Page 171 of Between Two Kings

Tem crossed her arms. They were getting nowhere. “I’m sorry Caspen broke the truce. And I’m sure he’d apologize himself if you want him to. But you can’t blame him for retaliating.”

“No, I…” Leo trailed off, swirling his whiskey. Suddenly, his resolve seemed to break. “I would have done the same.”

There was a gentle pause. Tem could feel Leo’s mood soften, and hers as well.

“It doesn’t change the fact that my people are angry,” he continued quietly. “A man disappeared a few days ago. He lived alone, on the outskirts of the village. Evelyn thinks it was the basilisks.”

Fear pierced Tem’s gut. It wasn’t just the basilisks—it was her.

“If he disappeared, then why would they assume it was the basilisks?”

“Who else would it be, Tem?”

She pursed her lips.

Leo leaned in. “Do you know something?”

Tem didn’t answer.

Leo wasn’t looking away. Caspen’s words ran through her mind: What will your little prince think of what you did? Tem knew exactly what Leo would think. He would be disgusted, and he would have every right to be. Tem had become the thing the villagers feared: the thing she herself had always feared. She couldn’t tell Leo it was her fault. She couldn’t bear for him to look at her any differently.

“Tem.” Leo broke her from her thoughts. “What is going on with you?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean you look…tired. Is everything…well?”

Everything was not well. Her body, although exhausted, was fine. Her mind, on the other hand, was a different story. All Tem could think about was everything that could possibly go wrong. It wasn’t just the bloodletting; the tournament loomed in her mind like a shadow, threatening to engulf her. Her relationship with Caspen—which was already faltering—was now in serious danger. She should have expected Leo to notice that something was wrong. It was in his nature to notice her—to care. Even when she was no longer his to care for.

“I don’t know,” Tem whispered. It was too much to explain—too much to bear.

His eyes pierced hers. “Tem,” he said, a hesitancy to his voice. “I am always here for you. If you need me.”

Tem looked at the fire—it was easier than looking at him.

Leo was out of line to offer himself to her like that. They were not confidants; they were not friends. This was a business relationship now—a political partnership that needed to function perfectly if they were to continue ruling their kingdoms together. Leo knew exactly what his words would do to her, knew exactly how they would make her heart beat faster. Tem hated that she was so predictable. But that didn’t mean she wanted him to stop.

She studied the angles of his face, his sharp cheekbones. He looked different than he had even just last week, hollowed out, as if something were eating him from the inside out. She should be asking if he was well, not the other way around. But there was no point in asking. Tem knew what was ailing him: the crest. Another problem there was no solution for.

“I’m just…overwhelmed,” she said simply.

He nodded. The firelight flickered across his face. “I see. For any particular reason?”

Tem couldn’t imagine telling Leo about the tournament. But she’d already told him that Caspen broke the truce, and he’d taken that well enough. What was one more piece of information? Besides, the outcome affected him too. Rowe was violent and unpredictable. He hated the humans. If he won, he would not hesitate to wage war.

“Things are…complicated under the mountain right now.”

Leo took a deep breath, as if he were steeling himself. “Complicated how?”

“My marriage has been…contested.”

Leo frowned. “I don’t understand.”

Tem barely understood it herself. “There’s going to be a…” She physically couldn’t bear to say the word tournament, settling instead on “…fight.”

Leo shifted. “Are you in danger?”

“No,” she said quickly. “Well. Not…immediate danger.”