“Okay,” I said.
“You trust me?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted, “but right now I believe that if you could stop something bad from happening, you would.”
“Good enough,” he said, “because that’s the truth.”
“Has there ever been an assassination in Starkland before?” I asked him.
“Hundreds of years ago,” he admitted. “Actually, historians think my family assassinated your family to take over the throne, but lots of people don’t agree with that.”
“Really?” I asked. “You jerk.”
“Hey, not my fault. I’m barely related to those pricks anymore.”
“You’ve got a little prick in you.”
“And you had a nice, thick prick in you,” he said, smirking.
I rolled my eyes. “Good one.”
“Thank you.”
“Just so we’re clear, that wasn’t a good joke. I’m not sure if you get sarcasm, since you’re the king.”
He laughed. “Why? Because I’m surrounded by yes men?”
I grinned at him. “Exactly. Everyone is obligated to laugh at your stupid jokes.”
“Untrue. Back in nineteen ten, my ancestors decreed that no person shall fake laugh at the king’s jokes.”
“What penalty?”
“Death, of course.”
I laughed, shaking my head. I suddenly felt starving and started to eat a bit more. He smiled at me and ate along with me.
For the first time since we left the castle, and since the man attacked, I felt okay. I didn’t feel perfect again, but just laughing like this and acting normally with Trip was making me come back to myself. He was just so clever and charming, and the confidence with which he did everything was so impressive and alluring.
I had the stupid urge to reach across the table and touch his face, but I resisted. I didn’t know where we stood. Maybe he’d gotten what he wanted and was finished with that. Maybe he was just protecting me because he felt obligated.
Whatever was happening, I felt better. We joked and laughed for a bit longer, until I realized, to my absolute horror, that I had eaten almost every single thing on the tray.
“Oh my god,” I said, leaning back. “I ate like a pig. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” he said, laughing. “You’re not capable of doing anything like a pig. And you needed to eat.”
“Still, I shouldn’t have gone to town like that. It was your lunch, too.”
“I’m the king. I can eat more if I want.”
I laughed. “Good point. I’m just a commoner after all. I should eat when I can. Who knows when we’ll go hungry while you rich barons grow fat and happy.”
He grinned, looking out the window. “It might have worked like that once, but not anymore. If my people were hungry, I’d go hungry, too. Fortunately that’s not our problem.”
“Civil war is your problem,” I said softly.
“Yes. Civil fucking war.”
We were silent for a second, and that thought hung in the air between us. Finally, I spoke up.
“Trip, I want my parents to come join us here.”
He shook his head no. “We spoke about this. They’re safest back at the castle.”
“There’s a small army here. I can’t imagine they’d be safer anywhere else.”
“I’m sorry, Bryce, but it’s a security thing also.”
“You’ve had plenty of time to clear any security risks with them.”
“Maybe, but it’s not so simple. We’re not clearing anyone of suspicion yet.”
“Am I a suspect then?” I asked angrily, crossing my arms.
“No,” he said softly. “You’re the only person I fully trust.”
“Then trust me when I say that my father and Lucy aren’t a threat and that they should be here.”
“I can’t do that,” he said again.
“Then take me back to the castle.”
He sighed. “I can’t do that either.”
“You’re the king,” I said, getting heated. “You can do whatever you want. Remember?”
“Not exactly.”
“Then what good are you?”
“Sometimes I wonder that myself,” he said, his face cold and firm.
I hated the twist this conversation had taken, but I needed to stand up for this. I couldn’t let Trip just do whatever he wanted to whoever he wanted like everyone else did. I knew my father and Lucy should be at the country estate, not still in Stehen with the assassins. They needed to be safe and protected.
Trip stood up. “I’ll come back later,” he said.
“Don’t bother,” I answered, looking back out the window, “unless you change your mind.”