Page 90 of The Chaosweaver's Daughter
“No,Kas. It’s unwise. Why are you soadamant? You understand the sensitivity of this issue, right?” Her tone kicked up an octave, a sure sign she was growing annoyed with his petulance.
Kas drummed his fingers atop the wood before reclaiming his whiskey and drowning himself in the rest of the glass. “You can’t think sheknowsor is a traitor, can you?”
“Gods, no, you fool. We fear someone is trying to prove Ehmet’s illegitimacy, obviously. What iftheycame for her next to try to get a confession out of her? Would it not be best if she knows nothing, should that worst case scenario come to pass?”
Kas sighed and attempted to drink from his empty tumbler. “Yes. Fine. I won’t say a word.”
“Don’t look so morose, brother.”
He glared at Hevva. “I don’t like lying to the woman I—” He cut himself off.
“The woman you, what? Do you love her?”
“Yes. Obviously.”
Hevva’s face split into a grin so bright that Kas couldn’t help but reflect back one of his own. “How fantastic! I needed positive news this week. Tell me everything.” She lifted the decanter and topped up both of their glasses.
Thatevening,Kassatin the dining room with Hevva, catching up on the lighter aspects of the past few weeks, and enjoying crisp glasses of water, as they’d done quite a lot of drinking earlier in the day. The siblings determined it was best to keep the grittier details of the situation in Serkath from the children and Nesrina. Everyone was aware that the king had been injured, of course. And Nes knew more than the prince and princess, but her knowledge was going to have to stop where it stood, for the time being. Keeping a devastatingly big secret from her made Kas feel so horrendous he nearly poured himself a small glass of wine, before his headache decided against it.
It wasn’t long before the twins bounded in, closely followed by Nesrina, looking resplendent in green and gold.
“Oh, I love your dress,” his sister gushed. Hevva was far quicker than him at regaining her composure and moving past the somber mood.
“You’re too kind.” Nesrina smiled. “I believeIowe you a very large and belated thank you for the wardrobe, Your Majesty.”
“I didn’t . . .” Hevva frowned.
Fuck.Kas blasted his sister with a jab of air on the arm.Cover for me, cover for me.
“Oh, how silly of me, I forgot! Things have been in upheaval recently. You’re most welcome, Nesrina.”
A quick glance told him Nes didn’t buy the lie. She pulled out her chair like it had personally wronged her and sat down. Hard. The gulp of wine she drank did little to cover the grinding of her teeth, and nothing to hide the blush rising up her neck.
Shit. He meant to send Hevva a note ages ago on this very matter, but he’d forgotten.
And now Nes knew. Shedefinitelyknew, based on the way she kept tugging at the fabric of her skirts and avoiding eye contact with him.
Damn it.Leneteki.Shit.He gulped and took a healthy sip of his water. Then he did it again, as if it would somehow contain alcohol the second time around. Oh, this was terrible. Not only was he tasked with keeping an exceptionally sensitive secret from Nesrina, he was also in her bad graces for... a fashion faux pas, of a variety. The Big Secret alone was enough to drive him to apoplexy, and she was angry on top of it?!
As if socializing properly wasn’t difficult under ideal circumstances, now he looked upon her and knew something life-changing, and he couldn’t say a godsdamned thing! Rather than scream, which would’ve been disruptive, Kas groaned into his glass while the first course was served.
He spent the duration of dinner splitting his focus between his plate, the ongoing conversation with his family, and making intermittent attempts to draw Nesrina’s attention. It was unwise, considering her anger and the Big Secret, but he’d grown fond of doing unwise things of late.
Aiming questions in Nes’s direction garnered him the most perfunctoryresponses. So, Kas upped the ante by pestering her with his magic. First, he ran a breeze up and down her legs. Nothing. He tried swirling cool air at the sensitive skin on the inside of her wrist, earning a flick of her hand in irritation. Next, he brushed warm, featherlight kisses over Nes’s adorable rosebud lips as she observed the conversation.
She lifted a finger to her mouth.
Finally.
He had her attention. She still actively avoided his gaze, but the pad of her pointer finger lingering on her plump lower lip said shewasaware. Ignoring him, but aware.
The problem nowwas that every ounce of blood in Kas’s damned body decided to flood one specific appendage, forcing him to shift in his seat.Patience.
When their dinner plates had been replaced by smaller dishes laden with delicate tarts, Kas turned the conversation to the Domossan delegation and asked his sister for her thoughts. The twins were happy to discuss it, in excessive detail.
Although he’d vowed to stop pestering Nes with air, that didn’t mean Kas had stopped stealing glances in her direction. In fact, he tried over and over again to get her to look at him. About once out of every seventeen attempts, not that he was counting, she pierced him with a sharp glare. Her coldness was starting to worry him, and a maze of anxiety formed around his thoughts, one he tried to logic his way out of:
Women like clothes. She needed them. Fripperies and frills are fun, right? Sure, the gifts weren’t actually from Hevva, but that wasn’t of great import...?A second, more rational voice in Kas’s mind told him to shut up and speak with her before drawing any more daft conclusions.
