Page 40 of The Night Prince 2

“Yeah, well, you bring us in on your nefarious plans, we have to know why,” Gemma told him.

“Nefarious? Hardly nefarious! For all you know, I was being nosy,” he sniffed.

“Nosy. Nefarious. There’s a fine line there somewhere.” Finley sipped tea and looked ready to stay there as long as it took to get him to speak.

“Spill, Gran. We want the tea,” Gemma said.

“You have tea,” Rhalyf said.

“It’s an expression. We want the deets. We want the hot gos. Gossip? C’mon, what did they say?” Gemma asked.

He snorted, amused at her persistent yet adorable demeanor. Finley had that too though his was slightly more… interesting. “I was simply curious as to what Elasha was doing here. Is she a secret coffee fan? Is it the adorable pig mugs? Or a hidden love for junk architecture? In truth, I now have more questions rather than less after that exchange.”

“It’s clear that they’re, at least, friends,” Finley mused. “Maybe this is the way that Vesslan unofficially communicates with the Separatists. Sends his daughter out as his ambassador.”

Rhalyf snorted again. “Vesslan does nothing unofficially. But Elasha… this definitely makes me see her in another light. I wouldn’t have thought her capable of putting her prejudices aside long enough to cultivate friends.”

“So what were they talking about? They were pretty serious.” Gemma leaned forward. “We know you heard every word.”

“You do?”

“We do,” Finley answered.

He drummed his fingers on the table. Should he tell them? Or a convenient lie?

“They were talking about the fact that Aquilan spent his evening at the tavern with your father rather than at the palace or here, in Hope,” he said. “They both felt their fathers had played things badly when it came to influencing him and were bemoaning that fact.”

Gemma’s lips curled into a smile. “Dad always knows how to play his cards right.”

“He definitely does. But he’s also the sort of person that Aquilan would like, I think,” Finley pointed out. When Rhalyf turned towards him, he added, “Straightforward, honest and brave.”

Rhalyf gave a brief nod though he did not meet any, but perhaps the last of those three characteristics. And he found bravery overrated for the most part. Better to live and fight another day.

Iefyr, my foot.

“What else did they say?” Gemma asked. Whether she guessed there was more or was just asking was unclear.

“Just that the rifts had been relatively quiet.” He decided not to mention Darcassan supposedly being missing. The royal family’s whereabouts were not to be known generally and, again, he truly doubted Darcassan was in any danger.

Finley frowned. “That sounds… good.” And yet, Finley’s tone indicated that he did not quite believe it to be good. Again, this showed his intelligence.

“We do not have enough data to know whether it is good or bad yet, but it is interesting,” Rhalyf said and he meant that. Though he might have suspicions that the two women were right that something–or someone–had come through that was scaring everything off, he wasn’t certain by any stretch of the imagination.

But what–or who–could do that? There’s one person, but if it is him… No, I refuse to even consider it.

“How long do you think we’ll have coffee and sugar and stuff like that?” Gemma suddenly asked as she turned her empty cup of tea in her hands. Her forehead was furrowed.

“I suppose it depends on whether the Aravae will let us use the gates to establish supply lines and if there are enough people who want to grow the appropriate crops,” Finley said carefully.

His eyes darted to Rhalyf. The young man was clearly attuned to the fact that he was the Sun King’s best friend and everything he said would likely make its way to Aquilan’s ears. Again, intelligent.

“Your best bet to ensure the survival of favorite foods or other such things is to get others to appreciate them,” Rhalyf said as he sipped more coffee and his foot began to tap. “That way you won’t be so limited in terms of who can plant, harvest and transport them.”

“So we have to feed more people caramel corn?” Gemma’s eyes twinkled at him.

He found himself reaching up and touching his chin where Finley had brushed away the errant kernels of corn. “Yes, yes, well, the products do rather sell themselves.”

“It’s a shame that the Separatists don’t encourage other species to come to Hope,” Finley said. “While certain people in power may not see the value in human culture, others certainly will.”

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