Theo's stomach twisted as he recognized the silver hair, so unlike Fleur's, that slipped from beneath the dark material.
"I don't believe this!" Lady Delilah practically screamed as she jumped up from the bench and whirled on him. The breeze lifted her silver hair and she glared down at him with such fury in her eyes that it made him feel ice cold all over. "How could you? How could you possibly think you could get away with this? With my servant? Of all the women you could have had. Why her?"
Theo sat silently, listening to her rant, wondering how he could have been so stupid. How could he have allowed himself to be lured out like this? To be so easily tricked into giving up his secrets.
It's her. I can't think whenever it involves her, he thought, only half listening to Delilah now.
"You know they said you had been getting round since you left the mainland but I never in a million years imagined that when I arrived you would continue!" she continued to snap, her hands beginning to flail animatedly as if she couldn't quite get everything out in words. "What was wrong with me? You have never once come to me!"
Theo cringed at that. She was right. He had been with many women over the years yet he had never once felt the need to try with Delilah. It was done, already told that he would one day be married to her.
"Delilah, please, sit down," Theo suggested gently. He felt no anger now, no need to insist that she reminded herself that he was the king. Instead, all he felt was relief. Now that she knew the truth, he no longer needed to hide it.
"So you can lie and tell me nothing happened?" Delilah continued to rage though it appeared the fuel was beginning to burn low and the anger on her face was replaced by frustration. "I just don't understand."
Her shoulders drooped then and she shook her head, lowering her gaze to the floor.
"Come here and I will explain everything to you," Theo assured her gently. He reached out tentatively to take hold of her hand and guide her back to the bench.
They sat silently for a few moments and Theo waited until she appeared calmer before speaking. "Do you remember the night before I left for the Summer Isle?"
Delilah's expression became thoughtful. She glanced away as if she couldn't bring herself to look at him while she thought.
Then she looked back at him and shrugged. "I am sure there was a big feast as there always is whenever a royal goes away."
Theo clenched his teeth at that. For her the evening had been forgettable. For him, he had been reliving it every night in his dreams, unable to imagine how he would stop himself from going insane if the dreams continued to haunt him for the rest of his life.
"No, there was no feast. But something happened that night and I arranged my own passage here to try to escape it," Theo explained with a deep sigh.
How stupid I was to think I could ever escape it, he thought grimly. He had taken six months trying to forget about her and the moment she had walked back into his life he had completely lost his mind all over again.
"You tried to escape it? Are you in some kind of trouble?" Delilah asked, her fingertips rising to cover her mouth to hide her gasp.
It was in that moment that Theo realized she was just like all the others, a good listener and an even better actress, only listening so closely so that she might find something she could use to her advantage.
All the more reason that I am relieved she knows the truth, Theo thought. Even if she did tell the world about his affair with Fleur, he knew that nothing would stop him from doing the same now.
"Nothing life threatening." Theo shook his head. "In truth I was running from fate and I now realize that is an impossible task."
"I don't understand." Delilah stared at him with confusion in her sparkling blue eyes. "What does this have to do with my companion?"
Theo closed his eyes for a moment and sucked in a breath to steel himself for what he was about to say.
When he opened his eyes again she was staring at him expectantly.
"That night we were all down by the lake, playing in the water. You were having a great time dancing with all of my brothers and I looked up onto the beach and there she was. She was sitting, looking miserable and we were all having such a good time that I couldn't bear it."
Delilah opened her mouth as if she were about to speak but Theo lifted his hand and said softly, "Please let me finish."
He waited to be sure that she would not interrupt him before he continued, "I asked Fleur to join us but she was frightened to get her wings wet in case you required her to fly for any reason and so I took her to a more secluded area where I knew that she had no risk of getting her wings wet."
"So you lured my companion out into the woods to seduce her?" Delilah's voice was low and accusing.
"No, it wasn't at all like that." Theo shook his head and perched on the edge of the bench, unable to keep himself still. "I took her to a pool just off the lake and we were just dipping our toes in when something came over me and I couldn't help but kiss her."
Delilah's body visibly tensed up then and she moved away, turning her body so that she no longer had to look at him.
"I don't need to hear this."