Page 59 of The Iron Hex

“I don’t think friendliness is going to be an issue for Hugo withyou, Eira,” Evangeline said, crossing her ankles on the table and leaning back in her chair, dark brown curls falling behind her in a luscious wave. Eira hadn’t been much of a jealous type in Cilirien, but she wondered if she had been at the capital with Evangeline all those years ago. The princess was beautiful in an effortless, athletic way that Eira never had been, and if Eira wasn’t so certain that Evangeline and Hugo hated each other, she’d have fleetingly wondered if Hugo preferred Evangeline to herself. Hate sometimes wasn’t so far from love, in Eira’s understanding.

Eira caught Hugo’s eye as he watched her, and as soon as she looked at him he glanced away to stare at the fireplace on the wall behind her head. He’d been acting so strangely. But her jumbled feelings for Hugo, and however he felt about her in return, weren’t going to solve the fact that Hugo and Evangeline hated each other.

“I’m serious,” Eira said. “You both need to get it together.”

“She’s right,” Hugo said.

“I don’t really care if she’s right,” Evangeline retorted, taking a long drink from her stein.

“What was with your reaction to what those loud merchants were saying before? You both looked like you wanted to rip their heads off,” Eira asked, trying to defuse the tension and change the subject.

“The houses being burned down at the capital... if it does mean war, then Astra is in for a terrible time,” Hugo said as he took a sip of his mead. Eira noted that he hadn’t used the termIron Empirewhen referring to Astra. “And I think it’s disrespectful to have such little care for the lives that would be lost in a war.”

“That’s funny coming from Commander Witch Hunter, Lord of the Witch Hunts, King of Hunting Wi—” Evangeline snapped before clamping her mouth shut as Eira glared daggers at her.

“And you?” She pointed to Evangeline, not breaking eye contact.

“The rotten crops are a really bad sign,” the princess said.

“Of what?” Eira asked.

“A lot of things,” Evangeline answered. Eira could tell she was omitting something, but she also realized that right now probably wasn’t the time to push it.

“How are you feeling, Eira?” Hugo asked.

“Annoyed.” She smiled painfully, her teeth grinding from the stress.

Evangeline and Hugo both laughed.

“I’m glad my frustration can be a shared bonding experience for both of you,” Eira huffed.

“Don’t say that,” Evangeline said through a dry chuckle, her fingers worrying the locket that rested on her neck. “I don’t intend to bond with a brute like him.”

“You’re pretty brutish too, if I remember correctly,” Hugo said.

“It’s actually illegal to insinuate that I’m anything but a proper lady.”

Hugo scoffed. “Right.”

“Evangeline,” Eira said, tapping the stein of mead in front of her that she’d barely touched. “We should talk about... you know.”

Hugo’s dark eyebrow cocked, his hazel eyes glowing almost amber in the warm firelight.

“No, I don’t think we need to,” Evangeline said dryly, picking at a loose thread on her bodice.

“Evangeline,” Eira chastised.

“Talk about what?” Hugo prompted.

“Ugh,” Evangeline groaned, throwing her hands up. “Do we really need to?”

“Yes,” Eira said. The table lapsed into silence. Eira knew Evangeline didn’t want to tell Hugo; she could tell that the princess wanted to convince her to run away, still.

“I know of a witch who is rumored to do memory magic,” Evangeline finally sighed.

Hugo leaned forward. “Oh really?” he said.

“Don’t get too excited,” she said. “It’s all the way up in Luwha, and I’m operating on a relatively old rumor. She could be dead. Who knows, maybeyoukilled her.”