Page 65 of Royal Hunt
“What do you mean?” he asked shortly, his eyes stuck on a point just over my shoulder, and not on me.
“You have me living on the other side of the castle. I’d thought …” I was embarrassed to say what I wanted.
“If that is all?” he asked, one eyebrow raising. He sounded impatient and busy, and I knew both were true. My problems were small compared to his. He tried to sweep past me, his arm brushing mine for the barest of moments. I felt like I couldn’t breathe when he touched me, warmth and heat bursting against my skin where our flesh touched with only two fabric barriers between us. But just as quickly, the moment passed. Cold seeped in from the open corridor, and my heart sank.
I couldn’t let it go like this. I had to fix it. My arm reached out and I snagged his hand.
“Wait. I know it doesn’t mean anything, but I am sorry I couldn’t save them. Please, please believe me.”
Ellis had stopped cold in the hallway when I’d grabbed him, but he didn’t meet my eyes.
His gaze was still fixed firmly on the floor. “I know. The true culprits will be taken care of.”
“Eve! I—oh.”
Ellis dropped my hand and whirled around as Gregory came upon us, his face screwed in displeasure.
“What?” Ellis snapped.
Gregory’s face turned ugly as he faced Ellis. “You may wear that crown, but we don’t forget what your family did.”
Ellis’s eyes burned with rage. “Nor have I forgotten who actually killed my baby brother and sister. Have you?”
Gregory took a step back, his face white at the reminder. “You think you’re going to win Eve over? I got her first. I already had her years ago,” he sneered.
I gasped, but Ellis laughed.
“And it was so good that she let me take her against a wall the night my family died? She preferred the cock of a drunkard she didn’t even know over yours.”
Gregory swore and lashed out with his fist, but it was as if Ellis had read his mind as he stepped out of the way before he even began the punch.
“Get out of my castle,” Ellis snarled. “You’ve used up enough of my medicine, poultices, and patience. Take your father with you. If you’re not gone by sundown, I’ll throw him in the cells with the fae, and let Viana do what she wants. All three of them murdered innocents.”
Gregory blinked and backed up, as if just remembering exactly who he’d just tried to punch. He glanced up at me.
“Eve. Come home with us. Your father misses you. He–he told me what Ellis did to him, did to your family. The horses will be missing you as well.”
My chest twinged, and there was a small part of me that wanted to go home. But it was only a small part.
“Ellis, can you excuse us for a moment?” I asked, my voice far more controlled than I felt.
An odd, cold mask settled over Ellis’s face as he glared at Gregory. “Come to my rooms later. We can talk more.”
A flare of warmth burgeoned in my chest. Maybe we could fix this thing that was broken and jagged between us. Ellis turned on his heel and marched down the corridor, then out of the sight around the corner.
“You’re coming home with me. Right now.” Gregory grabbed my arm and started pulling me down the hall.
“What? No!” I yelled, wrenching free from his grasp. He reached for me again, but I was quicker, grabbing the dagger from the sheath that I now always kept at my waist. I slashed at his hand.
He drew back with a startled gasp, but only a thin red line marred his flesh. It didn’t even bleed. He sucked on it and gave me an injured look as if I’d nearly amputated his arm.
“That’s how it’s gonna be then?” he asked harshly, his face twisted in frustration and despair.
I groaned with exasperation. “How many times have I told you? Our ship sailed when you decided to make all my decisions for me; when you continue to try to make my decisions for me!”
Gregory snorted. “Oh, because Ellis is such a gallant knight—”
“He lets me live my own life! And I like him!” I screeched.
