Tiefling Boyfriend: Mercutio 7 (special preview)

“It’s so boring here.” I’m half asleep from the boredom of it. Having been here three days already, I am uncertain I can survive until Lynk’s banquet.

Lynk opens a window, letting in sunlight I would not normally approve of. “Can you stop complaining? It’s a vineyard. What did you think would happen?”

I shield my eyes from the uncomfortable heat rays. “Not this!”

“Oh stop it you big baby.” Lynk refills my glass. “You’ve had more wine since you got here than most people ever will. So calm down. You’re also pouting since your lover boy has gone off to be galant or whatever it is.”

It’s been well over a month since August left. I’ve actually lost track of time since then. Lena has been getting on to me for dating my letters wrong. Still, it seems like there is no time at all, or never enough of it. I was even side swiped when Lynk told me it was time for the banquet he planned so I could meet my half sister, Valentine.

“He’s off trying to reach your level,” I scoff.

Lynk throws his head back and laughs. “That’s not very far to go, all he has to do is sit up really.” 

I scowl at him, watching him move around, half naked, as he sets up our lunch. It amazes me what he can do when only a few people are around. “So tell me about my supposed sister.” I sit alert in my seat. “Do you think she will like me?”

“Oh goodness no.” Lynk turns from cutting cheese. “You two are far too much alike to really like one another.”

I look down at my hands. “She’s that much like me?”

“You’re both hiding a lot of yourselves to make your way through life. Her father thinks of her as nothing more than a bargaining chip, and your mother uses you as a mere pawn.” Lynk offers me a plate of sliced cheeses, meats, and fruits. 

I grasp the plate, taking from it a crisp chunk of fruit. “We’re both treated as objects.”

“Except you probably both look at one another and see what you don’t have. She has the power and the legitimacy that you crave. And to her, well, there’s a lot.” Lynk sits down across from me with his piled plate.

“Well, tell her I have nothing worth wanting.” 

Lynk gives me a grin and an arched brow. “That’s not true, and you know it.”

I slam down my wine goblet and glare at him. “She was raised spoiled and pampered! She probably had a circus of maids looking after her. I bet you she’s a condescending little brat. Meanwhile I grew up with literal nothing. Thankfully I had my mother, but I was beaten, taunted, and judged all my life by everyone else. My mother died because of it. My mother deserved to be a queen, not here.”

Lynk returns the angry stare in full, if not worse. He looks angry, genuinely so, righteously indigent. “You don’t know her at all. I thought you were better than to judge someone like that without even meeting them.”

I sniff and avoid his stare by focusing on my plate. “I have my reasons to be angry with her.”

Lynk scoffs. “And that is why you two are so alike.”

There’s something in his tone that gives me pause and I raise my eyes again. “How close would you say you are to the princess them.”

Lynk reaches for his cup and drinks, almost as if avoiding to think. He hums as he sets his glass down. “This was not a good bottle.” He dabs his mouth with a napkin. “Sorry about that, I must have grabbed from the wrong shelf.” He looks back at me. “What did you ask again?”

I roll my eyes. “Princess Valentine, how close are the two of you. Obviously close enough she’d take your word on meeting with me.”

“Oh, that!” Lynk laughs. “We’re close enough I’ve made her come once or twice.”

I sigh heavily. “That’s ‘hello’ for you.”