Page 18 of Only in Moonlight (The Moonlit Court #1)

Emmeline

B rother? Oh, hell. It was like watching an overly dramatic play unfold. Now that I knew, I immediately noticed the resemblance. Drudon was bulkier, his face wider, but they had similar noses and brows.

“You haven’t paid a visit in years.” Valen kept his sword pointed at his brother’s chest. “Why the sudden interest now? Why are you creeping around like a lecher trying to glimpse a woman in the bath?”

“What does it matter if I’m watching?” Drudon countered. “Unless you have something to hide.”

“Stars, do you have nothing better to do than play these games?”

Valen’s voice rose dangerously, loud enough that the strolling couple looked in our direction. The trees should block their view of Valen’s sword—I hoped.

He rarely lost his temper like that. I supposed family had a way of making us all lose our calm.

“Then kill me and be done with it.” Drudon spread his arms wide as if welcoming the sword. “But you can’t, can you? Not even your lofty connections could cover up a murder in the middle of Equitius Gardens. Your sterling reputation would be ruined.”

The sword shook, Valen’s knuckles white where he clenched the hilt. He was glaring at Drudon with such force that I could almost feel the heat in the air.

Drudon’s cocky smile slipped. Would Valen slaughter him in the middle of the gardens? I wouldn’t have put it past him when I’d first met the man, but now I wasn’t so sure.

Then again, it wasn’t as if I truly knew him.

I glanced over at the strolling couple, who were following the path as it drew closer to us. A few more feet, and the trees wouldn’t block their view of Valen holding his brother at sword-point—exactly the kind of attention we didn’t need before the heist.

Valen sheathed his sword, and Drudon couldn’t hide the way his shoulders slumped in relief.

“Let’s go.” Valen took my arm to lead me away.

“Not even going to introduce me to your new bedwarmer?” Drudon asked. “I knew you’d screw any woman who opened her legs for long enough, but a human? That’s a new low. Are you paying your maids extra to clean up all the dirt she leaves behind?”

It happened almost faster than I could register. Valen slipped his arm from mine, spun—and punched Drudon in the face.

The force sent Drudon staggering, and he tripped on a tree root and landed on his back.

Distant gasps came from behind us. The strolling couple had definitely seen that one.

Valen must have noticed them, too. “Insult my beloved again,” he said in a self-righteous tone loud enough to carry, “and you and I will duel.”

Then he took my arm again and escorted me away.

“Do you want me to cry for dramatic effect?” I whispered.

His gaze darted to the watching couple. “That would help.”

So I let loose the tears.

***

Ten minutes later, I sat dry-eyed in Valen’s carriage on our way back to the chateau. We’d ridden in silence so far, and if Valen had his way, we’d probably never talk about what had just happened.

“Do you think he knows about your plan?” I asked.

Valen shifted from where his head had rested contemplatively on his fist. “No.”

His voice was firm. Maybe a little too firm, like he was trying to convince himself. I shot him a skeptical look.

“He may have noticed my… more frequent visits to the palace lately,” Valen admitted after a moment, “and suspected I have something planned. But he can’t possibly know the details. He’s spying on me in an ill-considered attempt to find out.”

“What does he want? To protect the princess? Or does he hate you and want you thrown in the dungeons?”

“I’ll be executed if I’m caught,” he said carelessly. “And yes, that’s what he wants. He’s jealous of my title. Resents my wealth and popularity. Blames me for our mother’s death. You can take your pick of motives.”

My breath hitched, and I barely registered the last two-thirds of what he’d said. “They’ll execute you? I figured they’d just lock you away.”

His mouth twitched in half a smile, though there was nothing funny about it. “A knight of the realm stealing a cultural treasure that I’m duty-bound to protect? No, they’ll execute me for treason for sure.”

I gaped at him, and he mistook the reason for my shock.

“That won’t happen to you,” he said. “You’re not a member of the Moonlit Court, so treason charges don’t apply.”

“Why the hell are you risking your life for some stupid jewel?”

All traces of humor vanished from his face. “That’s none—”

“None of my concern, yeah.” I crossed my arms. God and Goddess, he was insufferable sometimes. “Well, it is my concern if Drudon rats us out. How likely are people to believe him if he starts blabbing?”

Valen tilted his head thoughtfully. “People know about the bad blood between us. They’ll probably think he’s lying to stir up trouble.”

“But?” I asked, seeing something in his eyes.

“But he works for House Undarvue—they’re a merchant family, very rich and powerful. And their oldest son is betrothed to Princess Regula’s daughter.”

Lunch soured in my stomach. “So most people won’t believe him, but the people who matter might.”

“He has no reason to think my plans involve the princess.”

“Because only the two of us know what you’re planning?”

Valen pressed his lips into a hard line.

Great. Valen had told another person. Maybe dozens of other people. But of course he wouldn’t share the details with me—I was only the cornerstone of the entire heist.

I slumped, sighing. “What does Drudon do for House Undarvue, anyway?”

“He’s a bodyguard, officially. Unofficially, I suspect he deals with their enemies in back alleys with a knife, but I’ve never been able to prove it.”

And this charming fellow was stalking us. Lovely.

“You don’t have to worry about him, Emmeline,” Valen said softly, as if reading my thoughts. “I won’t let him hurt you.”

His gaze seemed to trap mine, and the carriage felt suddenly smaller.

If I shifted slightly, our knees would brush.

I remembered our kiss, the exhilarating feeling of his body against me.

Just the memory sparked desire, threatening to rekindle a fire within me that had diminished to a smolder but not completely gone out.

The sensation of his lips on mine… I couldn’t forget it even if I wanted to.

I’d still dream about it when I was old and gray.

But it had been an act, and I had no reason to believe the tender protectiveness in his eyes now was any more real.

“Mm,” I said, and looked out the window to avoid those lying eyes.

Maybe Valen would protect me. He needed me alive to steal the jewel, after all.

But I couldn’t see him risking any real danger for me.

Like all fey men, he only truly cared about himself, and he probably had a back-up plan for stealing the jewel if something happened to me.

I tried to picture him defending me like a chivalrous knight out of my mother’s stories…

An enticing dream, but it was like a glass sculpture: beautiful but too fragile to last long in the harsh world.

Better to avoid Drudon entirely—I had no desire to find out how expendable I really was.