Chapter Twenty-Four #3
The prince scrubbed his hair aggressively. “Longer than I’m comfortable thinking about.” He glanced down at me, moved a step closer. “I need more than a kiss in darkness.” He brushed a finger across my cheek, and my body shuddered at the contact.
Just the rain, I told myself. And I knew that was a lie.
Footsteps sounded down the hallway. “Talia,” I murmured. He turned in that direction, and she appeared around the corner a moment later.
She was nearly out of breath. “Your Highness. She’s come. Her Ladyship. The baron’s daughter.”
There was a moment of perfect stillness and wide-eyed surprise on his face. “Catalaya? Why?” He sounded completely baffled.
“I’m not certain, Your Highness. Only that we just received a messenger from the palace gate. Two carriages, soldiers, and gifts from the Northern Prince.”
He frowned, his brow furrowed as if he were trying to unravel a stubborn knot. “I suppose we’ll find out when we find out. Ensure they have everything they need while they’re here.”
Talia nodded. “Of course, Your Highness. Would you like to receive her here?”
“I’m…” He looked down at his sodden clothes. “Damn it,” he murmured, then ran a hand through his hair again. “Probably best not to put it off. I’ll meet her under the dome.”
“Very well.”
She turned and ran off again. The prince kept frowning down the hallway.
“You don’t like the baron’s daughter?” If he was worried about another royal with potentially murderous intent, I wanted to know.
He seemed to remember I was standing there, blinked, and looked at me. “We knew each other as children; her parents are aristocrats in the Edgelands. But I didn’t know she was coming. Don’t mention that I pretended to be a guard.”
“She doesn’t know?”
He shook his head. “And wouldn’t understand it if she did. She wears her nobility more easily than I do. I’ll have to be…different.”
Wear a different kind of disguise, he meant. Because as the only royal in the stronghold, he could be himself, at least within the walls of his palace. He wouldn’t have that freedom while she was here.
“You can pretend you don’t know me. Or I can just go back to my room.” I probably looked like a wet cat.
His eyes flashed. “That’s insulting to both of us.”
“I meant it more as an insult to her. I’m not ashamed of who I am. But I might be hard to explain.” We might be hard to explain. Which was exactly why I shouldn’t have kissed him. But gods, I’d wanted to kiss him. And try as I might, I couldn’t bring myself to regret it.
“Do you play chess, Fox?”
I blinked. “Chess? The game with the emperor and empress and little soldiers? A time or two at the inn. Why?”
He leaned in. “Because being royal is a lot like chess. Strategy. Decisions. Long-term thinking. And I made a rule a long time ago—I don’t sacrifice my soldiers.”
Then he leaned forward and kissed me hard, one hand at my neck, tipping up my chin, the pad of his thumb over the pounding pulse in my throat, as if he needed—in that moment—to feel my heartbeat. To know whether it raced.
He must have liked what he’d found there, because his smile was wide and satisfied. “Let’s go say hello.”
We made our way to the dome, which was now lit by hundreds of candles on golden candelabras. Talia worked fast.
His hair might have been damp, but he still looked like a prince—shoulders straight, hands clasped behind his back. The space was empty but for guards, until the sound of footsteps moved down the corridor and began echoing across the walls.
“Did she bring a damned army?” he murmured.
Talia appeared first. She stopped and waited for the rest of the entourage to catch up. Then she smoothed her skirt, cleared her throat. “Her Ladyship Serafin Catalaya Lys’Delash,” she said, her voice ringing clearly through the silence.
Catalaya. Just like the blossoming tree the prince and I had lain beneath.
Talia gave a bow and moved aside, Orda in her shadow.
The woman the prince had called Catalaya stepped into view, her face glowing in the candlelight.
She was beautiful, with golden hair piled atop her head, pale skin, high cheekbones, and deep-set blue eyes.
Her lips were a perfect archer’s bow, and her smile was a perfect mix of womanly confidence and uncertainty.
She was tall and slender, her hair piled into glossy and complex braids and dotted with glittering gemstones.
Her gown was pale blue and straight, embellished with silver braid at the hems.
She looked like a princess from a picture book—and she gazed at the prince with clear affection.
I didn’t need the stronghold drums to sound to understand the danger.
She was accompanied by a maidservant who stood behind and to her right—a stiff-looking woman with light brown skin and a severe dress that matched Catalaya’s in color. There were a few more servants and a dozen soldiers behind them.
This woman knew how to make an entrance.
“Caty,” the prince said, walking forward, hands extended.
“Hello, Niko,” she said, taking his hands and smiling adoringly up at him. “I’ve missed you.”
Niko? Something in my chest tightened, and the feeling had nothing to do with the Aetheric practitioner.
“It’s good to see you, but you shouldn’t have come. It’s dangerous.”
“My parents and I have been worried about you. I wanted to see you in person, reassure myself that you’re all right. You seem to be all of a piece—but perhaps caught in the rain?”
He ran a hand through his hair, nodded. “We only just made it inside.”
“We?” Catalaya’s gaze shifted to me. Her smile was bright and kind, but her gaze was considering. “We’re being rude, Niko, as you seem to have a guest?”
He glanced back at me, and seemed relieved to find me behind him. “This is Fox. She saved my life when I arrived at the stronghold, and several times since then. We have a mutual enemy, and she’s here for her protection. And to assist with mine.”
“A mutual enemy?”
“There’s a practitioner of Aetheric magic apparently intent on revolution.”
“I’d heard something about that, of course.” She smiled indulgently. “That can’t be much of a threat, can it? The Emperor Eternal, forever may he rule, has armies at his disposal.”
“It’s a threat,” the prince said.
“In that case,” she said, turning to me, “I owe you a great deal. I would be devastated if anything happened to the prince.”
I managed a polite nod.
“I’m surprised your parents allowed you to leave the Edgelands. I’m of half a mind to send you home again.”
“You know how they are—focused on their lands and tenants. And I have excellent guards, of course.”
“Still. I wish I’d known you were coming.”
“So you could tell me not to come? No, Niko. I didn’t need you demanding I stay locked up in the Edgelands. Winter was long enough. Spring has finally come. Let me live.”
“Well,” he said, releasing her hands and taking a step back from her. “I can’t really argue with that. How long do you plan to stay? Are you traveling on to the City of Flowers?”
“We’ll see.” She yawned beautifully, lifting the back of her elegant hand to cover her mouth. “I’m so sorry. It’s been a long journey and I’m exhausted.”
A servant came in and whispered to Talia. “Your Ladyship,” Talia said, “your rooms have been prepared.”
“Thank you, Talia,” the prince said.
“You’ll walk me there and give me a tour of the palace,” she told the prince, slipping her hand into the crook of his elbow.
“And then I’m going right to sleep. I haven’t slept in a good bed in days.
Oh, and let’s have dinner tomorrow when I’m rested—the three of us.
We can catch up, and I’m sure you haven’t rewarded Fox sufficiently for saving your life.
” Her tone was sly and conspiratorial, as if we girls understood how thoughtless princes could be.
That prince glanced at me, a question in his eyes.
I wanted to say no. I wasn’t any more interested in a royal dinner than I had been in a royal ball.
And while I’d only had a moment to judge, instinct told me it wasn’t wise to spend any more time near this woman than necessary.
On the other hand, someone needed to keep an eye on her. Might as well be a thief.
“As you wish,” I said as meekly as I could manage. The prince bit back a smile.
“In that case, we’ll tell you good night,” Catalaya said.
I gave them a mediocre curtsy. As they walked across the room, she dropped her head to his shoulder.
And my moment of joy melted away like so much candle wax.