Page 68 of Promise of Darkness
“He’s treated you well?” Thalia asks carefully.
“I nearly expired of boredom, but that was the only danger.” Indeed, he’s been kinder than I probably deserve. And all I’ve offered him are sharp words.
“There’s time to make amends,” Thalia says, pushing to her feet. “Perhaps if you gave him a chance, you might find those amends aren’t really so bad, after all.”
I throw my last grape at her. “You’re as bad as he is.”
And while the attraction between us threatens to overwhelm me, I don’t want to be some pathetic substitute for his poor dead wife.
“Of course I am,” she says with a smile. “Wearerelated. And I think it’s time for him to pursue happiness.”
“You overrate my charms.”
“You underestimate them,” she points out. “Sleep well, Princess. And call me if you ever want to speak. I think we’re going to be great friends.”
“I’d say you have impeccable taste, but then you seem to like Eris too.”
There’s something about Thalia that wins a smile from me, regardless of how hard I’m trying not to.
She grins. “Eris has her charms. But she’s emphatically loyal to Thiago. She thinks you’re going to break his heart and get him killed.”
“How can I break his heart when he’s already given it away?”
Thalia pauses. “Love is a renewable resource. You can destroy the source of it. You can twist it, and curse it, and deny it all you like. But you can never completely obliterate the possibility of it. All you have to do is be open to it. He gave his heart once, Vi. It doesn’t mean he can’t give it again. It will always beat for her, but perhaps it can beat for you too?”
“I was under the impression he was trying to use me to get her back,” I mutter.
Thalia blinks in utter surprise. “How in Maia’s name did you ever dream up such an idea?”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell her about the letters.
But I still don’t know who penned them or what the author means by any of it.
“It doesn’t matter. It’s probably… something I heard in my mother’s court.”
“Don’t believe anything you hear in your mother’s court,” Thalia says in a droll voice. “It’s either poison or lies. What did you think he was planning? Did you think he intended to sacrifice you to Kato in order to fetch her from the Underworld?”
The thought did cross my mind.
“No,” I scoff. “I don’t know. I hadn’t… thought much of it.”
Only every night since I overheard the prince talking to Cian.
“The prince means you no harm,” she says. “I wish you’d believe me.”
I wish I could too.
But, as kind and charming as he’s been, I can’t help feeling as though he’s watching me too.
Heisthe Prince of Evernight, after all, renowned for his ruthlessness. And he’s hiding something from me. They all are. Even Thalia, with her friendly smiles and her tray of food, is clearly seeking to placate me.
I don’t know who to trust.
Eris, perhaps.
She’s the only one not hiding her feelings toward me.
“Thiago’s going to contact the alliance tonight,” Thalia tells me, pausing by the door. “You may as well get some sleep, he said. He’ll see you in the morning.” She rolls her eyes. “Hopefully your dreams tonight are a little nicer than they clearly have been.”
