Page 30 of Between Two Kings

Adelaide laughed too, far more elegantly than Tem. “Caspenon is protective of his sister, as he should be.”

Tem frowned. “Sister? I thought he had two.”

“Agnes is dead.”

Adelaide said it so bluntly that Tem had no idea how to respond. It didn’t feel like the right moment to press the topic, so she didn’t. Instead, she waited until Adelaide spoke again:

“Besides, he does not fully trust me.”

Tem looked up at her. “Why not? He was going to marry you.”

Adelaide shrugged. “A marriage does not guarantee trust. I am a Seneca. He is a Drakon. We are on opposing sides. He was right to be wary.”

Tem was a Seneca too. Did Caspen trust her? “Can…I trust you?” Tem whispered.

Adelaide looked at her. “Yes,” she said. “You can.”

For some reason, Tem believed her. Another question occurred to her—one she was almost too afraid to ask. But she asked it anyway. “Are you…angry with me? For…taking Caspen?” Tem wanted to finish her sentence with from you but decided against it.

To her surprise, Adelaide smiled. “It is not possible to take someone who wishes to stay.”

It was a typical basilisk answer—more riddle than response. “But are you angry?” Tem repeated. She needed to know.

Adelaide turned to her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. “I am not angry, Temperance. Caspenon and I were not compatible, and I know he would say the same. Our future would not have been a happy one. I am at peace with the way things turned out.”

Tem nodded. She felt immeasurably lighter.

“And I am glad he found you,” Adelaide finished quietly. “You two are meant to be together.”

Sharp guilt pierced Tem’s chest. She wanted to believe Adelaide more than anything. But she was also breaking the one rule the basilisks held sacred—she was doing the one thing she wasn’t allowed to do: have feelings for someone else. Was she truly meant to be with Caspen if she was still in love with Leo? Only time would tell.

Despite Tem’s anxiety, she was enjoying this moment here with Adelaide. It was feminine and fun and light. Almost as if she were talking with Gabriel—as if she had found a new confidant. For the first time underneath the mountain, Tem felt truly safe. It was a wonderful feeling, and she savored it.

“What else should I know?” she asked, eager for more basilisk secrets.

“Hm,” Adelaide said with a smile, looking out over the crowd. “Let me see.” She pointed to a group of women in the corner. “They are king chasers.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means they will pursue the Serpent King at any cost. It is their dream to seduce him all at once.”

Tem wrinkled her nose. That wasn’t going to happen.

At the look on her face, Adelaide laughed. “You have nothing to fear, Temperance.”

Tem looked at the group of women. They were stunning. “How can he possibly resist them?”

“Caspenon does not favor the desperate.”

Victory flowed through Tem. She watched as the women preened and giggled, all of them looking over their shoulder at where Caspen was standing, still talking to the group of men. The sight gave her a curious mix of jealousy and pride. Part of her was thrilled. It made her feel special that someone so desired had picked her. The other part of her was irrationally angry.

Adelaide seemed to sense this, because she said, “He will not stray.”

Tem glanced up at her. Were her emotions really so transparent? “How do you know?”

“Because he only wants you.”

Even after everything they’d been through, Tem found that hard to believe.