Page 34 of The King's Man
I’d drifted off almost as soon as the moon rose. But my sleep was broken, and I woke in the middle of the night…itchy.
I lay in that grand bed in the royal suite, rubbing my eyes and stretching. I felt rested… and restless. Like a firm hand was planted on my spine between my shoulder blades, pushing me forward.
Hard.
Then I felt a deep, soulfulpangin my chest and my breath caught.
I sat bolt upright, pushing a fist against my sternum to massage that spot that hurt. Had I eaten something?
But no… it wasn’t my stomach that hurt. It was myheart.An aching void in my chest. The hollow feeling of cold sheets and empty silence. And the sense that something was near—someone—who could fill it. Someone whoneededme.
I rolled my neck and shoulders, trying to ease the sensation, but it wouldn’t leave me. After a few moments, I slipped out of the bed, pulled on my leathers and a shirt that I left hanging loose, then exited the rooms to wander the halls.
The guards watched me warily, but I wasn’t being sneaky. I explored.
That pressure at my back, and that ache in my chest, drew me forward with more and more certainty, until I found myself two floors away and in a different wing of the great Palace.
I stood at a non-descript door and the urge to open it was so intense I wondered if I was dreaming.
Hesitantly—and yet, certain—I knocked softly.
It should have been a surprise when a disheveled, red-faced, and shining-eyed Diadre opened it a moment later, the shock on her features quickly covered. But it wasn’t.
“You’ve been crying,” I blurted.
She grimaced and bristled. But before I could apologize, she took a deep breath and her chin quivered. She let both hands flop to her sides. “I’m justsad.”Then before I could speak, her forehead pinched to lines and she glared at me through welling tears. “It’s not weakness! I am allowed to feel sad for my princess and my Queen—and Gall as well. For everyone! I am free tonight. It’s my own time. So I let myself grieve. If you don’t like that, then you can leave. I don’t need to hear about how… how that’s weak, or toofemale.”
I swallowed hard. “No, I wasn’t… I only… I’m having trouble sleeping,” I lied. “I wondered if you had some wine?”
Her face cleared and she blinked rapidly. “Yes. Sorry. Yes. I do. Come in.”
She turned on her heel and left the door open for me to follow her in. Given how uptight these people were, I was surprised she didn’t seem worried that servants might see me enter. But I followed her into the apartment, closing the door behind me.The rooms were comfortable—a small sitting room with a low fire crackling, an unstopped carafe of wine already open on the side bar, and a blanket thrown over the arm of the chair where she’d been sitting when I knocked.
She walked to the side bar and picked up a large tumbler, pouring wine into it as she spoke without meeting my eyes.
“Turo received word back. There’s no sign of either of them. Not even a hint. He fears that they never came this way and that means… that means that Yilan’s going to be heartbroken.I don’t… I don’t know what that will do to Melek.”
She walked back to hand me the wine then turned away again with little more than a glance to make sure I was listening.
“He’ll be heartbroken as well,” I muttered. “Though he’ll likely show it differently. When he’s upset he tends to get quiet and… grumpy,” I shrugged.
Diadre snorted. “Shocking.” But her smile faltered immediately. She topped up her half-drunk goblet of wine, then shuffled back to the chair and dropped into it, shaking her head. “This is going to break both of them,” she said softly.
“No, it won’t,” I growled. “It’ll galvanize them.”
Her lips twisted, but for once she didn’t snap back to argue with me. “You’re probably right.
I was so stunned I didn’t answer right away. “Diadre are you… are you alright?”
She huffed. “Just because something is true doesn’t mean I have to like it,” she said with a short glance at me from the side that spoke of more than just the truth about Yilan and Melek.
Then she dropped her chin and looked down at the glass in her hands and she lookedso sad.That hand planted between my shoulder blades shoved me forward again. I swayed, but caught myself. The urge to go to her, to sweep her up, to hold her wouldn’t let up. I could see myself gathering her to my chest, sitting down on the couch and holding her there in myarms, whispering to her that we’d all get through this, that her feelings for her friends were admirable, not weakness. That her compassion was beautiful.
And I almost did it. I swayed again, took one step. But the moment I moved, it was like a gong rang in her. She sat up straight like she’d been poked. Her head snapped towards me, her eyes round with wary shock. Then she swallowed.
“I need to sleep. We both do.” For a split second I heard an invitation in those words and I took a step towards her, but she turned away from me. “Do you want more wine? You can… you can take it with you. The servants will replenish mine here while I’m gone. I won’t miss it.”
I froze mid-step, blinking. “I… No. This is enough. I… only…” I cleared my throat. “You seem… not yourself. Would you like a—” she stiffened, so I changed tack, “—a guard to watch out so that you can rest? If I’m not sleeping anyway…?”
