Page 69

“You received my note already?” I ask, wrapping my arms around his back.

“Note? I have been here for hours, waiting for you,” he replies, drawing back. His eyes are wet with tears, his cheeks blotchy.

“Theo…” I reach up to push his tousled hair back before cupping his face.

“You have heard then? I always knew news spread fast amongst the staff, but I did not realise how fast.” He gives an attempt at a smile, but it crumbles immediately, and he begins sobbing. I pull him back into an embrace, making soothing noises and stroking the back of his head. I am a fool for ever thinking he would turn his back on me for another.

“The king will not return for a month,” I tell him. “We have time to think, to plan.”

“You have a plan?” he mumbles into my neck, voice thick with tears.

“Well, of sorts,” I say before pulling away. “We will think of something together, yes? However long it takes, there will be a solution.”

He nods, wiping his tears away with the back of his arm. His lashes are stuck together, and his eyes are puffy. My heart goes out to his sensitive soul.

“You are much more pragmatic than I,”he says, blinking his eyes dry. “I would have wallowed here forever if you had not come back.”

I laugh before bringing his face to mine. I press my lips against his as his arms wrap around me.

“And I would not have lasted as long here without your kind heart,” I tell him as he presses his forehead against mine. “Let us stay here tonight and not think any more of it. Tomorrow, we will wake with fresh minds and clear eyes.”

He exhales and nods before I lead him to my bed. Even with the threat of the king’s return, once I am slotted in his arms, sleep comes easily.

“You and I,” he whispers before I slip into darkness.

???

As soon as I awaken, my mind is made up. I lay buried in the crook of Theo’s arm, eyes wide, listening to the sound of his steady heartbeat. When he does not awake after a few minutes, I carefully extract myself and sit up in bed. Theo stirs with a grumble.

“Theo.”

“Mhmm?” He does not open his eyes but turns towards me, wrapping an arm around my hips with his face half-buried in his pillow. I swallow past the dry lump in my throat.

“Theo,” I repeat. “There is a secret tunnel in the castle.”

“There are many secret tunnels in the castle,” he mumbles into the pillow.

“No, listen.” I lick my lips. “There is one that leadsoutside.”

Theo does not move for a moment, but his eyes shoot open. They swivel in my direction.

“Show me.”

The guards eye us unhappily as I lead Theo to the bedchamber I found, but they say nothing. They often keep quiet when the king is away. When I open the door, the room is the same as I remember. I pray no one has been in since.

Theo steps in and looks around, eyebrows furrowed.

“Curious,” he says. “The tunnel is in here?”

By way of an answer, I cross the room to the bookcase and pull the handle, disguised as a book. With a loud clunk, the bookcase splits, revealing the tunnel. Theo’s jaw drops.

“Saints,” he whispers. “And you are quite certain it leads outside?”

I nod my head vigorously.

“I walked the entire length of it.”

“But the castle…I was told it stands on stilts above the swamp?”