That makes his mouth twitch. “No, you’re not, are you? Thank all the Gods for that.”
It’s my turn to stare at him. “Is she that bad?”
“You have no idea.”
I grin. Maybe this won’t be so terrible, after all. Though if she is going to be my mother-in-law…Yikes. “She didn’t accompany you.”
“No, she wants…” He shakes his head.
His hesitation ignites my curiosity. “She wants what?”
“She wants another girl for me,” he blurts out, cheeks reddening.
“Oh.” I hadn’t expected that. “But your father and sister are here.”
“The family is… split on this.”
“And you? What do you want?”
“Oh. You, of course. Would I be here otherwise? Would I have given you my token?”
“I don’t know,” I say slowly. “Have you given a token to this other girl, too?”
He pales. “Selina—”
“You did.” Cold spreads through me.
“It’s not like that.”
“Isn’t it? I think you need to decide who you want,” I tell him and pull the pendant from around my neck. Gods, if he knew all the trouble I’d gone into to get it back… “Take it. Only give it to a girl when you are certain of your feelings.”
“Iamcertain of my feelings! You don’t understand. I gave Princess Eleana a token before I met you. In fact…” He pulls a small box from the pocket of his frock and bows, offering it to me. “This is for you.”
My righteous anger gutters out in the face of the gesture. Especially when I open the little box and take out a ring.
“It’s not an engagement ring,” he says hastily.
“Of course not.” I give him an impatient look. “I know that. You would have said.”
“Exactly. When I give you an engagement ring, I’ll do it formally, in front of the family. It will be one of the family rings with our crest. This is… an appreciation token.”
“I understand.”
He takes it from my hand and slides it onto my middle finger. It’s a thin golden band crowned with a ruby. “Beautiful like you,” he says and smiles.
Yes, maybe this will be all right. His smile softens his face and the sting of his earlier words starts to fade.
“Thank you,” I whisper. “But what about this other princess?”
“If you return my interest,” he says earnestly, taking both my hands in his, “I will ask for my token back from her. I will tell my mother that I don’t want her.”
“Just like that?”
“Yes.”
“And if I say I’m not interested, will you propose to her?”
“Well…” He shrugs. “I will keep hoping you won’t turn me down, Selina.”