The Heir's Bargain (Of Fire and Lies)

Chapter 25

”Another mile?”I asked Sylvia, bouncing on my toes, energy coursing through me.

”Are you serious?” Sylvia was bent over, hands on their knees as they tried to regain their breath. ”We just ran ten miles.”

I stretched my arms over my head, keeping the muscles loose as I continued shifting my weight from one foot to the other. I had to keep moving. If I stopped, my mind would spiral. Again.

”And? We do this all the time,” I said.

”Sure, but not at that speed,” Sylvia countered.

”That was a normal pace, Sylv.”

Sylvia shook their head. ”No, it wasn”t. That was Gabriel-level of running.” Sylvia shrugged when I quirked a brow, then added, ”All right. Maybe not Gabriel-level, but still faster than normal.”

I hummed. ”That”s a no, then?”

My gaze slid past Sylvia toward the path through the forests. The terrain was rocky, and the elevation constantly changed. As treacherous as it might have been, it would keep my mind occupied.

”Definitely a no,” Sylvia snorted, folding their hands behind their head. ”What”s gotten into you, anyway? You”re—” Their hands fell to their hips, their brows twisting. ”Honestly, I can”t tell. Are you happy or nervous?”

I laughed, trying to blow the comment off, but I didn’t even believe the sound coming from my mouth.

Sylvia gasped. Grabbing my arm, they tugged, pulling me further away from the rest of the soldiers who had run with us. ”You and Fynn had sex, didn”t you?”

”What?” The blood rushed from my face, and I looked over my shoulder, checking to see if anyone had overheard. ”Why would you?—”

Sylvia clapped, bouncing up and down. Apparently, Sylvia still had some energy left despite what they had said before.

”You did! You have that whole I-just-screwed-the-Crown-Prince look on your face.”

I scoffed, eyes rolling. ”How would you know what that would look like?”

Sylvia shrugged, wiggling their brows. ”Call it intuition.”

I grabbed the water canister from my belt and drank, avoiding Sylvia”s pointed gaze.

But Sylvia was having none of it. They grabbed my arm and pulled, causing water to spill onto my face and down my shirt. ”When?”

I snatched my arm back. ”I am not talking about this.”

”Ah-ha! So you admit it then!” Bright excitement lit Sylvia”s amber eyes, making me back up. Sylvia”s grip, however, tightened, pleading. ”Come on, Ferrios. My love life is practically nonexistent right now. Let me at least live vicariously through you, for once! How was it? Is he, you know, as good as they say?”

My mouth dropped, and a bud of jealousy bloomed bright green in the pit of my stomach.

I quickly squashed it.

”It was fine,” I said after a passing moment.

”You mean to tell me knocking between the sheets with the Fynneares Nadarean was fine?”

I snorted. ”You say that as if he”s some god.”

Sylvia curled a fallen red piece of hair behind their ear. ”I mean, based on how some women talk about him? He might as well be. Wait? Are you jealous?” My eyes enlarged, but before I could deny it, Sylvia continued. ”You are! By the gods! He must be some sort of god because I”ve never seen you act jealous about any man you”ve been with.”

”I”m not jealous,” I said, crossing my arms as if the very act would shield me from Sylvia”s assessing gaze.

”If you say so, Captain.” Sylvia smirked. ”So, when did it—” They gasped, slapping me on the arm. ”The summer solstice! Ever since you”ve come back, you”ve been giddy. I can”t believe I didn”t notice it until now! It”s so obvious. I would even bet that the two of you haven”t since, huh? That”s why you have so much pent-up energy. The man had the nerve to send the stars spinning, but now you”re just left hanging somewhere among them, waiting for?—”

”By the gods, Sylvia!” I hissed, looking around us to make sure no one was listening.

Everyone mainly had cleared out, though. No one was ever keen on staying around for long out of fear of having to run more.

That wasn”t the only reason I needed Sylvia to stop talking, though. They were saying everything I was refusing to even think about. But once I heard it said aloud, I no longer could deny it.

Fynn had royally screwed me—in more ways than one. And now I was left with this sickening feeling twisting inside my gut.

In the carriage, we had agreed to stop pretending, but I hadn”t seen him since then. What if the time apart had changed his mind? What if?—

”Oh, Captain. I can see your mind spinning even now. If you have that much nervous energy, go make him shake it out of you.”

”That”s not—” I groaned. ”It”s complicated, all right?”

Sylvia grabbed my shoulders and quirked a brow. ”How is it complicated? He just puts his?—”

”Not like that!” I slapped their hands off my shoulders, suddenly needing a bath. ”Fynn and I have been busy. That”s all.”

Crossing their arms over their chest, Sylvia said, ”You”re always ”busy.””

I waved a hand in the air. ”Exactly.”

”No, Dani. That”s the excuse you always give when you”re avoiding something.”

I furrowed my brows. ”I”m not avoiding anything.”

”Are you sure about that?”

I looked toward the east, where the castle’s spires pierced through the clouds.

Was I avoiding him? If I was, I wasn”t doing it intentionally.

Perhaps that only made it worse, though.

My mouth flattened. I turned around, but Sylvia had already walked away.

Sylvia was wrong.

I wasn”t avoiding him. I was busy.

Turning away from the castle, I ran another mile.

Sweat stuckto my skin beneath the layers of fabric and light armor. My muscles were aching, which meant the next two days would be excruciating once the real soreness settled in. The run had settled some of my nerves but not all of them.

It was half past noon, and all I wanted was a long nap before meeting everyone at the tavern. I tugged on the end of the ribbon and brushed my hair with my fingers, detangling the knots as I turned into my room. My hands dropped as I stared at the petite woman near my vanity.

”Mother, what are you doing in here?”

My mother clicked her tongue and continued to arrange a fresh bouquet of three dozen purple and white ranunculuses inside a crystal vase. ”And your father says you”re one of the brightest soldiers of your generation. What does it look like I”m doing, Danisinia? You”re not going to arrange these.”

I unbuckled my short sword from my waistband and sat it against the wall. ”Did you. . .did you get me flowers?”

”Me?” My mother scoffed. ”Of course not. I have much better things to do with my time.”

My hand froze on the throwing knives tucked into my corset. ”Then who did?”

”The prince.”

”Fynn?”

My mother nodded, humming. ”Are there multiple princes that you are courting, Danisinia?”

With a roll of my eyes, I started removing the knives that covered my torso.

”Give me one of those,” my mother said, snapping her fingers.

”What for?” I asked as I held the last knife to my chest, twisting it between my fingers.

She had barely looked up from the flowers since I had walked into my room, and a small vein protruded from her forehead. The one that only ever appeared when she was stewing.

She snapped her fingers again.

With a sigh, I joined her at the vanity, preparing for whatever storm was about to come.

When I handed her the knife with the handle out, she scoffed as she snatched it from my fingers. She began snipping the ends of the stems with the blade held at a diagonal angle.

”Some things need extra attention if you want them to last as long as possible.”

Snip. Snip.

The vein in the middle of her forehead throbbed, and I narrowed my eyes at her. I had a strange inclination that she wasn”t talking about the flowers, but I wasn”t foolish enough to ask her to confirm.

I removed the pieces of light armor strap-by-strap. The metal clanged as it hit the hardwood floors.

”Is that where that goes, Danisinia?”

Snip.

I looked down at the pauldron I had tossed and shrugged. ”That”s where it is.”

Snip. Snip.

My mother quirked a brow. ”What would the prince say about how you keep your room?”

I cocked my head at her. ”I don”t think the prince will care how I keep my room, Mother. If he is in here, I”m sure his primary concern will not be where I throw my armor.”

She slammed the knife against the table. ”Danisinia!”

I rolled my eyes as I unbuttoned the left vambrace. ”I am only joking, Mother.” I dropped the piece of armor, letting it crash onto the floor. ”He would, of course, be the one who was throwing my armor onto the floor.”

The blood drained from my mother”s face, horror brandishing her eyes. She pursed her lips and quickly returned to the flowers. ”Danisinia, I know times have changed since your father and I were young, but are you truly joking about your nighttime activities? No respectable woman would do such a thing.”

I leaned against the vanity, my back to the mirror. ”Mother, will you please tell me what is wrong?”

She plucked a wilted petal from one of the ranunculuses. ”Prince Fynneares is heir to the throne, Danisinia.”

”And you are upset because of this?”

She scoffed as she plucked another petal, dropping it beside the cutoff stems now littering the vanity”s surface. ”Of course not.”

”Then what is it?”

Pressing her palms against the top of the desk, my mother dropped her head, her brows quivering. ”I know you were upset with me when I brought the suitors here, but—” my mother sniffled.

I straightened. ”Are you—are you crying, Mother?”

”No,” she said with another sniffle. ”Ferrios women do not cry.”

It was a lie, but I did not say that. Instead, I grabbed a handkerchief from my desk and held it out for her. ”Please tell me what”s wrong.”

Taking the napkin, she delicately patted her cheeks. ”You and Fynneares make a beautiful couple, dear. You truly do, but I worry about you.”

”Mother, there is no need?—”

She turned toward me, her eyes streaked red. ”I am your mother. Do not think that I have not noticed you fawning after Fynneares ever since he was a young boy.”

I blinked. ”I have never fawned after any man, let alone Fynn.”

”Rubbish! Whatever you wish to call it, you have liked him for a long time. For the past few years, I had thought you put that childhood crush behind you. I had found the most suitable men I could find. All in the hopes that one of those men would be a good match, but none were good enough for you. Even when you started courting the prince a few months ago, I did not think anything of it. Fynneares is a nice boy, but I saw how he looked at you at the solstice ball.”

”And?” I prompted, swallowing the vitriol threatening to come out as my mother teetered on the edge of insulting me.

”I do not want you to be another one of the women he leaves behind in his wake.”

A sharp pain soared through my teeth and into my gums as I bit down. The piercing pain, however, did little to distract from the stab of my mother”s words. My mother may not have needed to wield a weapon in her daily life, but she knew how to strike someone with her words, twisting them and driving them further into her victim”s heart.

”What is that supposed to mean?”

”Come now, dear. The prince is not known for his serious relationships. You are supposed to be finding a husband. I mean no offense to the prince, but is he truly husband material?”

”He is my best friend. Isn”t that what matters? You and Father?—”

”Your father and I are soul bonds, Danisinia,” my mother interrupted. ”Is there a reason for me to believe that you and the prince are?”

My lips parted, but no words came out. I had no answer to give her.

My mother shook her head. ”That is precisely why I am telling you this. I know how much he means to you, but Queen Esmeray has also told me how much the Crown Prince wishes to find his other half.” Pain coated her eyes as she squeezed my hand. ”Not everyone meets their soul bond, but what will happen if he does?”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. ”If that happens, then so be it.”

My mother sighed. ”I do not wish for your heart to be broken, Danisinia. When you love, you love fiercely. But the prince. . .he only loves himself.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, shaking my head and giving her my back.

My mother may have thought she had good intentions, but her words were only knives to my heart.

One after another.

My mother exhaled, and footsteps snapped against the hardwood floors. The door creaked open. Nails tapped along the wooden frame. ”I”m only trying to look out for you,” she said to my back.

I didn”t move until I heard the door click and her footsteps fade down the hallway.

Even then, I stared at the heap of metal strewn across my floor. In the far corner of my room, swords and throwing knives hung on the wall, and a bare mannequin sat in the corner.

My gaze fell to the purple ranunculuses. I lifted a flower from the bouquet and twisted it between two fingers as I sniffed it.

My mother thought I didn”t know who Fynn was. That I didn”t know he liked to lead on the women he courted. That he never took his relationships seriously. But Fynn was my best friend. I knew who he was. I knew how his relationships had worked out in the past. I had heard all about his escapades since he started courting women years ago. I had witnessed the failed dates and the slaps he received after he had ended the courtships with various women.

Looking down at the flowers, I plucked the card from the bouquet and scanned the message written across it.

”Roses would have been predictable, and you are anything but predictable, Danisinia Ferrios.”

Fynn might not have been King of Pontia yet, but he was the king of breaking hearts. And I couldn”t help but wonder if he would break mine, too.

Music and chatterfilled The Splintered-Oar as my knee shook beneath the worn table sticky with spilled ale.

Despite the run earlier, my body still buzzed with energy. Sylvia had thought it was from excitement, and I supposed some of it was. But most of it resulted from the man sitting next to me.

Fynn had arrived nearly an hour ago with a wide grin and hair wind-blown after riding on horseback from the castle. He was devastatingly handsome.

Yet when he tried to kiss me upon arriving, I moved, giving him a hug instead. The whole exchange was. . .awkward.

It was just so different, even compared to how we were when we were pretending to court one another.

So, I tried to focus on the things that were normal: Moris being the first to get sloshed, Sylvia”s playful jabs, Moris losing against Fynn at cards. Still, everything that was different stuck out like a deer wandering a village.

How Fynn no longer squirmed when he drank ale.

How a part of him was always touching me.

How the bench simultaneously felt too small and too big.

How I still felt like I should have been sitting closer to the wall, hiding my feelings, rather than nestled in the crook of Fynn”s side.

How my palms were sweaty beneath the table.

But despite my sweat-slicked palms, I wanted to scoot closer to Fynn and let his calmness envelop me like a sweet caress.

At least when we were pretending, my heart was still protected, hidden beneath a shield of armor. Fynn, however, had stripped me of that armor with graceful fingers, and now, his fingers were wrapped around my heart.

While I trusted Fynn, I didn”t trust anyone with something so fragile.

I feared what he would do—what he could do with my heart in his palms. One squeeze too hard and it would burst.

”Fynn, are you attending the commander”s dinner next week?” Sylvia asked.

The mug almost slipped from my hands.

Shit.

”The commander”s dinner?” Fynn asked, his gaze flicking to me.

”It must have slipped my mind,” I said. ”It”s only a casual dinner.”

In these moments, I wished I was the one who could read minds. While Fynn didn”t appear mad that I hadn”t told him, something twisted his features.

”Don”t let her fool you, Fynn,” Moris said through a mouthful of peanuts. ”It”s only a gathering of the most important leaders in the military and their partners. Every month, they invite a few select soldiers. So, like Ferrios said, casual.”

”For Fynn, that is casual,” Sylvia said, rolling their eyes.

”Ah, right.” Moris shoved more peanuts into his mouth. He wiped the salt from his lips with the back of his hand. ”You know, sometimes I forget that you”re a prince.”

Fynn stiffened.

Beneath the table, I squeezed his knee (sweaty palms or not), and he relaxed.

To Moris, I said, ”It”s not that exciting, Moris. The leaders mainly discuss new strategies they wish to implement or some other boring topic.”

”And how many have you been to, Ferrios?” Moris quipped.

”That”s not a fair question. I”m the commander”s daughter. Any time it”s at our house, I don”t have a choice but to attend.”

”Well, at least you get to go,” Moris mumbled, his elbow sliding on the table as he propped his head on his fist. Not a moment later, he perked up. ”Anyway, this time I will be going.”

”Have you received an invitation yet, Moris?” Sylvia asked, quirking a brow.

”No, but I can feel it.”

”Oh, so you”re a seer now.”

”No, but?—”

”A seer told you then?”

”No, but I know it!” Moris slammed his mug down, sloshing ale onto the table. ”And with Fynn and I there, I”m sure it”ll be less boring.”

”If Fynn wants to go.” I looked at Fynn. ”You don”t have to.”

”Do you want me to come?” Fynn asked, his hand falling atop mine. He drew light circles on the back of my hand.

I bit my tongue. While the dinner would be a good opportunity for the leaders to see us together, it now felt somehow wrong to use our relationship to acquire the promotion.

I made to remove my hand from beneath his, but Fynn squeezed it, stilling it.

I peered down at our joined hands. While I may not have wanted Fynn there for my own career advancement, I couldn”t deny that I wanted him there.

”If you don”t want me to?—”

I flipped my hand over, weaving my fingers in between his. ”I do.”

Fynn smiled softly before leaning back against the worn bench and pulling me closer. For once, I didn”t find myself fighting him about it either.

The three of them fell into conversation again, but my mind was somewhere else, caught between the worlds of pretend and truth.

I didn”t know how much time had passed or how many drinks Moris had finished when Fynn nudged me in my side. ”Dani?”

My gaze snapped up to meet his. ”Hmm?”

”Do you want to get some air?”

I blinked and wiped my palms on my trousers. ”Sure.”

Fynn scooted out of the bench, and I followed. He guided me through the budding crowd, his hand wrapped tightly around mine. Music was playing, but I couldn”t identify the song. The noise was no more than an echo in my ears.

Fynn opened the door, the bell above the threshold faintly ringing as he ushered me forward. Outside, he led me around the corner of the tavern, down one of the small alleys.

He spun and grabbed both of my hands. ”All right, talk to me.”

I scanned the area, and my countenance twisted.

Dusk had long since settled, leaving behind heavy shadows to dance across the alley in the faint glow of the waning moon. On the main street, the occasional groups walked by, but we were too far away to make out what they were saying.

I quirked a brow at Fynn. ”Why are we in an alley?”

”For some resemblance of privacy. There”s something wrong, and I wish to know what it is.”

I took a small step backward, freeing a hand. ”I”m fine, Fynn.”

Fynn cocked his head. ”Do you make it a habit of lying to those around you?”

”I”m not lying,” I said, rubbing my arm.

Fynn pushed his fingers into his hair. He looked up at the stars, the moon illuminating his features. ”You”ve barely said a word to me.”

”That”s not true. I?—”

He shook his head and interrupted, ”Saying hello does not count.”

His hands fell from his hair, the ends standing in different directions. I had the insane urge to run my fingers through his hair and fix the disarray.

Unaware of my thoughts, Fynn continued, ”And hello? Dani, how is it possible that we appear to be in a fake relationship more now than when we were actually in one?”

I jerked back ”What? That”s not true.”

Fynn sighed and took a step forward.

He shook his head, huffing an exasperated laugh filled with exhaustion. He pointed at my feet. ”That”s precisely what I”m talking about.”

I looked down at the ground.

Fynn might have taken a step closer, but I had taken a step back, the gravel on the ground disturbed, showing my retreat. I didn”t need my tracking skills to notice that.

”You”re avoiding me, Dani.”

”That proves nothing.”

Fynn took another step forward, and my back hit the brick wall.

”Are you sure?” he asked, quirking a brow.

”Yes.” I tipped my chin up, arms crossing over my chest.

Even in the shadows blanketing his face, the faint trace of sadness in his brown eyes was evident. The bump on this throat dipped. ”Is it me? If I did something, tell me, and I”ll fix it.”

”It”s not you. It”s—it”s—” I groaned, pressing my palms against the sides of my temples. I leaned my head against the brick, my loose curls snagging on the rough grooves. ”Everything is different now. We promised nothing would change.”

Fynn peeled my hands from my face, weaving his fingers between mine and tugging them down. ”Nothing has changed, Dani.”

”You like the taste of ale!” I exclaimed.

”I what?” Fynn”s confounded face was enough to make me realize how utterly ridiculous I sounded, yet I continued.

”You hated ale before, but now you drink it as if you don”t mind it.”

He shook the confusion away and shrugged. ”When you have something for a while, you grow to tolerate it.”

”Is that what this is then, too? We”ve been fake courting for so long that now you tolerate it enough to make it real?”

Fynn flinched. ”Is that what you think?”

”I—” I swallowed.

In truth, I didn”t know what I thought. While I knew I was overreacting, part of me feared what would happen if this didn”t work out. Part of me was still in disbelief that we were together because, in the past week, nothing had changed—at least not around me, not on the outside.

On the inside, I was eager. Eager to see Fynn again, yearning to be only inches from the scent of the sea.

Eager to kiss him again.

Fynn smirked. ”Eager to kiss me, huh?”

Snatching my hand back, I shoved him in the chest. ”Get out of my mind, Fynn!”

”But it”s much more fun when you let me in, Ferrios. I mean. . .” His gaze flicked down before crawling up the curves of my body. When our eyes met, a hunger swirled within the flames of his irises. ”You have to admit, a part of you likes me being inside you. I know I do.”

I gasped.

”Inside your mind,” he said with a wink, his hand gripping my waist as he pressed his body against mine. ”But I also enjoy being inside you.”

I opened my mouth to respond—once, twice. I failed to speak each time, though. The heat pooling beneath my thighs was not helping me either.

This was not the time to be thinking those thoughts. Yet, how could I not when the truth was that those thoughts had been consuming me for days?

Fynn pressed his hand flat against the brick wall above my head. ”Did I not say it loud enough, Ferrios?” He leaned in closer, the tips of his hair tickling my cheek. His hand on my waist ventured lower, down my side, then high on my thigh.

My heart was in my lungs. ”I heard you,” I whispered, the words barely audible. Everywhere he touched, an inextinguishable heat bloomed, and an insatiable hunger stirred at my core.

He leaned down, the tips of his hair brushing my forehead, sending a shiver down my back. ”No, I don’t think you did. Because I’ve been thinking a lot about that night and how hasty it was, how I didn”t get to take my time with you.”

His fingers splayed across my thigh. His thumb moved in small circles along my inner thigh. He was barely even touching me, yet heat filled the pit of my stomach, and my body arched toward him.

A crash sounded. I jumped.

My gaze flicked to the streets, but it was only a storekeeper throwing their trash into a bin.

Fynn grabbed my chin and forced my attention back to him. ”I told you I was done pretending, so why do you keep fighting this?”

My chest rose, my breaths coming faster. ”We”re in public,” I mumbled.

”It”s pitch dark outside.”

”But—”

”But no excuses. Tell me right now, what do you want, Ferrios?”

I chewed on my bottom lip, and Fynn”s attention dropped to the movement.

”Truth only,” he said, his voice low and heavy and sinking straight to my core. ”Do not make me beg to be inside your mind, Ferrios.”

A hunger I hadn”t anticipated darkened his eyes, but he wasn”t the only one starving.

”You, Fynn. I want you.”

”That”s all you had to say,” he said before grabbing my hand and guiding me down the path lit only by the partial moon.