Page 42 of The Court of Secrets
Blaise scowled. “SirCedric?”
I nodded. “One moment,” I said, then turned toward Blaise. “I’ll ask him, but please, don’t cause any trouble. My people already have their doubts about you being here. Don’t prove them right.”
“I’ll… try to behave,” he said in promise, but the glint in his eye told me otherwise. “Goodnight.” He kissed my cheek, his lips lingering longer than they should have. “Come find me when you know the truth. I’ll be waiting. Also…” He splayed his fingers against my chest, right above where my heart raced to his touch. “I can tell you’re glad I’m back, even if you pretend otherwise. Let me ask you, does Cedric make your heart pound like this?” His hand pressed against the cool skin of my chest. He gazed into my eyes, and I held my breath. “Do your pupils grow so big when you look at him like they do when you look at me? I can get lost in them, except there’s something different in them this time. Something foreign.”
My lips parted. He could tell? No one else did. Was it obvious? Then again, how many people spent time staring in my eyes, except for Cedric, who hadn’t noticed anything different.
“I’ll leave you to find out the truth.” He ran his finger down my cheek. “Don’t worry, love, you’ll be mad, but just know, if it will make you feel any better, I plan on killing him for it.”
***
Cedric leaned back against my freshly fluffed pillows. “He came to your room? Brave.” He gritted his teeth. “What did he say?”
I sat on the edge of my bed, playing with the beads on my necklace when I looked at him. “What did you do?”
A flicker of panic crossed his expression, and my stomach dipped. Blaise had been telling the truth.
“He doesn’t like me because I’m with you.”
“Do not dance around the truth. He left it so you could tell me. He didn’t tell me a thing because he gave you the dignity to tell me yourself whatever it is that’s made him so mad. He’s willing to kill you over it, so you better tell me so I can intervene.”
“Saint Blaise,” he spat.
“What’s gotten into you?”
He inhaled deeply, then sat upright. “I guess you’ll find out sooner or later, but you’re going to hate me for it.”
“I doubt there’s anything you could do that would make me hate you.”
“Tell me that again after we’ve finished here. This is why I was going to leave today, before he came. I want you to remember that I decided to stay, remember how I said I was going to be brave. It was for you.”
I pressed my fingers against my temple. “Cedric.”
He exhaled shakily. “I just need you to remember that.”
“I will.” My hands were shaking.
“When we left, before we left, I may have spoken with him,” he said.
That didn’t sound good. “And what did you talk about?”
He cursed under his breath. “Understand, you had just come back from death. You were different. When you were around Blaise, you were different, and not in a good way. He brings the worst out in you.”
“What did you say to him?”
“I told him to stay away from you, to never write to you or talk to you again. He said he would only ever have a written treaty with Magaelor through marriage to join the kingdoms, and there was no way I was going to ever let that offer reach you.”
My eyebrows pinched downward. “You stopped the treaty?”
“To benefit you. You’re not in your right mind when you’re with him.”
“That’s not your decision to make.”
“I saw you with him.” His expression darkened, a look I wasn’t used to seeing on his face. It frightened me a little. “I saw you kiss him. I came to find you on one of the nights you said you were too tired to meet me. I knew he was up to something.”
I swallowed thickly. Words failed me. All this time, he’d known. “Why…” My voice broke. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because it wasn’t you. He took advantage of you. We were seeking refuge in his kingdom. Without him, you wouldn’t have been able to fight or reclaim your throne. He used that to guilt you into being with him. It’s why I wasn’t angry at you. I know you are better than your actions.”
