Page 91 of A Bargain with the Fae King

“You already offered your assistance to search for her, but how has that turned out?” Bitterness laces my voice. I’ve chosen Riven. Doesn’t he realize that?

His lips twitch. “So feisty. Though I gather Riven’s men haven’t had any more luck than my own. And where is the King of the Forest? Not out searching for your sister?”

The verbal jab hits like a punch. His men are searching. Even Ambrose returned to the forest this morning. But Riven himself…

“I said, enough,” Solona repeats, stepping in front of me.

Her words jolt me from my spiraling thoughts.

“Well, if you don’t want my help…” he trails off.

I lean around her, catching the end of Sigurd’s shrug as he steps away from the bookshelves.

“Though, Lia,” Sigurd’s eyes snap back to mine. “Wear the ring. At least while I’m here. It wouldn’t do for a Lady of the Forest to offend her neighbors.” He looks pleased. Far too pleased for a guest that’s just been jilted.

There was that title. Lady.

He says it like I’m some kind of European noble. It’s too important, too significant, for our relationship. Riven and I aren’t married or anything.

Sigurd turns, ignoring the daggers we all stare at his back, and strides toward the exit of the library. Before he reaches it, the door opens wide, and Riven fills its frame.

“What’s going on here?” Riven looks from Sigurd to the rest of us and back again.

Tension hangs heavy in the air between them, thicker than the magic at the ball.

“I’m just on my way out,” Sigurd replies, tone nonchalant. He pats Riven on the shoulder and slides around him out the door.

Riven watches him go before fully stepping inside and closing the door behind him.

All stiffness of his form vanishes with the click of the lock.

“Any luck?” he asks no one in particular.

So, we’re just going to ignore Sigurd’s words.

“Not yet,” I answer.

“Then we leave shortly, as planned,” he says. Solona, Ambrose, and other close companions had already been filled in on the morning’s discovery and our forming plan.

“I don’t like this, Rivenean.” Solona stares him down. “We don’t know if she can do it, and she’ll only have one chance.”

Talking about me like I’m not even here. Great. Not to mention that she hadn’t been that surprised by the story of the key. My lips draw thin as I suck on my teeth. She’d known about it and never mentioned it as a possibility for retrieving May.

“We should wait,” she continues. “Let her get settled, more accustomed to this world. It can only help.”

“May cannot wait.” I slam my hand on the desk.

“Lia…” she starts.

The back of my neck burns. “I know. You don’t think I can do it—”

“That’s not—”

“But I can. I will.”

Solona sighs and shakes her head. “Even if you can, the stone is too valuable.”

Her comment hits me like a slap to the face. Doesn’t matter that she’s probably right, but I can’t—

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