Page 46 of Let Slip the Dogs of War

“You can think of a reason, I’m sure,” I say dryly. “You want me to go back when you take the throne. Would you let me go if we’d kissed?”

Lark’s lip curls, showing his sharp teeth. “No.”

“Then we can’t.”

He purses his lips in annoyance but eventually nods. “Very well.”

He still doesn’t let go of my hand, and after an awkward moment of silence, I turn the conversation towards what we should expect tonight. I’ve been to a few formal events—though not for years—but the fae idea of politeness is likely to be quite different to what I’m used to.

“It may seem as though they are overlooking you because they believe you to be my pet,” Lark says, “but that will not be the case at all. The court, especially, will assess you on their own merits. They will want to know if you are a weakness or not.”

“A weakness?”

“For me. If you could be used against me. It would not be the first time.”

“Your parents had pets?”

Lark shakes his head quickly. “No, never. But they have been in and out of fashion with the Unseelie court, and I have seen the way they have been used to help one fae win over another.”

I grimace. Seems like there might be a fair chance of me getting kidnapped then, too, but I’m going to try to do my best not to let that happen.

The door to Lark’s rooms swings open and Grant comes bounding inside, carelessly letting it swing shut behind him. Lark’s fingers twitch against my hand in what I think is annoyance.

“This place is huge!” Grant exclaims. He throws himself into an armchair, not even wincing at his awkward-looking landing. “I’m pretty sure I got lost for a minute there, but I did find the library. That was nice.”

“It is… good that you found a way to entertain yourself.”

Grant rolls his eyes. “And I found about four different ways out of here. Two of them aren’t well guarded, I’m pretty sure, because there were no fae nearby and I couldn’t sense any magic either.” He pauses, then corrects himself. “I couldn’t sense any additional magic. It’s everywhere here.”

“That it is,” Lark murmurs. “You will be able to find these routes out again?”

“Of course.”

“Then, sometime after we speak with Ophelia tonight, you two will need to sneak her out of the ball and make your way back to the location where we crossed through.”

Tonight. I’m so relieved that we’ll have her back tonight; Ophelia might have only been gone a day, but it feels far longer. But the sooner we find her, the sooner I’m leaving Lark behind.

Not that it will stop me from finding her, of course. It just… hurts.

“Aren’t there any other fae here who can take the throne?” Grant asks, and I jerk my head up, looking at him sharply. Surely, he can’t read minds?

But no. He’s not looking at me, expectantly waiting for me to notice that he just said my next thought aloud. His eyes are on Lark instead, a frown tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“Perhaps one or two,” Lark says, “but none who are ready to. Not that I am, but… The court would always rather deal with a known entity. They are desperate, and they know that I am strong enough to hold this realm for a while, even alone.”

“You said you can’t rule alone,” I say quietly.

“Not for a substantial amount of time, no. My mother lasted fifteen years. I would expect my own solo rule to be less than half of that.”

“Lark.”

He looks at me when I say his name, wearing the faintest smile. “I will be fine,” he says. “I merely need to find someone who will be willing to wear a crown alongside me and who has enough power to be able to sacrifice some for our realm. Should our bond take, we will have many years of at least a stable home realm ahead of us.”

My mouth is dry. I stare at Lark for far too long. “Your bond?” I ask, and my voice is faint.

Lark nods. “Yes. For the crowns to function effectively, the people wearing them should have bonded.”

“Oh.” The word comes out faint and small, and Grant’s expression pulls in sympathy. I swallow hard. I don’t have any right to feel any way about that. Lark isn’t mine. I already knew we couldn’t be together; I’d already given up on that before we came here.