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CHAPTER THIRTEEN

NEAH

“ T ell me you didn’t.” Her father’s face was aghast as Zennon and Mother gasped around their laughter. Zen had taken great pleasure in recounting the incident on the training concourse that morning, much to Neah’s chagrin.

“She’s exaggerating, Dad.” Neah rolled her eyes, the lie sounding smooth until Zennon found her voice again.

“Nope, he was in the air for a solid five seconds.” Zennon giggled and Neah begged her with wide eyes to shut up. “Ahem, I mean. It was more of a love tap than anything.”

Fuck. That was worse. After their last conversation, Neah didn’t want to put thoughts in her dad’s head about her and the king love tapping .

Ever the diplomat, her mother changed the subject effortlessly by setting a plate of food down in front of Jamison and another two for each of her daughters.

Despite Zennon only being Neah’s half-sister, Darwinia treated her as if she were her own—especially once Zen lost her own parents so young.

The smell hit Neah a second later and her thoughts faded as her stomach growled. Her mom’s chicken and potatoes were famous in the family and Neah hadn’t realised how much she’d missed them until her first bite made her groan.

Darwinia laughed. “Enjoy, my love.”

“I’m literally salivating,” Neah mumbled, trying her best to savour each mouthful even as she shovelled it in. In truth, her eyes felt suspiciously damp too. The nostalgic flavours, her mom’s smile and the sparkle in her eyes… It had been too long. “Did Zennon tell you she shot a bow?”

“It hit the target,” Zennon said, beaming and their dad softened, becoming gentle in the way he only seemed to do around the three of them. “Wren—the king, nearly made me break my wrist.”

“ What? ”

If Wren wasn’t the king, Neah might have feared for his safety at that moment. “It was an accident, he had the bow lodged too high for her, the string would have snapped back against her tendon.”

“Neah saved me,” Zennon added, and the pride in her voice made Neah grin.

“Though if someone had already taught me, she wouldn’t have had to,” she grumbled and Neah grimaced.

It was a point of contention between Zennon and their father.

Neah couldn’t say she disagreed with Zennon, and she’d given her some rudimentary lessons in self-defense when she could, but the truth of it was that Neah was hardly ever in one place for long and Zennon didn’t spend much time with their father either given the secrecy of their relationship.

In fact, Neah realised, Zennon likely didn’t see much of anyone at her estate in the forest. For the first time, Neah wondered if her sister was lonely and that was why she was enjoying court so much.

As if he’d come to the same conclusion, Jamison just sighed. “Maybe Neah can help train you while you’re both here. Show you the basics.”

She shared a look with Zennon and cleared her throat. “Sure.” It never hurt to brush up on the basics, not that their dad knew Neah had even shown Zennon that much.

“So, your father tells me you don’t know which of you is fated to the king?” The sparkle in Darwinia’s eyes made Neah roll hers. “Come on, girls. It’s not often we get to gossip together.”

That was true, and Neah felt a stab of guilt for her gut reaction being exasperation.

“Well, Neah might not be sure but I am.” Zennon folded her cutlery back onto the plate with ease and dabbed at her mouth primly. “I have no interest in the king. Good thing too, because those two are one spark away from an explosion.”

Jamison grumbled something under his breath and pushed up from the table abruptly, stalking the short paces away to the kitchenette and clanging around seemingly randomly to avoid the conversation.

“Zennon,” Neah complained. “Where do you get this stuff? I’ve read just as many romance novels as you and yet?—”

“You lack imagination, my dear sister.” Zennon grinned and turned to Darwinia. “Mystery solved.”

Neah opted to ignore her sister’s ribbing in favour of soaking in the sight before her, the two of them giggling and whispering together while Jamison stomped around in the kitchen.

“I missed this,” she said quietly and didn’t resist when her mother lifted her hand and brushed a kiss to its back.

“So have I.” She smiled and a hint of the same tiredness Neah had seen on her father’s face appeared. “My girls.” She stroked a strand of Zennon’s dark hair back from her face.

“It’s getting late girls,” Jamison said, voice gruff but face soft and Neah nodded.

She knew he didn’t like having his wife in the palace walls for long if he could help it, there were too many potential spies and enemies on the grounds and his family was the one thing she knew her father wouldn’t risk.

It was part of the reason why he hadn’t claimed Zennon publicly, why he’d sent Neah away when she was a teenager to train elsewhere, and why her mother was never in one place for long.

She had to wonder if the price they paid was worth it, even if she couldn't fault him for his sense of duty and devotion to the crown. He’d encouraged the same loyalty in her, too.

“So soon?” Darwinia sighed and for a second the tiredness from before seemed to sink in a little deeper. “I’ll be with you in spirit, my darlings.”

Jamison pressed a kiss to her cheek and then looked at Neah from across the table. “Before you go, I have information for you. Or, rather, information I want you to get.”

Pushing her doubts aside, Neah nodded. “Where and when?”

“Valena, I’ve heard whispers of a benefactor looking for help.

” He kept the details vague, but she knew what he was telling her.

The same person who’d tried to place the hit on the king before was ready to try again, this time closer to the palace.

They were getting bolder. “Three night’s time, at the Crow’s Nest.”

Neah nodded and stood, pushing back her rickety chair easily and guiding Zennon to standing at her side. “I’ll let you know if I see or hear anything interesting.”

“Good.” He hesitated and then walked forward quickly, wrapping the both of them into a quick, one-armed hug. “Be safe.”

“You too,” Zennon whispered and Neah nodded before hurrying around the table to hug her mother.

They left as quickly as they’d arrived and the palace was quiet.

The candles in the sconces had started to burn low and she knew that if they were to come back in a few nights time they would have been replaced with soleil magic—most places throughout the kingdom were in the midst of swapping over to the cleaner, longer lasting energy source.

Well, those that could afford the witch-fee to have the orbs of light installed.

Other places, like the palace, were using up what they had left of traditional light sources and phasing a little at a time.

Zennon was quiet at her side as they walked, but when Neah glanced over there was a peacefulness on her sister’s face that put her at ease. Family time was rare, but maybe it was time that changed—it was clearly weighing heavily on them all.

She understood her father’s concern, but fear couldn’t rule them forever. Not at the expense of their lives, they’d spent far too much of it apart.

“I meant it, you know,” Zen said quietly as they walked the halls back to Neah’s room. “I knew before that the king was not meant for me, but seeing the two of you together… It’s obvious, Neah.” She snorted and Zennon frowned. “Why are you resistant?”

“I’m not resistant.”

“Could have fooled me.”

Neah continued on in silence, trying not to let Zennon’s words burrow into her mind.

It was true that she was nervous about having Wren for a mate, not only because of his position and her…

defects, but because she wasn’t sure she could trust the Goddess to make this decision when it felt like Selene had botched so many others in Neah’s life.

Neah had lost some of her faith in Selene over the years and now, she had to just trust that Wren was the person best suited for her, the other half of her soul that she’d be stronger with than without.

It seemed unfathomable. The Goddess hadn’t cared before, Neah still couldn’t shift, and now she had to just trust this deity to know what was best for her?

Fuck. Zennon had got in her head.

The walk back to her rooms felt shorter than before, maybe she was hurrying, trying to outrun her thoughts.

It was no use though, when she wasn’t ruminating on the goddess she was thinking about Wren.

Like she’d given her brain permission to consider him in a way she hadn’t been allowing before, but now she couldn’t hold back, her imagination running wild as she considered the ways that things could have been different the night of the feast, when he’d found her half-naked and then danced with her.

Or even out in the field, with her hand around his throat?—

“Night,” Zennon chirped from the other side of the bed and Neah’s voice was hoarse when she replied.

“Goodnight.” Now she just had to convince her subconscious to behave. The last thing she needed was Wren in her dreams as well as on her mind.