“We’re? Us?” Chad looked at Willow, who suddenly became very interested in her feet. “Are you helping him with this?”
“No.” Her answer came too quickly, which meant she was lying. “Of course not.”
At the same time, Ruben shook his head. “I asked her to help me, but she’s refused.” Also lying. Hmm.
“I’ll be happy to help,” Chad offered. What a perfect solution. That way, he’d be right there on top of the investigation and would know if anything happened to point to him.
“You?” Ruben frowned. “I thought you were a visitor here, just like me.”
“Not exactly. My kingdom is about one hundred miles east of here.”
“But you’re not from SouthWard,” Willow pointed out, annoyingly.
“No, but I am a Bright,” Chad shot back. “And EastWard is an equally possible destination for this madman.”
Ruben studied him, his look assessing. “You know what? If I don’t find the killer here in SouthWard and I have to go to your kingdom, I’ll take you up on that.”
“Done,” Chad said promptly, well aware that no matter how hard Ruben searched, he’d never find the one he sought among the SouthWard men. Actually, since Chad planned to ingratiate himself into the investigation, if Ruben even so much as displayed the smallest suspicion, he’d be a dead man.
As they entered the banquet hall, Chad made certain to stick close to Willow’s side. It annoyed and amused him that Ruben did the same.
Many of the nobility had already arrived and made their way down the banquet line. Willow stood on her toes, trying to see over the crush of people.
“It looks like some sort of fish today,” she said, smiling. “Though we don’t eat meat, we make an exception for creatures of the sea.”
Preoccupied again, Ruben nodded, then raised his head to meet Chad’s intent stare.
“What?” he asked, sounding mildly curious rather than irritated.
Chad decided to test him further. “Nothing. It’s just that you look awfully familiar. I don’t know why or how that could be, since I’ve never traveled across the veil, but something about your face...”
Letting the words trail off, he waited to see how Ruben responded.
“Really?” Ruben turned away and sounded completely disinterested. “You don’t look familiar to me at all.”
Though he had no reason to doubt him, Chad suspected the other man was not telling the truth.
* * *
The truth of the matter was, Ruben didn’t like Chad. At all. Something about the other prince made his wolf’s hackles rise. He couldn’t imagine why Willow would want to marry a man like that, but then again, what did he know about what women wanted in their men?
Though if he knew his sisters, they’d agree with his assessment of the blond prince.
And when Chad had mentioned seeing him before, he’d been lying. For whatever reason. Though now that he mentioned it, Ruben wondered if the other man’s face did seem familiar. Despite the fact that he didn’t have the same aristocratic features, was it possible he actually was the man Ruben and his father had seen following Willow?
The instant he thought this, he knew it made no sense. If Chad had used magic to alter his appearance, Willow would have commented on it, wouldn’t she?
When they reached the stack of plates, Ruben grabbed one and eyed the food trays. His family rarely served meals buffet style, preferring instead a more formal service and a sit-down sort of elegance. To each his own.
As he studied each food, Willow kept up a running commentary about where it had come from and how it was prepared. From what he’d seen of her, she must have really been nervous to chatter so much. His admittedly limited experience around her had revealed her to be a quieter, introspective sort.
Nervous about what? He glanced at her, noticing the way her gaze occasionally darted to Chad. The man her parents wished her to marry?
While they were finishing up their lunch, which was eaten in blessed silence, they were summoned to the throne room. The page that had come to fetch them glanced at Willow anxiously and swallowed.
“Best hurry,” she whispered, loud enough for Ruben to hear. “Your mother is in one of those moods.”
Willow blanched. Again, Ruben found himself wanting to comfort her.
On her other side, Chad raised a brow. “What’s this about?”
Though Ruben felt a sudden urge to tell the other man to mind his own business, he answered cordially, “I’m sure they’ve reached a decision as to what they want to do with me,” he said. He couldn’t help but