Page 52 of Between Two Kings

Evelyn leaned forward. “Have you ever been broken up with, Tem?”

“No. I haven’t.”

“Then you can’t possibly imagine what it feels like.”

“I can imagine I wouldn’t accept being broken up with via letter.”

“Even if I had come back, his father wouldn’t have allowed us to be together.”

“I wouldn’t have accepted that either.”

“Then you don’t know Maximus as well as I do.”

“And how well do you know him?” This time Tem was the one asking pointed questions cloaked in innocence.

But Evelyn was clearly done playing games. She stood, crossing to the liquor shelf and gesturing at the bottles. “Shall we have some champagne?”

“I don’t drink champagne.”

“Oh, you must. It’s fabulous.”

Tem opened her mouth to protest again, but Evelyn was already pouring her a glass. She handed it to Tem, who took it with a grimace.

“This is our best champagne,” Evelyn said. “Worth its weight in gold.”

Tem looked down at the sparkling liquid with disgust. Anything worth its weight in gold was hardly worth anything to her. She’d bet that each sip probably cost more than her childhood cottage.

“Try it,” Evelyn insisted.

Tem raised the glass to her lips and took the world’s smallest sip. It tasted like dust to her.

“Well? Isn’t it delicious?”

Tem set down her glass. “Were you ever planning on coming back? After Maximus had died, say?”

Evelyn raised her eyebrows. She took a delicate sip of her champagne. “That’s quite morbid, don’t you think?”

“Not really. Everyone dies.”

Another sip of champagne disappeared down her throat. Then: “Life here was…difficult…as I’m sure you know.”

Was Evelyn referring to her own life in the village? Or was she attempting to relate to Tem, referencing her childhood on the chicken farm? Tem was surprised she knew anything about that, considering Leo was supposedly so secretive.

“Yes,” said Tem stiffly. “I can. But surely being just one village over was no less difficult?”

Was it her imagination, or did Evelyn avoid eye contact at the question?

“Well.” She played with the flute of her champagne glass. “It wasn’t…so bad.”

Tem’s senses pricked. Had she met someone? Was that what made life one village over not so bad? Had she fallen in love with a man who wasn’t Leo? But if that were the case, why had she returned? It would have been impossible to leave a new husband without making a scene.

“And what wasn’t so bad about it?” Tem prompted. She even raised the champagne to her lips to look like she was drinking it.

Evelyn shrugged, still looking down at her glass.

She was avoiding the question. There was something going on here, and Tem was determined to figure out what it was.

“I know if it were me,” Tem said pointedly, “I’d want to check up on Leo, just to make sure he hadn’t moved on.”