Page 28

DANCE

C as looked from Ruby, to Brutus, to the rapidly fleeing form of his wife and tried as hard as he could to not slap the sneering triumph off Ruby’s face.

Instead of doing what he wanted and slapping her, Cas turned and fled after the fading form of Emryn. He saw Ruby reach for him, but just dodged the reach and kept going. He would figure out what to do about her later.

First, he had to talk to Emryn. He’d seen the desolation in her eyes and it had punched him in the chest as soon as he’d managed to understand what he was seeing.

They’d been getting closer these last few weeks, sleeping together at night and nearly inseparable during the day unless he had to sit in council as he’d been doing today.

He never should have been lured out here by Ruby. She’d said she needed to speak to him and there had been a breathless moment of fear that she’d been pregnant, even though he’d taken every precaution that he could think of.

But she’d just thrown herself at him. Kissing him just as Brutus had rounded the corner of the hedge with Emryn hard on his heels.

And it had only been then that he’d realized that she’d set him up. Set his wife up for pain and the destruction of the trust that they had just been starting to build.

Cas went to the doors of her rooms where they led out into the garden, but they were locked. And the door in from the hallway was locked as well.

As was the connecting door, and she’d taken the key from the keyhole, so there was no way for him to open it.

It was clear that she didn’t want to speak to him, but he had to get to her. Or did he? Was it going to be enough to write her a letter and ask for a chance to explain?

He sent it in on the tray that Shana brought her supper in on and a quarter of an hour later; he had a very pleasantly worded reply that essentially said he could do as he pleased, that she had been a fool and that she would not prevail upon him further.

Because of course that was where she would go. Isolate herself as far as possible. Insulate herself from the hurt and focus utterly on something else.

He could call a locksmith, force the door between them, but that felt like the very opposite of a sound plan.

Cas went back to his rooms, looked at the door between them in the dying light and shook his head.

He sat down at his desk and started writing. He’d explain what happened, she was intelligent and would understand that he hadn’t wanted or looked for what had happened in the gardens.

He also wrote to the palace staff and asked that Ruby be prohibited access to the royal wing. He couldn’t evict her from the palace, she was in too many beds, too many pockets, but he could ensure that she never came close to him again.

He sent the letter to Emryn in the morning, receiving a politely worded letter in return that repeated what she’d told him last night. Leading him to wonder if she’d even read what he’d written.

Her proposal to the queen was due in three days and she had to emerge for that, so if the worse case scenario happened, he would only have to wait three days before he would be able to speak to her.

But as it happened, he didn’t need to wait that long. He left his room on the way to council and nearly ran headlong into Shana who looked worried. He was immediately on his guard.

“She won’t eat,” Shana said.

“Will you unlock the door, Shana? Let me talk to her?”

“It’s all I can think to do.” Shana said with a sad shake of her head. “I’ve tried to speak to her, but she’s withdrawn entirely.”

“I’ll speak to her.” Cas stood to the side as Shana unlocked Emryn’s door and stood to the side.

The room was dark, all the drapes pulled against the morning light and there was a single candle guttering on the table. Struggling and almost extinguished in its own wax.

And in that faint, shaky light, he managed to make Emryn out. She was slumped on the table, head down on the pile of pages. It gave him an instant’s panic as he hurried to her side and laid a soft hand on her shoulder.

She jolted under it, looking up at him, eyes immediately filling with tears. “I didn’t want to see you.” She whispered.

“Shana says you aren’t eating.” He said gently. “Emryn, you have to eat.”

She shook her head and leaned back over the pages on the desk. “I’m sorry to trouble you, Highness.”

“Emryn, did you read my letter?” He kept his voice gentle in deference to the shadows under her eyes. She wasn’t sleeping either, but that was less of a concern than her eating.

“I did.”

“The second one?”

She rose, gripping the edges of the table as the candle guttered for the final time and plunged them into darkness gilded by the edges of light.

It took about five seconds too long for his eyes to adjust, and he had to lunge for Emryn as she collapsed.

He cradled her in his arms, half conscious and hurting as she looked up at him with half-open eyes. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“Rest for me,” he said. “When you wake up, we can talk about it.”

She curled into him, eyes closing, streams of tears flooding her cheeks.

He brushed her hair back, taking her over to her bed and laying her down, tucking the blankets around her.

He was still due to sit in on council, but she would be asleep for a while if he was any judge of such things.

He stopped, asking Shana to alert him immediately when she woke and went to sit in Council and listen to them yell about nothing. Today’s yelling was a trade dispute between Rodilla and their neighbor Hostyan. It was a minor dispute, but the councilors seemed determined to waste his time.

He rose when Shana appeared in the door as his mother was dismissing council and walked directly over to her.

“She’s awake, Highness.” Shana said, offering him something sweet smelling wrapped in paper. “I got these from the kitchen, they might help.”

He peeled the paper back and smiled at the plump berries on the platter. They might tempt her to eat.