Page 103 of A Crown of Hopes and Sorrows

Emrin grinned. “Lord Galeson has sent half-a-dozen letters a week in your absence. I believe he must write to you daily.”

I grabbed my goblet and took a swallow of wine. “How considerate of him.”

Father’s gaze bore into me, not in the normal, endearing way, but as if he tried to piece me out. “Could we speak alone after breakfast, Pip?”

I lifted my face and met that gaze.

He knew.

A guard in our group must have said something to him.

Anger sluiced its way through me like lava. Damn ever having a moment of privacy, a chance to steady my own words and make my own appointment to discuss things with Father. No, as normal, my life was on display. I raised my chin. “If you’re wishing to talk about what I think, let’s do it now. I’m over all the secrets.”

Father looked towards the attendants lining the walls. “Perhaps a better conversation to have privately?”

My eyes darted around the room but then landed back on him. “Dismiss the attendants if you’re tired of gossip about me, but Hyacinth and Emrin might as well hear it.”

He cleared his throat and turned, flicking his ring-adorned hand toward the attendants. They exited the hall, closing doors behind them. Hyacinth’s eyebrows had drawn together, dimpling his forehead, and Emrin frowned. But Father sighed. “One of your guards spoke with me about… a delicate issue on your trip.”

His voice wasn’t unkind but held a wariness.

“Valerian,” I said.

Father nodded. “I don’t put full stock into what an anxious guard suspects after a long, hard journey. I wished to hear your take, Epiphany.”

All three of them stared at me. But I didn’t care anymore. I was tired of living under a glass case. I had minded propriety, kept my distance from Val on the trip back, didn’t speak in hearing of palace workers who could gossip about it in front of his mother. But this was my family. And they would either have to accept me as I was or not. “What you heard is likely true. Valerian and I are together.”

Father’s shoulders dropped, but Hyacinth’s lips snapped apart, color draining from his skin. “Together?”

“Yes,” I said, turning to face him. “We’re a couple.”

He stared at me for a moment where the room stretched so quietly, I felt like I could hear all of our hearts beating. Then he jumped out of his seat, storming in the door's direction. I stood as well. “Hyacinth.”

I started walking away from the table, but Father spoke. “Let him go, Epiphany.”

“But…” I gestured towards him. “He’s going to…”

“Valerian is his friend. They will have to work this out between the two of them. You and I still need to talk.”

I dropped into my seat but kept my posture upright. “I’m in love with him. And I won’t back down from that.”

Emrin stared at me, horrified, but Father pressed his fingers together and tapped them against his chin. “Did he use this trip to approach you?”

I gasped. “Of course he didn’t. He never would have. I was the one to approach him.”

Father’s gaze grew distant for a moment, but then he nodded. “You’re a princess, Epiphany, to a country that’s about to face a war. I don’t believe our people could tolerate a scandal, and we can’t hinder our relationship with Segion by offending Lord Galeson and his family. But”—Emrin and I both shot our faces towards him—“here is what I can allow. You may be with him if you are discreet.”

I gasped, but Emrin jumped from his seat. “Father, you cannot be serious.”

“Emrin—”

“No,” he growled, smacking his napkin against the table. “Hyacinth just gallivants off and causes a hundred issues because he’s involved with a god, and now you’re going to let Epiphany—what?—sleep with a stableman?”

“Ermin,” I said, shock and hurt coursing down me.

Father stood as well and fixed him with a look. “Son, I understand that you’re upset, but—”

“I’m upset?” he said through his teeth. “I’m the only one of your children following the rules, and yet I’m the one about to get a lecture. This is bullshit.”