Page 52 of Fated Flames: Volume Two
“Perhaps this conversation is best had later,” he says as he bends to offer the cups. A sleek smile unfurls over his lips.
I match it with a sweet one of my own. “I don’t believe Marta minds.”
“Not at all,” she says, taking a sip from her tea.
A flash of annoyance crosses his face as he levels the smile at her. “I would hate to make a guest feel unwelcome, Marta,” he tells her through his teeth.
She sighs. “You’re right.” Setting her cup down, she turns my way and pats my knee. “I’d better be going, Your Highness. Thank you for your hospitality.”
Soren blanches. “You’re not leaving?”
She pushes to her feet. “As much as I love a hot cup of tea, I’m sure His Majesty would prefer his queen’s company to mine, especially after she’s had such a long, arduousday. I imagine water drawing requires a great deal of energy.”
When she looks to me for confirmation, I nod. “It does indeed. How thoughtful of you.”
Grinning, she curtsies to us both. “Then I’ll take my leave.”
Soren leaps in her way as she starts for the exit. “Are you sure you won’t finish your tea? I can fetch more chocolate.”
I glance at the untouched mound of chocolate in front of me. It’s enough to feed my mother’s entire household.
Heissquirming.
“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Marta says, “but unless you require my presence, I’m going to share a cup with my husband before bed.”
I’m almost certain he groans. “Of course. Good night, Marta.”
“Good night, Your Majesty.”
He graciously holds the tent open as she leaves, leaving us alone with only the sound of the wind outside and the faint crackle of the lanterns within.
“If you’re tired,” he says, his back still turned to me, “I’ll have your attendants called to ready you for bed.”
He actually steps forward as if to leave.
“Minister Abely didn’t tell me about the stone,” I say, stopping him in his tracks. “You know he didn’t. Why didn’t you have someone else tell me?”
My words ring out with more accusation than I intend, and I sit there, pressing my palms against the warm sides of the cup and trying not to apologize. Soren doesn’t move.
“Are you rejecting it?” he says finally.
The words are so quiet that I’m not sure I heard him correctly. “Pardon?”
“Are you rejecting the stone?” The question is somehow both firmer and more ragged than before. He turns to me then, his hands fisted at his sides, his expression hardened as if bracing for a tidal wave.
My heart aches at the sight.
“No,” I whisper, and watch as a breath of relief shudders through him. Then he crosses his arms and glances aside.
“Then why is it important?” he asks peevishly.
How can I feel such sympathy for him one moment and such irritation the next? I muster all of my patience. “Because I am not a dragon. I’m human, and the implications of this...” I cradle the sapphire in my palm. “The implications are different for me than they are for you.”
“I thought you were aware of the implications when I gave it to you. Abely was meant to tell you.”
We’re talking in circles now. “Well, he didn’t, and I would have appreciated you remedying that.”
His jaw works. “I’ve been preoccupied, Princess.”
