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Farrendel frowned, and he was still frowning when Jalissa and Edmund reached them.

Jalissa was smiling, her eyes brighter than Essie had seen since they’d returned from the war in Kostaria. “Edmund brought me to the Kingsley Gardens. I would gladly live there forever.”

“Forever?” Farrendel raised his eyebrows.

“Maybe not forever, but I will have to visit more frequently whenever I am in Escarland.” Jalissa twirled a white rose in her fingers, smiling down at it with a soft, almost sappy expression.

“I should have mentioned the gardens before.” Essie smiled at Jalissa. Of course someone with plant growing magic like Jalissa’s would appreciate the Kingsley Gardens.

Edmund had known. And he had taken Jalissa.

Perhaps it was merely that. Maybe Essie was reading more into it than what Edmund intended.

But there was something suspicious going on with her brother. Well, more suspicious than usual.

Chapter Nine

Still dripping river water onto the plush carpet of the royal train car, Edmund stood in front of his brother Averett. “You married Essie off? To Laesornysh? What were you thinking?”

Averett groaned, his head in his hands, his elbows on his knees. “I don’t know, all right? It wasn’t the plan, but then Essie seemed to take it in her head that it was a good idea, and the elves were pushing for it. We need peace with them. I had to agree to a marriage alliance.”

“Then you should have married me off, not Essie.” Edmund clenched his fists and spun away to face the wall before Averett read the truth in his eyes.

Edmund would have gladly agreed to a marriage of alliance. Most likely, King Weylind would have arranged it with Jalissa. Surely Edmund could have gotten her to fall in love with him all over again, this time as himself.

Except that Edmund had secrets he couldn’t tell her. There was a reason he’d walked away a little over two years ago. His secrets wouldn’t be erased, even if a marriage alliance made it possible for a human to marry an elven princess.

“King Weylind wouldn’t hear of it.” Averett gave another moan. “It was Essie or no alliance at all.”

Probably just as well. A relationship shouldn’t be built on lies.

“Fine.” Edmund turned back to Averett. “I’ll go back to Tarenhiel and keep an eye on Essie.”

“Thanks.” Averett lifted his head, giving Edmund a glimpse of his tortured expression. “I might be able to live with myself if I know you’re looking after her.”

For four days, Edmund spent nearly every minute with Jalissa. In any other circumstances, it would have been wonderful. Instead, it was torment, pretending he was not falling in love with her all over again.

As Edmund walked into the family dining room in Winstead Palace, he could sense the tension, even before he saw the look on Averett’s face.

Averett and Julien sat at the table, their plates set aside and a newspaper spread in front of them. Either Mother and Paige had already eaten, or they had taken their plates elsewhere.

Averett glanced up as Edmund took a seat next to Julien. “We have a problem.”

Julien scratched at his thick, red-brown beard. “The Sentinel published their story of Farrendel’s illegitimate birth even earlier than we expected. Before the Times got their article out.”

“And it’s just as bad as we feared.” Averett’s frown deepened, and he pushed the paper toward Edmund. “Take a look. There’s something about it that’s striking me as odd.”

Edmund took the paper, and quickly scanned the article. The words had clearly been chosen to be as lurid and shocking as possible. “Well, for one, the Sentinel clearly has no fear of our lawyers suing them for libel.”

“Yes, though they confined the worst of their vulgar descriptions to the elves involved. I guess they have less fear of the elves suing them.” Averett sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. “Though they did cast a few aspersions at Essie and on me for agreeing to the marriage alliance. They seem to assume that I knew Farrendel was illegitimate from the beginning.”

“Well, you did. Kind of.” Edmund scanned the rest of the article, trying to put his finger on his own uneasy feeling about it.

Farrendel’s illegitimacy had been in one of Edmund’s reports to Averett, but it had been a footnote, irrelevant for Escarland’s national security at the time compared to Farrendel’s reputation and skills as Laesornysh. It had slipped Averett’s mind until Edmund had reminded him of it after Essie had married Farrendel.

“It is beside the point when I remembered.” Averett shook his head. “I might have resisted the marriage alliance more, but I’m rather glad I didn’t.”

Edmund couldn’t help but agree. It was hard to imagine Farrendel and Essie not being, well, Farrendel and Essie.