Red Heir - Lisa Henry Page 0,62
door with a blanket.
Loth made to stand, but Mum put a hand on his leg.
“Not you, Your Grace.” Her tone was polite, but her gaze was steely. “We need to talk. Wait here.”
Loth pulled his chair closer to the fire, knowing his parents would be back soon enough, and for a moment he closed his eyes and allowed himself to soak up the smells and comfort of home. It was nice, being here. Loth supposed that if they were all going to die in a failed rebellion tomorrow, at least he’d have this.
His dad joined him minutes later, sliding into the chair next to him. “Mum’ll be a minute. She’s still tucking them all in,” he said. He turned his gaze on Loth, and the corners of his mouth twitched up in a smile. “I have to say, impersonating a crown prince? You’ve pulled some spectacular nonsense over the years, son, but I’m fairly sure this tops them all.” He shook his head.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Mum said quietly, coming in to join them. “I’d say that where he’s really outdone himself is actually falling for the prince.”
Loth opened his mouth to deny it but, for just about the first time in his life, he was unable to push out a lie, when usually they fell from his lips unthinkingly. That errant feeling from earlier reappeared, and Loth swallowed thickly because he had, hadn’t he? He’d fallen for Quinn.
Mum stared at him for a moment, and then patted him on the cheek just a smidge too hard. “Go to bed, dear,” she said. “You look like you haven’t slept in a month.”
Loth hugged her and nodded, and then hugged Dad. Then, with both of them watching him thoughtfully, he climbed the stairs to bed.
Chapter Fifteen
Loth was unsurprised to wake and find an empty space where Quinn should have been sleeping. He rose quietly and wrapped a blanket around his shoulders before sneaking down the stairs. He avoided the squeaky ones through years of practice.
The fire in the kitchen fireplace had burned low, but the embers were glowing in the grate and the room was still filled with warmth. Quinn was sitting on the little stool, a poker in his hand. He leaned forward to stir the embers. Pie, curled up on his shoulder, purred loudly as the embers blazed brighter for a moment.
The stiffening of Quinn’s shoulders told Loth he knew he was being observed. Loth moved forward into the kitchen. He took the blanket from his shoulders and draped it around Quinn’s. Pie vanished under it.
Loth stared into the embers. “So, tomorrow we—”
“Don’t,” Quinn said. He looked up at Loth. The firelight made his skin glow. “Tomorrow I’m almost certainly going to die, I know. So for tonight, I’d just like to sit here in your parents’ kitchen and pretend that I live here, and I’ve always lived here, and I always will.”
Loth crouched down. “You don’t have to die tomorrow, Quinn. We could run. We could go back to Delacourt and get on a ship like Ser Greylord said.”
“I’m not going to spend the rest of my life being hunted like a dog.” Quinn narrowed his gaze, but then he reached out and took Loth’s hand, and his expression softened. “I don’t want you to come with me tomorrow. I don’t want any of you to, not even Scott.”
“Ada will be coming for her money,” Loth said. “And Dave is really hanging out for those dragon eggs. Scott will be there for the ballads, and Calarian wants to see this through to the end so he can brag to all his House and Human friends that he’s been on a real quest.”
“Stop.” Quinn squeezed his hand tightly. “Stop, please. Just for tonight, I live here, remember?”
“Are you sure?” Loth asked. “It gets draughty in winter, and it always smells like hops.”
Quinn’s smile was sweet and faint.
“Ugh,” Loth said. “This is really uncomfortable.”
He released Quinn’s hand and then sat his arse down on the warm stones in front of the fireplace. He stretched his legs out and then opened them and tilted his head at Quinn.
Quinn grumbled, but slid from the stool to the floor. He crawled into the space between Loth’s knees. A few jostling motions and chirrups of a disgruntled fingerdragon later, he was leaning back against Loth’s chest, and Loth’s arms were around his waist. Loth put his chin on Quinn’s shoulder and they watched the embers together.
“Tell me more about living in this house,” Quinn