Tailtiu cut him off, “I have no idea where she is. Mother doesn’t share all her secrets with me.”
“But…”
“Rest easy, nephew. Mother is no fool. Wherever she’s stashed your girl I’m sure she’s safe.”
Unless the king figured out that his daughter wasn’t where he thought she was. If he decided to, he could use the heart-stone enchantment to summon her back. Will worried about that possibility, and it was one reason he’d gone along with the plan to have Tailtiu impersonate Selene. So long as the king thought she was still within close reach, he seemed content to leave things be. Will ran a hand through his hair in frustration. As usual, the only thing he could do was nothing at all.
Chapter 6
The next morning Will noticed that he was once again collecting more stares from his fellow students. It was something he had gotten used to, both before and after his marriage to Selene, for various reasons. Lately the attention had died down some, but it appeared he had once again become an active topic of discussion.
He and Janice couldn’t really talk during class, so she held her questions until the lecture was over, but she was careful not to let him get out of sight as they exited. She caught his sleeve in the hall outside. “Don’t even think about trying to escape,” she warned him.
His expression was droll. “I knew better than to try.” Glancing around, he saw nearly everyone in their vicinity was watching them with interest. Some of them appeared ready to approach and try to start conversations. “Want to get some air?” he asked Janice.
She flashed a warm smile, which reminded him of why he liked her so much. Janice was probably his best friend at Wurthaven, and while they had had a few problems because of some romantic interest, she hadn’t let it interfere with their relationship as friends. “Let’s go,” she replied.
Outside, they were able to keep some distance from their fellow students, but only so long as they remained on the move. “Stephanie was telling some remarkable stories yesterday,” began Janice, “and for once you sounded like a hero rather than a villain.”
He shrugged modestly.
“I was tempted to disbelieve her tale, since it cast you in a positive light, until they took you out of class yesterday.”
Will frowned. “That was unkind.”
Janice grinned. “It’s not that I think poorly of you, you understand. It’s just hard to believe anyone else would think kindly of you.”
He snorted. “What did she say?”
“That you saved the work crew at the dam by keeping the entire thing from collapsing.”
“That doesn’t seem humanly possible.”
Janice nodded. “She said she helped by funneling turyn to you from her elemental. She also said you saved her from a nasty fall from a platform.” She waggled her wrist in front of him. “She even had bruises to demonstrate where you grabbed her.”
Will smirked. “That sounds good. I’ll go with it. Everything she said was true.” His eyes glanced up toward the sky in an expression of humor. “Ow!” he exclaimed as Janice drove her elbow into his side. “Fine, I’ll tell you the truth.”
“You’d better.”
He explained what had actually happened, along with his tense exchange with Stephanie afterward. When he finished, he saw his friend staring at him with surprise in her eyes. “What?” he asked.
“You really threatened her like that?”
Will lowered his eyes. “I’m not proud of it, but I couldn’t think of a better solution. Besides, you know Selene isn’t actually…” He let his words taper off without finishing as he glanced around to make sure no one was nearby. He didn’t have to say it, though; Janice was one of the few people he had entrusted with the truth about Selene’s absence. “If there was a scandal, she wouldn’t be able to do anything about it,” he added.
She shook her head. “I wasn’t judging you. Actually, I’m impressed with how you stood up for yourself. Not too long ago you would have let someone like her just walk all over you.”
He didn’t see her point. “I’ve never been one to run from a fight.”
“Not a physical fight,” corrected Janice. “But you avoided social confrontations, especially with women. I had resigned myself to the fact that Selene and I were going to have to protect you from women for the rest of your clueless life.”
Will laughed. “You make it sound as though women are evil.”
“You have no idea,” she said, shaking her head. “But you’re still trying to oversimplify things. My sex isn’t evil per se, but we’re highly social—maybe you would describe it as political. We fight more with words and opinions.” Her eyes flicked to the side of his head for a moment. “Speaking of fights, what happened to your head?”
“Would you believe I was following a young woman at night and tried to stop a stranger from assaulting her?”
She squinted at him. “What really happened?”
He let out a dramatic sigh. “Even when I try to tell the truth, no one believes me. And you wonder why I try to tell people I had an accident.”
It was her turn to laugh then. “Usually you lie first, then you admit the truth. How am I supposed to know when you’re going to change the formula? So, who was the damsel in distress this time?”
“Laina Nerrow.”
“The baron’s daughter? Didn’t you dance with her sister at the Winter Ball?”
“That’s an oddly specific thing for you to remember,” observed Will.
“It was a big night for me,” said Janice. “It was the first, and probably only, time I was invited to a royal ball. Are you trying to deflect my curiosity? You were a little sensitive after you danced with the other sister at the ball, now you’re following the older sister around at night.”
He said nothing.
“You’re going to tell me eventually,” she informed him. “Why drag it out?”
No, I’m not, he thought silently. He trusted Janice, but the secret of his parentage wasn’t something he could share. Selene had agreed to let him bring Janice in on her secret, but the Nerrow family didn’t have that option. If the secret somehow got out, his sisters might be in danger simply for being related to him.
After a moment she relented. “At least tell me what happened.”
“Laina and Selene are close friends,” he said, beginning an explanation of the entire evening. He detailed Laina’s plea and her unhappy exit, which led up to his following her and the inevitable fight with the assassin.