“Well, not this one,” I said. “He took me across the Glass Bridge.”
“You’ve ridden the Titan prince’s horse?”
I frowned. “He’s not—” Bloody hell, how was I going to explain this? “Um, I think I might have had a bit too much to drink.”
He laughed like he knew something I didn’t. “I missed you at the races the other night.”
“Yea, something came up.” Like making out with the aforementioned Titan prince . . .
“The Day of Fools is tomorrow. Maybe you’ll go with me?”
I faltered. How had I forgotten it was tomorrow? A shiver of nerves went through me. “I think I’m going with my mother.”
“Ah, I get beat by the mother you’re always running from.” He tucked my hair behind my ear. “How’d I begin ranking so low?”
I averted my eyes, thinking about this situation I was in. It’d never been right to lead this man on, and now that I knew I could never have my own choice of husband, it was even more wrong.
I realized how alive I felt when one unnamed Titan even looked like he was about to touch me, and how I didn’t feel even a zing with this man’s hands on me. I didn’t know why it had to be this way, but it was. And that wasn’t going to change.
I drew my gaze up. “William . . .”
He let out a sigh. “I know, Calamity. I know.”
I opened my mouth to respond with something, but I didn’t know what to say.
“It’s hard to compete with a prince.”
My eyes widened. “What?”
He let out a breath of amusement. “Everyone knows your connection to him. It’s why they are letting you freely roam the palace grounds.”
Oh. That made sense. William knew that, and he was still standing so close to me?
“You’re brave, aren’t you?” I said absently.
He laughed softly. “Not really. He’s out. Saw him go down to the northern harbor to check on the ship for his journey tomorrow.”
I swallowed hard. Tomorrow?
“William—”
“Calamity, stop.” He shook his head. “I get it. I’ve always gotten it. But now it makes more sense than ever.”
“William—”
“Say my name one more time.”
We laughed, and he pulled me into a hug, resting his chin on my head. “Goodbye, Calamity.”
This was the way closure was supposed to feel. Easy. Right. So why couldn’t I find the same with Weston?
“Goodbye, Will.”
A bitterness leaked into my chest as I watched Calamity smile and laugh with that stablehand I’d seen her with at the parade.
I couldn’t stop myself from memorizing his every important feature even though I could practically feel their platoni
c exchange from here. I’d be able to pick him out of the hundred or so other stablehands easily. And then when I dealt with him, I’d make sure everyone knew just how mine she really was.