Page 50 of Grim and Oro (Lightlark)

FRIENDS

“Look at them. Throwing themselves at him. Like his family isn’t responsible for killing thousands of us .” Enya rolls her eyes and throws her drink back. She glares at me. “I’ll never forgive you for letting him out.”

She’s lying.

“Me neither,” Zed says, scowling. “If only because he’s making life here impossible for the rest of us.” More specifically, Zed means taking a woman home has become impossible. Because most of them seem intent on bedding the Nightshade.

He’s sitting at the corner of Juniper’s bar, holding a drink the barkeep made especially for him.

Women surround the table, trying to engage him in conversation.

They turn their attention to me as I approach.

I don’t miss how they look at me. Hungrily.

The same way they look at Grimshaw. Some speak to me, but they scurry away as I take a seat next to the Nightshade.

“Not interested in any of them?” he asks, amused, as he takes a long sip of his drink.

“Not if they’re interested in you.” My chair groans as I lean back. “Makes me question their judgment.”

He barks out a laugh. “Then I would say most of the available women on this island should be off-limits to you.”

I frown in disgust as I take a sip of my own drink. “Right. You only sleep with each of them once. How generous of you to spread yourself around like that.”

He shrugs. “I have considered myself selfless and charitable.”

“And modest.”

“How could I forget?”

It’s been years since I freed him from the cell. He moved into the castle—much to its occupants’ dismay—and then very quickly ... didn’t do much of anything. He didn’t leave his bedchamber for weeks. Finally, I took pity on him and brought him to our favorite bar.

He’s barely left since, and my friends despise me for it.

“So,” Grim says lazily. “Duel tomorrow?”

I offered him use of the training rooms, and he’s there more than I am. Eventually, we started dueling, for practice. Now, it’s become a routine.

I glance at the empty glasses in front of him. “As long as you won’t be vomiting in the sand.”

Grim claps me on the back. “Oh Oro, I’m not the one who can’t handle the contents of my stomach.”

I once made the mistake of taking Grim up on a meat-eating contest and ended up vomiting in the gutters. It was at least a year ago, and he hasn’t let me forget it.

“Fine. Tomorrow it is.” I set my glass on the bar and move to leave, but he stops me. His expression has turned serious.

“There’s something I need to tell you.”

I settle back into my chair. There are eyes on us as always, but the bar is full of noise and chaos: glasses clinking, patrons yelling and laughing. I wait.

“Your brother is having an affair.”

Whatever I was expecting to come out of his mouth—it isn’t this.

“What are you talking about?” Egan’s been betrothed to Aurora for years. He would never jeopardize that.

His voice is firm. “He’s sleeping with another ruler.”

I freeze, then shake my head to clear it. Could I have heard him incorrectly? “Where did you hear this?” I ask.

He levels me with his eyes. “I can turn invisible. Do you know how many things I see? Most are things I don’t want to see, mind you.

” He pauses to finish his drink. “This, actually, came from the barkeep. I didn’t tell you, until I could confirm it myself.

” He winces. “And I did. Very credible information, it turns out.”

He’s telling the truth. I sit back in my chair, stunned.

“This—this ...”

“Could be bad,” he offers casually, drumming his fingers against the edge of the table. “Thought you should know.”

Years before, the thought of Grimshaw telling me something without ulterior motive ... the idea of me being ready to believe him, regardless of my flair ...

The idea of me thanking him, for anything—

It would all have been inconceivable. Things have changed. He’s become ... almost a friend.

Almost .

“Thank you,” I say, before getting up. “See you tomorrow.”

I stay at Juniper’s until my friends want to leave. Only when we’ve parted ways do I seek my brother out. He’s in the strategy room, as usual. Even though it’s the middle of the night. His face brightens when he sees me. He motions for me to sit down. “You should be asleep,” he says.

“So should you.”

He sighs. “Kings don’t sleep, haven’t you heard?” His humor fades as he yawns. “Sometimes I wonder if it explained his mood. Father’s. The lack of rest.”

I just sit there, watching him. As if I could carve the truth out of him without having to say a word. But I can’t, so I finally say it. “Are you sleeping with Violet?”

She’s the only other ruler I’ve seen him interact with socially, outside of meetings, other than Aurora. Though, it’s odd. Aurora and Violet are supposed to be best friends.

I’ve shocked him. He opens his mouth. Closes it. “What—”

“Are you?” I demand.

He narrows his eyes at me. “No.”

Truth . I start to doubt Grim’s information. But then I think of another question. “Do you love her?”

Here, he hesitates. I can see his mind working, as if wondering why I would ask this. He shakes his head. “No.”

My hands grip the side of the table as I rush forward. Fury spreads through me at once. A rush of emotion I haven’t felt in years.

“You’re lying to me? To me ?”

He doesn’t know about my flair. I never told him. He never guessed. He blinks, looking surprised. Perhaps he didn’t mean to lie. Perhaps he doesn’t even know his own feelings.

His jaw works. “I care for her, I don’t—”

I hang my head down and pinch my nose. “Egan, you’re betrothed ,” I say.

His voice is angry. “You don’t think I know that?”

I look up at him in disbelief. “You’re king. Every choice reverberates to those around you! Isn’t that what you told me?”

Our gazes hold, for a moment. Two amber eyes, full of fire. He looks away first. His shoulders melt, like all the fight has left him. “I have no plans to end my engagement,” he says to the table.

“And no plans to marry, either?” I ask. He’s pushed the nuptials off for years.

The island is still recovering. There haven’t been any whispers, as far as I know, but they will come, the longer it’s delayed.

“Aurora is in love with you. She is unpredictable.” She’s made good decisions for her realm, like razing the Midnight Woods, a process that took several years.

But she’s also known to hide societal advancements. Restrict access to her isle.

I am not king. I don’t have authority over him. But I am his brother, and so I give him an order. “Either marry Aurora or call off the engagement. Make a decision.”

He avoids meeting my eyes as I leave.