I’m staring at some clothes Griffin left over the back of a chair when there’s a knock on the door. I get out of bed, pull on a lightweight wrap because the former princesses’ nightgowns are so sheer they’re practically see-through—scratch that, they are see-through—and answer the door with a knife in my hand.
Jocasta doesn’t even blink. She’s getting used to me. I set down the knife and motion her inside.
“Am I bothering you?” she asks.
“Not at all.” In fact, she just saved me. I was about to wrap myself in Griffin’s tunic. It still smells like him, like salt, citrus, and sunshine. I know because I stuck my nose in it once already.
“I wanted to ask you something.” She shifts, hesitant, her bare feet sinking into the flokati rug, and then shivers.
I climb back onto the bed. Jocasta follows, and we curl our legs up under us. I drag the blanket over our laps for her sake, because I can tell she’s cold.
“Is it about Flynn?” I ask.
Her head jerks up, and she blushes uncontrollably.
I knew it! A girl doesn’t know her bed is big enough for four Flynns without having thought about him in it.
She worries her bottom lip, her cheeks an alarming shade of pink. “Do you think he’s noticed me? I mean, I know he knows me. But has he noticed me?”
I don’t really know. I’ve only seen them in the same place twice. They probably had a lot more interaction before, when they were both just part of a tribe.
“I think for the moment, he notices weapons, and war, and women he doesn’t intend to marry,” I answer honestly.
Jocasta sighs, and her eyes drop.
“He’ll help me with the north wall when he gets back. Keep coming for picnics. He can’t miss you then.”
She looks back up. “All right. But do you think it’s even possible? Before, I was just a warlord’s daughter. Or a warlord’s sister. Now I’m Epsilon Sinta, and he’s a soldier.”
“He’s not just any soldier. He’s Beta Team.”
“Like you.” She looks hopeful, and I understand why. Griffin’s made no secret of his interest in me.
“If I were really Beta Team, I’d be in Ios.”
“It’s not like that,” Jocasta says. “Griffin just wants you to be safe.”
“I’m either part of the team, or I’m not.”
Her eyes widen. I sound like a wasp, only I’m the one who’s stung.
“Maybe he thinks you’re more useful here. It’s not just about what you want. It’s about what’s good for the realm.”
I snort. “You’re all so idealistic. It’s nauseating.”
She frowns. “Do you really think that?”
“No,” I reluctantly admit. “It’s actually kind of nice, as long as there’s strength behind it. If there isn’t a driving force, there’s chaos. The realm dinner will be the test of that. Everything could go to the Underworld in one night.”
“Griffin is strong enough to keep Sinta together.”
Jocasta’s confidence doesn’t bother me. Maybe because I agree. “Does he always get what he wants?”
If she’s surprised by my question, it doesn’t show. “Griffin is very persistent. Relentless, even.”
Since there’s no point in beating around the Harpy’s nest, I ask, “Why does he want me?”
She looks genuinely puzzled. “Why wouldn’t he?”
Something tightens in my chest. Such blind loyalty, and she doesn’t even know me.
“Why don’t you want him?” She looks genuinely puzzled about that, too.
I press my lips together, not answering. “Has he been serious about anyone before?” I try to sound casual and fail miserably.
She shrugs. “Women have come and gone. I’ve never seen him fixated before, or really even care one way or the other. You’re different.”
I flush as hot as Jocasta did before, a mix of jealousy and triumph. I want to kick myself because I have no right to either emotion. “It’s probably just because I said no.”
A delicate crease forms between her eyebrows. “Why did you say no?”
I pluck at the blanket, accidentally pulling a thread loose. I try to stuff it back down before a whole section of embroidery unravels, but it doesn’t work. That’s me—destruction. “I have a complicated past.”
“Past lover?”
I snort. “Past mother.”
She looks confused. “Why does that matter if she’s dead?”