Page 119 of A Curse of Hope and Shadows: Part I
“You take good care of him.”
“It’s my job.”
“Do you love him?”
Adeline bristled. “As much as I’m permitted to.”
Alexei snorted. “That’s a good answer. I like that answer.”
“Are you here to interrogate me, or see your cousin?”
“A little of both, I suppose.”
Minty returned with some clothes and breakfast, almost toppling over when she saw Prince Alexei by Dimitri’s side. After a hurried bow which Alexei once again insisted wasn’t necessary, she looked at Adeline, as if asking if she should stay. Adeline shook her head. She could handle Alexei.
“Dimitri writes a lot of you,” Alexei said, as Adeline stepped behind the screen to change.
“I’m certain that he does.”
“I must admit, I had my concerns at first that you were trying to seduce him, had plans of being the next Duchess, or would extort him for gold, jewels, trinkets. But it isn’t like that at all, is it?”
“I would never hurt him.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Of course I am.” She wriggled into her petticoats and pulled her dress over her head.
“Let me ask you this,” said Alexei, voice plain, “how do you think this arrangement will end? Will you look after him for the rest of his life?”
Adeline paused, because she had dared not ask herself that question. Now, though, the answer seemed easy. “If he wants me to.”
Through the screen, Alexei shook his head. “From what I know of you, Adeline, I don’t think you’ll be content to be a maid forever. You will grow tired of it.”
“But not of him!” she snapped, stepping out with her hair still in disarray. “I will never grow tired ofhim.”
“And if he dies?” Alexei asks passively.
Adeline tensed, not wanting to consider it.
“Not today, but some other time? How long do you think he can endure these transformations? What if he dies in ten, twenty years, and you’ve wasted a huge chunk of your life? What do you really get from this arrangement?”
Adeline stepped back to the bed, as if she meant to shield Dimitri from these words. “Him,” she said softly, desperately. “I gethim.No amount of time I spent with him is wasted. It doesn’t matter if all we can offer each other is friendship, if nothing ever happens between us at all. The alternative is worse. Being without him is worse. You assume that I don’t get much out of this, that I give more than I take, but that isn’t true. He understands me. He knows me. More than anyone does. More than anyone everwill. Don’t you understand how lucky that makes us, that we have found each other in this world? Don’t you think, if you found that person, you’d be willing to do anything to remain by their side?”
For a long while, she felt Alexei’s gaze on her, but her own had long since fallen to Dimitri, threaded to the slow rise and fall of his chest.
“I would endeavour to be so lucky,” Alexei said. “But what if the curse breaks? What if he has to marry someone else?”
“I would be happy for him.”
“You actually mean that, don’t you?”
Adeline tore her gaze from Dimitri to stare at the prince. “Of course. If he is happy, I feel that too, and when he’s hurt…”
Alexei sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Sit beside him. I won’t tell anyone. Lie down, for all I care. I’ll get you some tea.”
Adeline smiled, hardly thinking of how odd it was that a prince was offering to serve her tea. She sat down on the bed, lacing her fingers into Dimitri’s, and kissed them quickly while Alexei’s back was turned. She didn’t dare lie down as suggested.
“Umm,” said Alexei from the table, “how does one make tea, exactly?”
