Page 232 of Cursed Evermore

“Ready for tonight?” He raised a brow and fell in step with me.

“No.”

“Thought you might need some moral support.”

The offer was no surprise. I'd been on edge all day, and he'd probably picked up on my suggestion to visit the archivist alone earlier.

We were still trying to determine what the herbs Marcus was found with were going to be used for. They were called buckweed bulbs, and they were a key ingredient in at least three hundred spells. Discovering which spell the rebels intended to use them for was like searching for mermaid tears in the ocean.

“Everything's a fucked-up mess, Bastian,” I grunted.

“Yeah. It's been a while since we've encountered this sort of complication.”

“It has.” The last time we'd experienced anything this tumultuous was when my father died. Everything that had happened since had been an extension of that terrible night.

Bastian tugged on my arm, signaling for me to stop.

“What are your thoughts about tonight with the princess?” Only he and Alaric knew about Dreynthor's marriage plans. I wouldn't have told anyone, but they'd overheard him talking to me after a council meeting.

“I'm just going to play host and hope that will be enough.”

“I hope so, too. Your uncle can be one spiteful piece of shit.”

“You can say that again.”

“Have you spoken to him yet about the rebel camp?”

“No.”

I’d kept the essentials from Dreynthor, and even Marcus' identity. Since my uncle would not have understood my leniency, I’d told him I killed the spy. That was all he needed to know. No names were given. As for everything else—the dark magic, our suspicions about a powerful ally—I needed moretime. Time to investigate and time to figure out how Dreynthor was involved.Or wasn't.

“Not sure how long you can keep things from him.”

“I know. Depending on how things unfold, I might need to share enough to get him to back off.” I sighed. “The one thing the situation showed is that a simple marriage union between Galaythia and Thalyrius is never going to fix things.”

“Exactly. Now that we have evidence to connect rebel involvement in your father’s death, we know this is a bigger problem than we initially thought. War is coming, friend. A union with Thalyrius won’t be enough to control or stop them.”

“Indeed.” I exhaled slowly. “But at least for now, that gives me back some control of my life. This new evidence is good enough reason to turn down Dreynthor’s marriage plans.”

I had no doubt he would still be an asshole and try to force me with his threats but now he knew he wouldn’t have a leg to stand on. There was no fucking way I’d doanythingjust to please him.

“Maybe that gives you more room to be with Elariya,” Bastian said in the cut-to-the-chase manner that only a best friend could get away with. I was certain that was the main question on his mind, but he smoothed it over by asking about the princess and Dreynthor first.

Bastian cocked his head. “Arielle told me you took Elariya to the Luminar. That's a giant step for you.”

“It was.”

He squinted, assessing me, seeing too much again. “And something happened between you two?”

“Not exactly.”

“Those sound like the sort of asshole words you use when you don't want to talk about something.”

I smirked. “What do you want me to say?”

“Did you at least kiss her?” He chuckled, crossing his arms and waiting, clearly enjoying my discomfort.

“Yes.”