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I released a breathed I’d been holding since I jumped into the wardrobe. I wondered at the man Sebastian, and possibly the rest of the world, was forced to know. At least with his son, Maximos Damien was good. He was kind, supportive, and everything you could want in a dad.
“So,” Maximos said. “Who is she?”
“Excuse me? She?”
“That’s right.” His tone took on a sharper edge. Harder. “The girl, Eleni Mallas, claimed you were in love with someone, whereas you weren’t in love with someone before.”
“My father has me watched.”
“You did not deny having a lover—although I’m sure you thought yourself very clever dodging the question. Who is this girl, Alexander, because you know very well... this won’t do.”
Clapping my hand over my mouth, I dug the heel of my palm against my heart. It fluttered so wildly against my rib cage, I was sure everyone could hear it.
“There are no secrets between us, son. There can’t be. The lastloverto get close to you poisoned you in your sleep. It was by miracle only that you were found and saved in time. For you to be inlovewith this person—”
He kept saying love like it was a shameful word.
“—indicates a seriousness about the relationship that I did not encourage. I told you to sow your oats. Not plant them in one field. Who is she?” he demanded. “And why have you taken pains that I not already know?”
“I don’t know what you mean, kiri. There’s no way you could know one way or another because you’re no longer having me watched and followed—like you promised.”
“Don’t be a child,” he barked. “I said I would allow you more freedom, and so I did. You weren’t prevented from training with the Wardens of War, or venturing into the mundane dominion. But if you thought I’d toss you out into the cold—alone and unprotected—it shows how naïve and unprepared for reality you are.”
“Yes, kiri,” Alex spoke, tone neutral. “Of course, kiri.”
“Who is the girl, boy? How unsuitable is she that you’ve gone to lengths to hide her? I tell you now, if she is in any way a threat to you, our position, or our reputation, I will respond thusly. And if she’s a Sisyphean...” His voice trembled like the very idea overwhelmed him with rage and disgust. “She will beremoved.”
“There’s no need for that because there is no girl. No one. At all. I’m not in love.”
Even though I knew he had no choice, those words were a dagger through my chest.
“So the Mallas girl lied? She told Sirena that nonsense merely to enrage her?” He hummed. “I see. Her punishment will be forthcoming.”
Heavy footfalls made for the door.
“Wait, no.” Alex stopped them in their tracks. “I wouldn’t say that she was lying, merely that her gift must not be that specific. The notes Sirena stole and read were from a girl I met this summer. I cared for her, but she didn’t feel the same way about me. Lately, I’ve been rereading her notes and imagining what it would’ve been like if she felt the same way, and we could’ve made it work.
“I guess you could say I fell in love with my daydreams and the idea of her, but we’re not actually together, and she’s not here in the academy,” Alex said. “I’ve been hiding nothing andno one, kiri. I’ve only been trying to train, study, and cling to the little bit of privacy I’m allowed—even though that allowance seems to only get smaller.”
A deep, pressing silence filled the room.
Does he believe him? Did his explanation work?
“If this is true, I apologize, son. You’re right. A man should be allowed the privacy of his thoughts, and of course those thoughts are filled with fanciful notions of love. I encouraged it by letting Sara tell you all those stories of when I courted your mother, and then more so by promising to let you marry for love.”
“Kiri? I don’t understand.”
“Why should you understand. It is my failing that allowed you to become such a fool that you’d turn down the best match you’ll ever receive, for a box of old notes and your right hand!”
I recoiled, jaw slackening.
“At least if there’d been a girl, I’d understand this stubborn refusal to marry Sirena, but you admit there’s no one. For no one, I will lose an ally on the council. For no one, trade, loans, and support will cease between our great families. For no one, the imperial heirs—my heir—was shamed and beaten by a couple of Sisypheans with rocks.”
“But, Father, you said this was my choice. You said you’d support me.”
“And so I will. I will stand by and say nothing— No, I will defend you as you foolishly throw away Sirena, even though sense says to secure her hand in marriage, and all the benefits that go with it—and take a mistress or divorce her later.”
I gaped at the crack. Kind? Supportive? Everything you could want in a dad?
