Mermaid Tear (The Fated #2)

44 | Falling

The days leading up to the final night of the banquet followed in a similar vein to the first.

Most of their day was spent either preparing for the night that would follow, or being pulled into varying social responsibilities. Kain had little time to talk to the others outside of morning meals, and even then Rhode, Melitta, and Isidor were rarely present.

What little he saw of Melitta concerned him--she seemed paler by the day--but she waved him off with a murmured word about the stress of the banquet simply making her distance from the sea more difficult.

"Once we're past this and the trial, I'll be fine."

The words only worsened his unease, but knowing Melitta had no reason to lie, Kain accepted the excuse. Besides, he couldn't imagine Isidor or Callias keeping their silence if the matter was truly dangerous.

The queen mother didn't call for them to meet again, but she also didn't shy away from talking to them at night. Although, oddly enough, Callias seemed to hold her attention more often than Kain. She questioned him about his and Melitta's origins, their parents--both which he quietly sidestepped with vague lies about fleeing before Nubella fell--their interests, and countless other details. It was to the point that he could see her conversation choices catching Kyril's attention, although the duke never questioned it aloud.

More notable was the fact that her curiosity always disappeared with Alekos' arrival.

If the request that they visit the archive hadn't been enough to tell them about her opinion of Alekos, that was. Kostantia didn't trust the king.

At the end of each night, Alekos would bid his guests a farewell, then disappear into the halls with Kyril at his side, and Mara trailing behind them. It gave Kain no chance to talk with her, and therefore no opportunity to ease the worries twisting his stomach into knots.

She, too, looked worse by the day.

Only Natia seemed to take the passage of days without issue.

By midweek, he'd caught her curled up as a wolf, muzzle tucked over the stuffed toy he'd purchased at the store. Then later, during one of the few opportunities they had to swap information about the nobles they'd met during their outings, she'd sat quietly to the side, fiddling with the little wood puzzle. When Rhode had offered to help her with it, Natia'd bared her teeth and Isidor had waved her off saying he wouldn't touch the wolf's things if he was her. Apparently, nightmares like Natia tended to be protective of what they owned, and it only seemed reasonable that the instinct would be strengthened in Natia's position.

Rhode had seemed vaguely upset by the aggression, but Kain had taken it as a positive sign. They were things he had gifted her, after all.

Overall, the routine they fell into was comfortable, even if the slowly raising tension made sleep difficult. It wasn't until the morning of the final day that everything shifted. Melitta and Natia were pulled away to begin preparing before breakfast was even finished. Apparently a ball took much more effort than a banquet. Kain, thankfully, got invited to spend another afternoon with the guard and didn't have to be poked and prodded until mid-afternoon.

By the time he'd finished, and Lyre had shoved a half-dozen lectures of Eol-specific etiquette into his head, the sun hung low in the evening sky.

So, as he had done every night that week, Kain drew in a deep breath and approached Melitta's door. His answer came after a light knock. Rhode drew the door open, a complicated expression on her face. Questions bubbled to his lips, but Kain bit them back. Melitta had told him multiple times throughout the week to give Rhode her space.