Chapter 6 #2
“It was certainly extreme,” Alina agreed. “Whatever the disaster, it was something big. But they wouldn’t tell me the full story. I’ve tried asking my aunt, but she’s never willing to talk about it.”
“And that satisfies you?” Xavier asked disbelievingly.
“Of course it doesn’t.” For the first time, there was a snap in Alina’s voice. “But regular people can’t force others to do what we want them to. Sometimes we have to accept that we won’t get what we want and let something go.”
“I think you know very well that I can’t force everyone to do what I want,” Xavier said coolly.
She looked like she wanted to retort further, but she held it in.
“I don’t know why we’re speaking of my parents,” she said instead. “You said you had questions about the investigation, so let’s talk about that instead of my prospects.”
Her choice of words sent Xavier’s thoughts flying to Mrs. Pincer’s comment about Alina’s suitors. Maybe it was his own ill-advised reference to what had happened between them that threw him off balance, but Xavier’s next words slipped out without their usual polish.
“Who’s your young man?”
“What?” Alina’s brow furrowed in confusion at the abruptness of the question.
“Yesterday the dressmaker said she worries about you two girls, and about your young man. Who did she mean?”
“Oh, you mean Benji. He’s Lilah’s brother.” Alina bit her lip. “And I worry about him, too. He’s very good with magic.”
Xavier had never been allowed to study magic craft beyond the bare basics.
It was beneath a prince to learn a trade.
But Alina’s ‘young man’ was apparently an expert.
Something ridiculous stirred inside Xavier.
Something that felt embarrassingly like jealousy.
It wasn’t an emotion he was familiar with, and he had a feeling he wouldn’t like its effect on him if he let it take root.
He was letting Alina’s presence pull him back into the tumult of his teenage years, and it was time to put a stop to that. Time to take back control.
“I’m relieved to hear that you have such a powerful protector,” he said with a falsely chivalrous air. “Will the betrothal be announced soon?”
“What?” Alina seemed to have barely followed his words, distracted by her own thoughts. As she grasped the basic idea, impatience flickered over her face in place of the self-consciousness Xavier had been trying to evoke.
“He’s not powerful, he’s young and vulnerable, and his skill with magic makes him a prime target if these disappearances continue. Are you taking this seriously, Your Highness, or is the investigation merely a chance to expand your reach? To encompass more targets of your own?”
“There’s nothing wrong with my reach,” Xavier said, leaning casually against the fence and digging a thumb into the passion fruit at last. “All Siqual is within it.”
“Bold words,” Alina said. “Does that mean whoever’s behind these disappearances is within your reach?”
“You’re very fixated on the investigation,” Xavier complained.
“As you’re supposed to be, Your Highness,” Alina protested. “Don’t you want to give it any attention at all?”
“Like I said, we’ll get to it,” Xavier said, scooping out some passion fruit seeds and offering them to an unimpressed Zuzu before eating them himself. “I have other questions first.”
“You’ll get to it? Will that be before or after someone else is snatched off the street, never to be seen again?
” Alina was definitely exasperated now. “I can readily believe it doesn’t feel urgent to the crown, but it does to us.
You have no idea how it is to live out here on the edge of the desert, far from any large city.
We’re vulnerable and basically undefended. ”
“In short, a miserable life,” Xavier said.
It was clear that, like so many others, Alina thought him oblivious and useless. For some reason, he was even less able to laugh off her criticism than Mitchell’s doubt. In fact, to his own uneasy surprise, his main reaction to it was anger. Anger which he wasn’t checking very effectively.
“It seems things are pretty bad for you,” he said crisply. “Almost makes you regret certain decisions, doesn’t it?”
Her dark blue eyes flashed with familiar fire, and something in his soul lit in exhilaration along with them, even as her words sparked different feelings entirely.
“No, it doesn’t,” she said, her voice clipped and angry. “In fact, I’ve had ample reason in the years since to be convinced that my decisions were very wise.”
“Is that right?” Xavier’s lip curled, letting the new anger ride him so as to push down what was lurking underneath.
How did memory of her rejection still feel like heartbreak, after so long had passed?
“Naturally you prefer to be preyed on by strangers in the tavern rather than spend another moment in my company.”
Alina didn’t deem the words worthy of reply—not unreasonably, Xavier was honest enough to acknowledge. She bobbed the least respectful curtsy he’d ever seen before turning on her heel.
Xavier’s hand shot out, closing around her wrist with an irresistible grip.
“No, I didn’t mean that,” he said. “Don’t flounce off.
” He summoned a smile, although the expression felt pained.
“We’ve already achieved perfection in the art of leaving things unfinished and parting horribly. Why don’t we try something new?”
For a long moment, there was silence, Alina’s eyes still angry as she wrestled with whatever response she wanted to make. Then, to Xavier’s surprise, the tension drained out of her and she let out a laugh.
“Thank goodness,” she said. “I didn’t care for a taste of angry, sullen you. I’d much prefer to see your famed charm.”
“Is that so?” Relief at the abrupt turn buoyed Xavier up, and with it came the stirring of a familiar thrill. It was the brief flash of excitement that always cut through the tedium of his life when he was presented with a challenge.
And yet, it wasn’t familiar at all. This was different, in every way different.
Because Alina wasn’t being coy—she wasn’t inviting pursuit.
She was just authentically fascinating. And for once, Xavier actually cared about the outcome, not just the sport.
It made it terrifying in a way no other flirtation ever had been.
But also a thousand times more exhilarating.
He only cared about the outcome because he had something to prove when it came to this particular girl, he assured himself. After all these years, of course he wasn’t still in danger from her.
“If charm is what you want,” he informed her, “I’m sure I can rise to the occasion.”
“No doubt,” Alina said humorously. She tilted her head meaningfully toward where he still gripped her wrist. “Are you going to let go of me now?”
“Not at present,” Xavier told her pleasantly. “I’m the crown prince, you realize. I have authority over everything in the kingdom, including this wrist of yours. I don’t feel like relinquishing it just yet.”
“Is that your idea of charm?” Alina asked, eyebrows raised. “Throwing around your rank to get your way, and blatantly commanding people to recognize your authority?”
“It’s one of many examples,” he told her, a lazy smile growing on his lips. It was an expression that often drew attention to that feature, but Alina wasn’t so easy to crack. His smile grew. “Most girls don’t seem to mind.”
“Clearly I’m not most girls,” Alina said, put out.
“Don’t I know it?”
Xavier tossed the empty passion fruit shell into the garden.
Maintaining his grip on Alina’s wrist, he stepped forward, bringing his body closer to hers than etiquette dictated.
His free hand rose in a practiced movement, one finger brushing against her chin.
The touch was casual, but its force was nevertheless insistent as it tilted her face up to his.
“What are you doing?” Alina demanded, her voice a little less steady this time.
“Showcasing another example of my famed charm, which I believe you requested.”
“I see.” Alina paused. “Well, this one is also falling flat.”
“Is it?”
Xavier smiled down into the eyes that were holding his steadily and boldly. His experienced gaze took in the slightly too rapid rise and fall of her chest, and the way her hands shifted against her skirts as if she wasn’t sure what to do with them.
“Such a shame,” Xavier said, stepping back and releasing her. “My skills have been exaggerated, it seems.”
“Evidently,” Alina agreed, sweeping her braid behind her ear with a gesture that was too casual.
Xavier turned away to hide his smirk, knowing it would do his cause no favors for her to see it. Internally, however, he was well satisfied with his efforts. Say what she would, Alina was not immune to him.
“Now will you tell me what the investigation needs from me?” Alina asked firmly.
“Yes.” Xavier’s tone turned brisk. “We want you to be our guide and assistant for the duration of the investigation.”