The Wish Granter (Ravenspire #2)(42)

It was strange to find a chink in the princess’s confidence, but it had been a traumatic night for her. And he could’ve handled it better. He could’ve told her that until she’d pulled back and spoken to him after the kiss, he hadn’t thought about her bout of sickness. All he’d been able to focus on was the way everything inside him crashed and tumbled as it always did when anyone touched him. The way some primal part of him had braced for the first bright slash of pain that had always come hand in hand with touch while he was a child trapped beneath his father’s rule.

He made himself walk through the side entrance to the kitchen without hesitating, and admitted that even if he could’ve found the words to share that with the princess, he would have remained silent.

“Sebastian!” Cleo looked up from the rack of game hens she was basting, her eyes glowing with relief. “Just the person I was hoping to see.”

He eyed her warily. “Why?”

She brushed olive oil over the last game hen, sprinkled it with freshly chopped herbs, and slid the entire rack into the brick oven. Then she came toward him, wiping her hands on her apron. She was a full head shorter than the princess, who stood nearly eye to eye with him, and he had to tip his head down to meet Cleo’s gaze as she stood in front of him.

She glanced around the kitchen, noted her mother’s preoccupation with inventorying a fresh shipment of vegetables and the quiet movements of two maids who sat in a corner shelling almonds, and then motioned for him to follow her into the pantry—a room twice the size of Sebastian’s quarters—shutting the door behind them.

“You have to get Ari out of the palace.” She turned to scan the pantry’s contents.

Sebastian’s pulse kicked up a notch. “Why? What’s wrong?”

“It’s her obsession with Teague.” Cleo took a few steps forward and pointed toward a woven basket high on a shelf above her head. “Can you get that for me?”

He removed the basket and handed it to her. “I haven’t seen her in five days.”

Cleo set the basket on a table that rested in the middle of the room and began pulling food from the shelves. “Most haven’t. She’s either in the library, reading up on contract law or on the history of Llorenyae, or she’s writing to her contacts in other kingdoms to ask them if they know anything about the Wish Granter, or she’s arguing with Ajax about the way he wants to handle Teague.”

“I don’t envy Thad’s guard.”

“The point is, Ari’s exhausted. She barely sleeps. She barely eats. She won’t quit looking for a way to stop Teague, and it’s wearing her down. Plus, there have been a few odd visitors to the palace. Always to the servants’ entrance, always asking about something benign, but always finding a way to work in a question about the king’s condition and whether there have been any strange happenings here.”

“Teague’s employees.”

“Has to be. They haven’t mentioned Ari.”

He breathed in the relief. Teague knew Daan was dead, but he didn’t yet know that the palace had been his place of demise. “You’re a good friend, Cleo. I’m glad she has you.”

“She has us both.” She scooped up two oranges, some dates, and a hunk of cheese wrapped in cloth.

“Oh, I’m not . . . we’re just . . .” He took a step back and bumped against the shelf behind him. “I work for her.”

Cleo broke a loaf of bread in half and slipped it into the basket. “You’re her friend. She told me. And besides, I’m not an idiot. I saw your concern for her that night in the garden. You didn’t have to step in and help her take care of things, but you didn’t hesitate. And then you kissed her, so—”

“She told you about that?” He stared at Cleo in horror.

Cleo laughed. “Best friends, remember? Anyway, you did what you had to to protect her because she’s your friend.”

“She can’t be my friend. She’s the princess.”

Cleo shut the basket and pushed it into Sebastian’s hands. “She’s Ari. There really isn’t another label that fits. And she needs us. Someone has to make sure she breathes fresh air and doesn’t lose her mind chasing after the faint hope that she can fix this for Thad. I’ll go get her.”

“What am I supposed to do with this?” He lifted the now full basket.

“Take her on a picnic,” Cleo said as she disappeared out of the pantry and headed into the palace proper.

He’d come here only to check on the princess. To see with his own eyes that she was all right. And maybe to show her that nothing between them had changed, and she could feel comfortable resuming her lessons if she wanted to.

He’d just let her know that he still had lesson time available. He’d give her the basket and tell her Cleo had made lunch for her and that she should eat it. And then he’d leave, and it would be up to her to show up at the arena or stay away.

With this plan firmly in place, he walked out of the pantry just as Cleo and Ari stepped into the kitchen. He stopped in his tracks, taking in the princess’s appearance with a swift glance. Her shoulders were bowed as if she carried an enormous weight. There were faint smudges of exhaustion beneath her eyes, and her hair was carelessly thrown into a haphazard bun on top of her head. She blinked wearily at him and mustered a tiny smile.