Filed To Story: Between Two Kings: A Split or Swallow Book PDF Free
Tem looked at Caspen in disbelief. It wasn’t a suggestion. It was an order.
No.
Tem. You have offended them.
She had to physically stop herself from scoffing at that. Perhaps she had offended Evelyn, but Tem could tell from the look on Leo’s face that he’d wanted to ask the same questions she was asking but hadn’t. Was he suspicious of his newly returned love? Of the truth that might come out if he pried too hard? Relationships were built on trust. Leo had made Tem swear never to lie to him. Clearly he’d made no such demands of Evelyn.
“Forgive me,” Tem said stiffly. It wasn’t an apology, but it was the most she could manage.
Evelyn immediately gave her a slow, saccharine smile. “There is nothing to forgive,” she said smoothly. “Of course you’re curious about what happened. Anyone would be, in your position.”
Tem didn’t like the sound of that. Her position? And what position was that, exactly?
Before she could ask, Evelyn clarified: “As someone who was formerly engaged to Leo, I can understand how you feel.”
Tem very much doubted that Evelyn understood how she felt. It was an impossibility. And Tem hadn’t just been engaged to Leo-she’d been married to him. It was a specific distinction, and one that Evelyn had purposefully ignored. She was diminishing their relationship, attempting to minimize what they had together. Tem felt a wild urge to retaliate, to say something that would remind Evelyn just who she had been to Leo. Instead, she raised her hand and slowly brushed a curl from her face, positioning her fingers so that the slim silver band on her ring finger flashed in the candlelight.
Evelyn’s eyes narrowed. Leo’s widened.
Tem knew full well that the gesture was not lost on either of them. It was a dangerous thing to do, but Tem was feeling dangerous. Nothing about this conversation had satisfied her. She was in no mood to indulge it any longer.
“Of course,” Evelyn continued, her eyes boring into Tem’s, “now that I’m back”-she threw a meaningful glance at Leo, who was still staring at Tem’s hand-“we can’t wait to get married.”
A knife twisted in Tem’s stomach. Of course. Her marriage to Leo had been annulled for the express purpose of clearing the way for a marriage between Leo and Evelyn. The villagers needed a queen, and Tem was no longer an option. Her human side knew this was for the best. Her human side was almost happy for them. But her basilisk side growled in jealousy, and beside her, Caspen squeezed her leg once more.
He asked the question on the tip of Tem’s tongue: “Are you not already married?”
Leo shook his head, snapping back to reality. “Evelyn wants a wedding.”
“We want a wedding,” Evelyn said, squeezing Leo’s arm. “And we’re going to plan it together. I want it absolutely perfect.”
Tem stared at her blankly. Their kingdoms were on the brink of war, and she cared about planning a wedding? It was a perilous time. The truce was in flux and there had already been bloodshed. The fact that Leo had had two wives in the span of a week would not be received well. The right thing to do would be to marry quietly and get on with the task of ruling the kingdom. The path forward was clear to Tem. How could it not be clear to Evelyn?
The right thing to you and me is not necessarily the right thing for them.
Tem rolled her eyes.
Don’t pretend this makes any sense.
I did not say it made sense. Only that it is what they think is right.
It’s what she thinks is right. Leo doesn’t want this. You can tell.
Leo is a man. If he does not agree with his wife, it is up to him to express that to her.
Tem knew Caspen was right. He was painfully, logically, right. As always. This dinner was a terrible idea.
To her surprise, amusement seeped from his mind to hers. I think it is going rather well.
Seriously?
Yes. I had expected you to throw something by this point.
Tem shot him a look, which he returned. Then to her surprise, he smiled, leaned in, and kissed her. For a moment, all was right with the world. The table disappeared, and all Tem knew was Caspen’s lips on hers. The claw pulsed gently, warming her once more.
Evelyn cleared her throat. They pulled apart reluctantly, and Tem looked over to see Leo glaring at her with complete and utter rage. It scared her so much that she nearly recoiled.
Caspen’s mind tightened around hers: He is angry, Tem. Do not hold it against him.
Why are you suddenly playing peacemaker? You’ve been far too reasonable tonight. I don’t like it.
He let out a quiet laugh under his breath.
Because it is in my best interest for this dinner to go well.
Well, it’s not going well so far.
It might go better if you focused on something other than your anger.
Tem sighed. He was being insufferable tonight. Then again, so was she. And only one of them was making this dinner more difficult.
There’s nothing else to focus on.
Shall I give you something else?
The claw pulsed. The pulse built. Before Tem could react, Caspen turned back to Evelyn.
“When will you be wed?”
Tem knew he couldn’t care less about the answer. But he was the only one making conversation, and they both knew it was safer than her chiming in at this point. Tem had nothing whatsoever to add to a discussion of their wedding. Nothing positive, at least.
“On Mother’s Night.”
Tem frowned. “But that’s-“
“Lovely,” Caspen finished.
Evelyn smiled at him before returning to her chicken. Tem stared at Caspen in disbelief.
Mother’s Night occurred on winter solstice and was widely believed to be Kora’s birthday. Gods weren’t born exactly. But it was said that Kora descended from the heavens on Mother’s Night, many millennia ago, to bestow fertility on the women in the kingdom. She gave the gift of life, and the villagers had honored her by having children ever since. It was unbelievable to Tem that Evelyn would dare to hold her wedding on such a blessed day. There could be no greater insult-no exercise of ego more shameful than thinking your nuptials deserved to occur on Kora’s birthday.
Lovely? How dare she?
She is merely excited.
She’s delusional.
Has she lost her mind?
It is not for us to have an opinion on her wedding.
It’s their wedding. And I have a hard time believing Leo supports this.
Clearly he does; otherwise, he would have said.
This is ridiculous.
This is none of our concern, Tem. They can do as they please.
Tem had nothing to say to that. She stared at Leo, who was picking at his food listlessly, pushing vegetables from one side of his plate to another with a golden fork. He hardly looked like a man who was doing as he pleased. He seemed more like a captive in a cage.