Page 19 of Mountain of Mirrors and Starlight
She nodded.
“You’re close to him?”
“Very,” she said, as if confessing to some great secret. “Don’t tell anyone.”
“Secret’s safe with me.”
A pause rippled between them.
“Did you have that dream often?” he asked. “The bee one?”
“Hmm, a few times, yes. Mostly after we’d spent the day riding them.”
Caer paused, certain he’d misheard. “You’ve… ridden bees?”
“Giant ones, yes.”
“You’ve ridden a giant bee?”
“Ah huh.”
“You’re not just teasing me?”
“Me? Tease you?” She twirled a shining lock of auburn hair around her finger. “Does that sound like a thing I would do?”
“You’re very good at getting around the whole no-lies thing.”
She grinned, sly as a fox. “Much practice.” A yawn eased past her lips, and she stood up fully, glancing towards her door. “I suppose I ought to get back to bed…”
“Might be an idea.”
“If you wake again…”
“Yes?”
“Just… keep the noise down. I might have to do something unspeakably horrible if you do.”
He snorted, mostly at the use of the wordmight.An empty threat. “Goodnight, Aislinn.”
“Goodnight.”
Ithadbeentwofull days now since Aislinn had left, and whilst Beau knew that it was foolish to start worrying so soon, he found he couldn’t help himself.
“You don’t look happy, son,” Hawthorn remarked that evening, whilst King Owen had stepped outside for fresh air. Juliana was examining the remains of the feast nearby, seeking out pastries. Beau wished he had the stomach to eat.
“I know.” He tried to sound light-hearted, “which is surprising, since I’m fairly sure I’m the happiest member of this family.”
Hawthorn blinked. “I’m happy!”
“Sure, you are now, but you still carry an air of only partially resolved childhood trauma.”
Hawthorn snorted. “How did you come to be so smart?”
“Not from you.”
Hawthorn grabbed his head and ruffled his hair aggressively. “Cheeky.”
Beau fought his way out of his father’s arms—it had now turned into something more like a hug—and turned his attention to the rest of the room, searching for distraction. The court jester held his attention for all of maybe a minute.
