Page 25 of Courting the Tiger King

Satisfied that his spying had yielded nothing that pointed toward a deliberate deception, beyond familial ties that Wren would wager had been hidden by Jamison rather than his daughters, he decided to give up and return to his rooms. Maybe hewouldhave to confront Neah directly in order to get answers to his questions.

Or, perhaps…Zennon.She seemed more unused to court games than Neah, who had grown up in the palace for the most part, so maybe it would be easiest to extract the information he wanted from her. It would save him from an awkward confrontation if he could instead subtly coax the truth from Zennon—plus, he wasn’t sure he’d come out on top in a conflict with Neah. Whatever manner of animal lurked beneath her pretty exterior, Wren was certain that coming face to face with it might spell his death.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

NEAH

“Tell me you didn’t.” Her father’s face was aghast as Zennon and Mother gasped around their laughter. Zen had taken great pleasure in recounting the incident on the training concourse that morning, much to Neah’s chagrin.

“She’s exaggerating, Dad.” Neah rolled her eyes, the lie sounding smooth until Zennon found her voice again.

“Nope, he was in the air for a solid five seconds.” Zennon giggled and Neah begged her with wide eyes to shut up. “Ahem, I mean. It was more of a love tap than anything.”

Fuck. That was worse. After their last conversation, Neah didn’t want to put thoughts in her dad’s head about her and the kinglove tapping.

Ever the diplomat, her mother changed the subject effortlessly by setting a plate of food down in front of Jamison and another two for each of her daughters.

Despite Zennon only being Neah’s half-sister, Darwinia treated her as if she were her own—especially once Zen lost her own parents so young.

The smell hit Neah a second later and her thoughts faded as her stomach growled. Her mom’s chicken and potatoes werefamous in the family and Neah hadn’t realised how much she’d missed them until her first bite made her groan.

Darwinia laughed. “Enjoy, my love.”

“I’m literally salivating,” Neah mumbled, trying her best to savour each mouthful even as she shovelled it in. In truth, her eyes felt suspiciously damp too. The nostalgic flavours, her mom’s smile and the sparkle in her eyes… It had been too long. “Did Zennon tell you she shot a bow?”

“It hit the target,” Zennon said, beaming and their dad softened, becoming gentle in the way he only seemed to do around the three of them. “Wren—the king, nearly made me break my wrist.”

“What?”

If Wren wasn’t the king, Neah might have feared for his safety at that moment. “It was an accident, he had the bow lodged too high for her, the string would have snapped back against her tendon.”

“Neah saved me,” Zennon added, and the pride in her voice made Neah grin. “Though ifsomeonehad already taught me, she wouldn’t have had to,” she grumbled and Neah grimaced. It was a point of contention between Zennon and their father. Neah couldn’t say she disagreed with Zennon, and she’d given her some rudimentary lessons in self-defense when she could, but the truth of it was that Neah was hardly ever in one place for long and Zennon didn’t spend much time with their father either given the secrecy of their relationship. In fact, Neah realised, Zennon likely didn’t see much of anyone at her estate in the forest. For the first time, Neah wondered if her sister was lonely and that was why she was enjoying court so much.

As if he’d come to the same conclusion, Jamison just sighed. “Maybe Neah can help train you while you’re both here. Show you the basics.”

She shared a look with Zennon and cleared her throat. “Sure.” It never hurt to brush up on the basics, not that their dad knew Neah had even shown Zennon that much.

“So, your father tells me you don’t know which of you is fated to the king?” The sparkle in Darwinia’s eyes made Neah roll hers. “Come on, girls. It’s not often we get to gossip together.”

That was true, and Neah felt a stab of guilt for her gut reaction being exasperation.

“Well, Neah might not be sure but I am.” Zennon folded her cutlery back onto the plate with ease and dabbed at her mouth primly. “I have no interest in the king. Good thing too, because those two are one spark away from an explosion.”

Jamison grumbled something under his breath and pushed up from the table abruptly, stalking the short paces away to the kitchenette and clanging around seemingly randomly to avoid the conversation.

“Zennon,” Neah complained. “Where do you get this stuff? I’ve read just as many romance novels as you and yet?—”

“You lack imagination, my dear sister.” Zennon grinned and turned to Darwinia. “Mystery solved.”

Neah opted to ignore her sister’s ribbing in favour of soaking in the sight before her, the two of them giggling and whispering together while Jamison stomped around in the kitchen.

“I missed this,” she said quietly and didn’t resist when her mother lifted her hand and brushed a kiss to its back.

“So have I.” She smiled and a hint of the same tiredness Neah had seen on her father’s face appeared. “My girls.” She stroked a strand of Zennon’s dark hair back from her face.

“It’s getting late girls,” Jamison said, voice gruff but face soft and Neah nodded. She knew he didn’t like having his wife in the palace walls for long if he could help it, there were too many potential spies and enemies on the grounds and his family was the one thing she knew her father wouldn’t risk. It was part ofthe reason why he hadn’t claimed Zennon publicly, why he’d sent Neah away when she was a teenager to train elsewhere, and why her mother was never in one place for long.

She had to wonder if the price they paid was worth it, even if she couldn't fault him for his sense of duty and devotion to the crown. He’d encouraged the same loyalty in her, too.

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