anything. You could get trapped here for just eating a berry. And don’t speak to anyone—you’re far too eager to swear your life away.”
She’s serious again, all business, but I can’t help it. “Pretty sure you liked me swearing my life to you.”
Her eyes roll. But she blushes.
Without another word, she sets off into the market, dragging me by the hand.
We pass more stalls, and I’m glad Alyth’s taking the lead and keeping us moving, because I’d just stand and stare until I turned to dust. Each display of goods is more enticing than the last, especially once we get to a section of all fruits and vegetables. Piles of fresh apples gleam with a faint red glow, and my mouth waters immediately. I’m glad Alyth warned of not eating anything; the temptation’s overwhelming to snatch one of the apples that look so juicy, so ripe, so…powerful.
The apples look powerful? No—they’d make me powerful. Somehow. I don’t know how I know, but it’s as solid as the ground beneath my feet: that apple would give me power.
Alyth drags me away, and I hurry along with her, shaking the funny feeling out of my head.
