Immortal Reign(69)

“I’m not sure I want to do this,” Enzo said tentatively. “I think I’ve had far too much to drink today.”

The crowd laughed as if he’d made the most hilarious joke they’d ever heard.

“It’s fine!” the fiddler called up to him. “We all have! Speak from your heart in honor of the goddess and her magically sweet breath. Make your toast!”

Enzo didn’t say anything for a moment, and the crowd began to murmur among themselves as the silence became more awkward.

Then he raised his tankard high in the air. “To Nerissa Florens, the girl I love.”

The crowd cheered and drank, yet Enzo was not quite finished.

“The girl I love,” he said again, “who never loved me! The girl who took my heart, chopped it up into tiny pieces, and threw them into the Silver Sea as she set sail with another man! A man with only one eye, might I add, when I have two perfectly fine eyes! Goddess, how I hate him. Do you know what she told me? ‘It’s my duty,’ she said. Her duty!”

Magnus stared up at the guard. He’d known Enzo to be very loyal, very quiet, and very subdued—until now.

Just how much ale had he drunk since they’d arrived?

Enzo continued. “If any of you know Felix Gaebras, and I’m sure many of you do, he’s not to be trusted.”

Surely, he had to be finished now, Magnus thought.

Enzo stomped his foot, sending several tin plates flying from the surface of the table. “Nerissa does not value commitment, she says! This she told me many times, but what am I to believe? That her attentions were only temporary? That her kisses were meaningless?” His voice broke. “Does she not know my heart is shattered by her absence?”

Magnus’s gaze moved over the crowd as Cleo, her blond hair trailing behind her, hurried toward Enzo.

“Please come down from there, Enzo,” Cleo implored.

Seeing her loosened some of the tightness in Magnus’s chest.

“The golden princess wishes to make a toast as well!” the fiddler announced.

Cleo waved her hands. “No, no, I don’t. I’m just trying to retrieve my friend before he says something he will deeply regret.”

“If you ask me,” Enzo said loudly, ignoring the princess entirely, “I think there was something curious going on between Nerissa and the empress. Yes, you heard me correctly. Something much more than an attendant and a ruler.” He took a deep drink from his tankard before raising it again. “You know what they say about Kraeshians.”

“What?” someone called out. “What do they say about Kraeshians?”

“That the only cold bed for a Kraeshian is their deathbed.” Enzo’s shoulders then slumped, as if he’d just run out of his last bit of energy. “My gratitude to you all for joining me in this toast.”

The crowd fell completely silent for a moment before they cheered again, and the fiddler started his next song.

Magnus approached Cleo as she helped Enzo down from the tabletop.

“That was . . . fascinating,” he said, no longer interested in keeping his presence unknown.

Cleo spun to face him. “You followed us!”

“I did. If I hadn’t I wouldn’t have heard such intriguing gossip about your favorite attendant.”

“Enzo’s drunk,” Cleo explained. “He doesn’t know what he’s saying.”

Magnus eyed the guard. “I see that the princess has managed to corrupt you to her Auranian ways in a shamefully short amount of time.”

Enzo leaned heavily against a nearby wall. “Your highness, I don’t think—”

“Clearly there was a profound lack of thinking here. Your one job is to keep Cleo safe, not to publicly and drunkenly pine away for your lost love.”

Enzo opened his mouth to speak, perhaps to protest, but Magnus raised his hand.

“You’re dismissed for the rest of the day. Go . . . drink as much as you see fit. Find another girl to help take your mind off Nerissa. I’m sure there are plenty under this very roof who would be willing to help. Do whatever you wish, as long as it’s out of my sight.”

Enzo’s gaze flicked to Cleo with uncertainty for a moment before he bowed deeply, nearly losing his balance. “Yes, your highness.”

Magnus watched him disappear into the crowd before Cleo turned a glare on Magnus.

“That was rude,” she said.

“Your point?”

“Enzo has earned respect.”

“Not today he hasn’t.” Magnus crossed his arms over his chest. “Now, what to do about you?”

Her pale eyebrows lifted. “I would strongly suggest you don’t try to order me around.”

“If I did, I certainly wouldn’t expect you to listen,” he growled.

“Good.”

Magnus reached for her left hand, and she didn’t pull away. He ran his thumb over the silk glove. “Hiding it doesn’t change what is happening.”

Cleo looked down at the floor. “It helps me forget for a few moments so that I can try to feel normal again.”

Magnus was about to respond, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to face a woman with a large bosom looking at them with a wide, toothy smile.

“Yes?” he said.

Her smile widened further. “You two make such a lovely couple.”