Chapter 6
My arm smackedagainst the table as gravity was ripped from me, stirring me awake.
The silence was deafening as each advisor around the table turned to face me.
Biting my tongue, I glared at Terin sitting across from me.
It was the only way to wake you up without drawing attention,my twin said through the connection he left open. His mouth was bunched up, twisting together in an apology.
My jaw ticked.
There had to have been a better way for my brother to wake me than forcing me off a cliff in my dream.
I hadn”t realized I had fallen asleep. But after only three hours of fitful sleep last night, it was hard enough to stay awake when Rolan, the kingdom’s treasurer, was relaying Pontia’s current financial status.
”Prince Fynneares, is there something you would like to add?” my mother asked, her blonde eyebrows scaling her pale, smooth forehead.
I cleared my throat, quickly rifling through the minds of the advisors who were ignorant of the details of my ability and finding the highlights of the current conversation. Since the advisors were well-trained, most were adept at creating proper shields. However, some shields were weaker than others. I usually tried my best to drown out their thoughts. How often could one hear that widowed Lord Cunningway thought that the healer, Theenah, was attractive or that her dress accentuated her curves? As valuable as my ability was when deciding whether someone was being truthful or hiding something, it was nauseating to hear the frivolous thoughts of people.
Still, it was fruitful when my attention had wandered elsewhere.
”Yes, there is,” I said, smoothing down the front of my shirt, which had since wrinkled in my sleep.
My mother raised a brow. ”Well?”
”The Summer Solstice Ball,” I said, tapping my fingers on the table. ”It needs to be grander this year. Many are worried that the rebellions in the south will filter into our kingdom. While most of our people are happy now, the strife across Vaneria suggests that war is closer than we once thought. We need to show the people that we are strong and that we still value fostering our community. Our enemy must believe that despite the growing concern, our barriers and spirit remain steady.”
During the summer solstice, people across the island celebrated with grand festivities. While it might have been the shortest night of the year, it was the night almost everyone looked forward to all year round.
Lord Cunningway hummed. ”It”s not a bad idea, Your Highness.” To himself, I overheard him think, If I host the Summer Solstice Ball this year, I can show Theenah the latest addition to the manor. She”ll love the view from?—
I cut off the connection to Cunningway”s mind, holding back an eye roll.
Of course, the lord would try to use the event for his personal gain. He wasn”t as conniving as some of the lords and ladies I had come across over the years, but neither was he the most selfless of advisors. He would do anything to parade around his wealth and status.
My mother tapped her fingers along the table, her nails clicking on the pine. ”Very well.”
The corners of my mouth flicked up, and I sat back in my chair as the advisors debated the details of the Summer Solstice Ball. While they talked, however, I could sense the undercurrent of the uneasiness that plagued our kingdom despite the lively conversation.
Since the rest of Vaneria was in the dark about the gifts many of us bore in Pontia, our people were primarily stuck on the island. With our kingdom having been built on secrets, it was risky to let too many people leave it. There were some, like the sailors, who could travel back and forth to import goods and other resources. The rest of us were primarily stuck on the island.
There was a time when the barriers weren”t so strict. My mother once told us stories about the years she spent exploring the kingdoms of Vaneria in her early twenties. Meanwhile, Terin and I had only left Pontia once to visit Tetria, one of our long-standing allies. Even that trip, however, had been heavily guarded and restricted.
My mother”s rules regarding limited travel were well-intended. Before Graeson”s mother died, Lysanthia had informed my mother about a vision she had seen: once the sea burns, secrets will unravel, and war will break out.
According to the vision, blood would saturate the seven kingdoms, fires would destroy homes, and death would plague the streets.
At first, we thought our mother was making up the story to threaten us. But over the years, the air shifted, and the tide turned.
A war was coming.
With the rising rebellions in the south, it was only a matter of time.
I snatched the goblet sitting on the table in front of me. Some nights, Lysanthia”s prophecy still haunted my dreams as if it held some piece of vital information that I didn”t have the knowledge to comprehend.
Yet my mother”s greatest concern was my need to find a wife.
”Fine, I”ll do it.”
I coughed, my spoon clattering on the table as it fell from my grasp.
Jorian rushed forward, smacking my back, but I shrugged him off, my gaze set on the woman who had barged through the royal dining room.
”Leave us, Jorian,” I ordered, my throat raw.
”But, sir?—”
”Leave us,” I repeated, my voice clearer.
Jorian bowed. As he shuffled out of the room, he stopped twice to look over his shoulder, concern flashing across his countenance.
His concern was useless here.
When the door clicked shut, I asked, ”What happened to you?”
”That”s beside the point,” Dani said, pressing her palms flat against the table. Her brown cheeks were flushed, the green in her hazel eyes wild. A few of her braids had fallen out of the loose bun hanging at the nape of her neck. Her blouse had a tear in it, dirt and grass stains smeared across it.
I lifted a brow. ”I believe that is the whole point, actually. Have you seen your reflection lately?”
Dani made a noise that was somewhere between a groan and a screech. She untangled her hair and let the braids fall behind her shoulders. Her frustration was palpable, sour.
Brows furrowed, I reached out for the strand connecting to Dani”s mind. High walls made of stone surrounded her mind. But even the best-built castles had cracks. When Dani was emotional, I found her mind much more accessible. All I had to do was look for the way in.
There.
A fissure in her carefully crafted walls.
Get out of my head, Fynneares.
I slumped back in my chair. ”You”re no fun.”
Dani rolled hers before plopping down into one of the chairs. ”Fine. If you must know?—”
”I must.”
Dani gave me a glare that I was all too familiar with, one that said shut-up-you-cocky-prick.
I smirked.
She rubbed a hand across her face and spoke through her fingers, ”My mother set up a meeting with one of her suitors. A few meetings, in fact.”
”And this”—I waved a hand in her direction—”is the result of a simple meeting?”
Dani”s hands dropped, revealing an ice-cold gaze that was as sharp as the throwing knives she had hidden somewhere on her person—the guards knew better than to confiscate them. I also didn”t need to read her thoughts to know that if she could—and if she wouldn”t be marked a traitor for doing so—she would stab me right then and there. Still, I couldn”t prevent the smugness from twitching at the corner of my lip.
In a flat, unamused tone, she said, ”Two men have thrown up either on or near my shoes, Fynn. Two of them.”
I didn”t know if I should laugh or gag. Either way, the resulting noise from my mouth was some garbled combination of both.
I peered beneath the table. Thankfully, the black riding boots were clean. Or at least somewhat clean. I squinted.
Was that. . .?
I quickly snapped my attention up to Dani.
”It”s mud,” she clarified.
”And why, pray tell, are your boots covered in mud and your blouse torn?”
Her head slammed against the table. ”One of them tried to kiss me,” she said into the wood.
”And you what? Flipped him on his back and ran away?”
Dani lifted her head, an incredulous look twisting her features as if I was the one who had said or done something as preposterous as running away from a suitor.
”I didn”t run.”
I cocked my head, hearing the white lie on her tongue.
She pursed her lips, as if by keeping her lips closed, she could keep the truth bottled up. At last, however, she said, ”I rode my horse.”
”You”re not serious, right?” I blinked. Multiple times. Yet Dani didn”t react; she only stared at me. ”By the gods, you are serious. You attacked the poor guy and then sprinted away on horseback?”
”Yes.” Dani cocked her head. ”What was I supposed to do?”
”Not run?”
”You don”t understand, Fynn! He smelled absolutely horrid,” Dani whined.
”And you are absolutely ridiculous.” I rubbed my palms across my face.
”So, is that a no, then?” Dani asked.
I poured some cream into my tea and stirred it. ”A no to what?”
Dani waved her hand in the air. ”To the whole fake courting thing.”
I sat back in my seat and smirked, stretching an arm over the chair beside me. ”The ”whole fake courting thing”? Do explain.” I took a sip, enjoying watching Dani squirm in her seat.
”You know, the proposal you came up with the night of your crowning ceremony?”
”Doesn”t ring a bell.” When Dani gave me a questioning glance, I shrugged. ”What can I say? My memory is a little foggy. Remind me. It”s been what—a week? Two weeks? I say so many things to so many people.”
After I hadn”t heard from Dani the next day, I didn”t think she would take me up on the offer. Dani was a stubborn woman. She always had been. If it wasn”t her idea, she often didn”t want to hear about it. Even as a child, she refused to play some games simply because she hadn”t been the first to suggest them.
But now here she was, asking for my help.
And what a splendid sight it was to see her groveling before me.
”You”re abhorrent.”
I shrugged. ”I”ve been called worse by women begging me to court them.”
”I”m not—ugh!” On the table, her fist rolled into a tight ball. ”I”ve had a long week, Fynn. Please, for once, stop playing games. I know you remember the conversation. You may act like a drunken fool at parties, and more often than not, you are one, but I know when you”ve sobered up. Is the offer still on the table or not?”
”Are you sure you want it to be? From what you”ve told me so far, it sounds like you”re having so much fun with your mother”s batch of suitors.”
Dani stood. ”Forget I even said anything.”
”Oh, come on. I”m only joking.” I waved a hand at the seat Dani had just vacated. ”Sit.”
Dani sighed but sat nevertheless, crossing her arms over her chest.
Relenting at last, I sat the porcelain cup on the table, my fingers tapping along its side. ”You said that General Walen retires in five months, correct?”
”Well, now it”s more like four months and two weeks, but yes.” Dani picked up a cluster of grapes and began eating them one by one.
”So, we have five months to convince your father and the rest of the military leaders that you do, indeed, have a soul.” Unable to help myself, I lifted a shoulder before dropping it and added, ”Although we both know that”s a lie.”
”Fynn!” Dani shrieked, chucking a grape at me.
Swiftly dodging it, I said, ”What? We both know you are soulless.”
Dani shrunk back into her chair. ”Whether I have a soul or not is beside the point.”
”Ah, so you admit it then.”
Dani popped a grape into her mouth. Then, the muscles in her face twitched. She swallowed the grape. ”You do realize a fake courtship would only delay the inevitable for you, right?”
”Sure, but at least five months will give me some reprieve from my mother’s endeavors.”
Dani grew quiet, her hand falling away from the grapes and hiding beneath the table. ”You”re still set on finding your soul bond, aren”t you?”
I dropped Dani”s gaze, unwilling to see an ounce of the pity lingering there.
”Is that such a foolish thing to want?” I asked, still not meeting her gaze.
Silence sat between us as the memory of the night I had confessed this truth to her resurfaced. When we were teenagers, I drunkenly admitted wanting to find my soul bond. I thought Dani, whose parents were also soul bonds, would understand, but instead, she laughed in my face.
This time, however, Dani remained silent.
”She”s out there somewhere. I just need time to find her.”
”What if you don”t?” Dani asked quietly.
”If I don”t find her, then I will let my mother marry me off to whomever she thinks is the most suitable partner. I understand that part of my duty as Crown Prince is to have an heir. But if there”s a war coming, I do not wish to bring a child into it anytime soon. There will be time after.”
I finally met Dani’s gaze.
She offered me a small smile. ”Tell me the plan then.”
She was throwing me a bone, a way to avoid thinking about the weight of the future and the oncoming war. Although one day we would need to face our fears and talk about the future, I took the opportunity to push that discussion further away.
I waved my hand in the air as the loose plan took shape. ”We will attend a few public events. Maybe a dinner or two with our families?”
”Simple enough. Can we at least set some ground rules if we do this?”
I chuckled but nodded, not surprised in the slightest. If I was the king of breaking the rules, Dani was the queen of making them.
Dani stood and paced, one arm hugging her body as she tapped a finger against her cheek. While there might have been nothing we could do about an unpredictable future, we could at least do something about our mothers” current pursuits.
Stopping in place, Dani spun toward me and held up a finger. ”Rule number one: nothing can interfere with my training.”
”I wouldn”t dare interfere with Captain Ferrios” training—soon-to-be Major Ferrios,” I said with a wink.
Dani”s features, however, only hardened. She pointed a firm finger at me. ”Major only if we pull this off.”
Weaving my hands behind my head, I leaned back in the chair. ”All right, fine.”
”Rule number two: we tell no one.”
”No one?”
”No one,” Dani repeated, her gaze flat and unyielding.
It was the first time I questioned this plan. Not because I wasn”t good at keeping secrets—I was. With the nature of my gift and my title, I learned early on to keep my mouth shut—when I had to, anyway. Still, there was one person from whom I never kept secrets. One person whom I had always been able to confide in.
”Not even Terin.” Dani folded her arms over her chest as she leaned forward. ”Is that a deal breaker for you?”
I pursed my lips, thinking it through.
One secret would not kill me. If Terin were in the same position as me, he would do the same thing.
Wouldn”t he?
”We tell no one,” I agreed.
Dani nodded, satisfied. ”Rule number three: no kissing orholding hands or?—”
”Anything that would make it appear like we are courting one another?” I asked, raising a brow.
”Correct.”
”Dani, you do see the problem with that, don”t you?”
”What do you—” her hazel eyes widened, the gold within them shining as the sun touched her face. Her soft, brown cheeks reddened. ”Oh.”
”Oh.”
She cleared her throat and rolled her shoulders back, nodding once. ”Only necessary touches, then.”
I saluted her and said, ”I will do my utmost best only to touch you when necessary, Captain.”
”Good. It”s a?—”
”Wait,” I said, interrupting.
”What?” Dani turned around, hands landing on her hips and impatience painting her countenance.
”Don”t I get to make a rule?”
”Why? More than three rules would be too many.”
I cocked a brow. ”Just one? It”s important.”
Dani rubbed her temples. ”Fine.”
”All right, last rule.” I folded my hands on the table. ”By no means, or at any point, may you fall in love with me.”
For a moment, Dani stared, unblinking. Then, suddenly, she burst into laughter, bending at the waist. When she looked me over and saw that my expression was even, she asked, ”You”re serious?”
I nodded. ”We”re friends, Dani. I would like us to stay that way.”
”Trust me, Fynn, I won”t fall in love with you.”
It might have been pointless to add, but I valued Dani”s friendship more than words could explain. Courting someone, whether for pretend or not, was always bound to get complicated at some point. We needed to ensure that we preserved our relationship.
I extended a hand. ”Then it”s a deal?”
As Dani stared at my outstretched hand, I would give anything to get a closer look at what she was thinking, at what was going on in her mind. But then again, I could barely understand what was happening in mine.
To make this believable, Dani and I would have to put on a great show for not only the leadership, but our friends and family as well.
If Dani was any other woman, I would have never suggested this. At the end of this, we could part ways amicably and maintain that friendship.
As long as we stuck to the rules.
Dani”s fingers wrapped around mine, and with one shake, our bargain was sealed.
”Deal.”