Toni rolled her eyes on another violent shiver. “Bedsport, schmedsport. All you men, even ones from different realms, need to have your egos stroked, don’t you?”
Nina parted them by sticking her beautiful face between their heads. “Okay, lovebirds, it’s time to get this shit done. I miss my kid and my man and a good Netflix binge of Longmire. Say your goodbyes and move along little doggies, before you catch some otherworldy plague we have to find the tears of a Dutch maiden to cure, huh?” She gave Jon an affectionate slap on the back for good measure.
Jon pulled away from Toni, his eyes warm. “Do as Nina says, milady. I’ll see you soon.” He pressed one last lingering kiss to her lips before he was swallowed up by the night, followed by Dannan’s thundering footsteps.
As the girls pulled her toward the door Jon had directed them toward, Toni wasn’t sure if she was being melodramatic, but his kiss had felt like a kinder version of the Old Yeller of goodbyes.
Sweet.
Gentle.
Final.
Chapter 13
“So are ye gonna open yer flytrap sometime soon, lad, or will ye have Toni believe yer tendin’ Oliver till the morrow?”
Rubbing Oliver down, he gritted his teeth, kicking himself for being the coward he was. “She’ll be well with the women, yes?”
Dannan wagged a long blue finger at him. “Oh no, lad. Ye are not soothing yerself with that justification. Ye should have gone with her. Not a one of the lasses knows royalty the way ye do. She’s nervous as a stray cat in the square. Her comfort is compromised, and I do not like ye for it.”
He dropped his hands to his side, consumed with guilt. The king was kind and fair, and he’d never harm her, but leaving Toni on her own in a strange setting was beneath him.
Jon tucked the hood of the cloak her wore closer, keeping his head down as some of the stable boys passed by. “There is so much at stake. This is not, as you well know, just about me, friend. There are others involved here who would potentially suffer. I’m trying to protect everyone, Dannan. I must have time to investigate the well-being of the others and make the appropriate move for all concerned. I would have never sent Toni into the castle had I feared for her safety. You know this.”
Dannan nodded, leaning on the edge of the stable doors. “Aye, lad, and I know gettin’ word to the castle was impossible with the weather takin’ the turn it did, and ye cannot stop what will happen now that yer so deeply involved. But you must tell her if ye don’t want to lose her. Ye can only take the honest path, and that path is telling Toni the truth. Let the chips fall where they may, but at least ye can say ye were honest in the end.”
Where had this all gone so wrong? Why hadn’t he just owned up to his truths earlier instead of putting off the inevitable?
Because he’d forgotten where this little adventure ended and his true life began. The edges had become blurred, lines crossed.
“Have ye heard the gossip from the castle about the prince?”
In aggravation, he threw down the blanket he’d planned to cover Oliver with. “We’ve been here nigh on a mere hour, ogre. What could I have possibly heard?”
“The king has sent Resplendant away, lad. Brokenhearted and blue are the words I’m hearin’. King Dick has broken the pact with the queen for their marriage and the merger between the two castles and lands. The king claims that bats-in-the-belfry Roz has seen the face of the prince’s beloved in her mirror, and ’twas not Resplendant. They say the prince is brokenhearted, too.”
Jon’s stomach nosedived, his fists clenching. “Nay. This cannot be true. Why have we not heard this?”
Dannan rolled his big eyes as he attempted to stretch out a leg. “Because we’ve been deep in the forest, ye fool! If ye couldn’t get word to the castle, how would ye expect we’d hear this information? This news makes for a very angry Angria, I suspect.”
Jon clenched his jaw. When he got his hands on Angria, she was going to wish the merger with the king were the biggest problem in her life.
Yet now, everything made sense all at once—and one thing was for certain, he had to get to Toni immediately. He had to tell her.
Dannan placed a large hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “Ye must get on with it, boy. Ye must stop skulking about the grounds and find yer woman. If ye will not, I shall. I wish no harm to come to the lass. She’s grown a fond place in my heart. Yer little adventure is over now. Ye must make this right for the honor of true love’s kiss.”
True love’s kiss. He’d thought it all bunk, but not after last night and their lovemaking. After last night, he knew Toni was the woman for him.
Dannan guffawed. “I see that twinkle in yer eye, boy. Ye are in love.”
That he was. He was certain of it. The fair Toni wasn’t aware of her true heart right now, but she loved him, too. He knew it as sure as he knew he must fix this.
Damn, this had all fallen apart so quickly. He’d hoped to handle some of his affairs privately and attempt to make a smooth transition, but not with Toni and her head at stake.