Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
RANA
The mixture of hope and bewilderment on Kamaran’s face was enough to make her laugh.
He reached for another piece of Adhavian Delight. “How did you know I was going to ask?”
“I might have heard that you were looking for me, and since we both know my sparkling personality isn’t what draws people, I could only assume you wanted the rest of the story.”
Kamaran frowned. “I like your personality.”
“Well, you’re one of the few.” Rana picked up the spool of gold thread and unwound a length to replenish her needle. “But do you want the story or not?”
“I do,” he answered quickly. “But I thought you said there wasn’t any more—that some princes are just lizards.”
“I did. But all lizards shed their scales, and the best stories are the ones with character growth.”
He nodded, trying adorably not to look too eager. “Do you have more knots for me to untangle?”
Rana looked at him for a long moment. Despite the shift in conversation, she could still see the shadows of grief and exhaustion behind his eyes—shadows that, now that she knew they were there, made the seemingly endless supply of charming smiles and the breezy, sometimes irresponsible attitude all the more confusing.
It takes a lot of practice to hide emotions that effectively, which means that he’s been doing this a lot longer than just the month and a half since his father died. What has he been hiding behind his masks?
The tired set of his shoulders solidified her decision. “No. You have something much more important to do with your hands this evening.”
“Oh?”
She straightened, searching the room for a lump of golden fur. “Zade.”
The fox lifted his head from a pile of pillows in the corner. He stood and stretched, yawning and spreading out his tiny front toes as he did. With a quick shake, he trotted over to Rana. She scratched behind his oversized ears. “Kamaran needs snuggles.”
“What?”
Before he could protest, Zade leaped onto Kamaran’s lap, turned three times in a circle, and plopped down. Kamaran held his hands at his sides, as if unsure what to do with them.
Rana laughed at his befuddled expression. “You’re supposed to pet him.”
“What?” he repeated, looking at her with wide eyes.
“It’s the price of his love. He’ll bite your knees if you don’t.”
Kamaran’s hands immediately dropped and began stroking Zade’s thick, soft fur. “That doesn’t seem much like love.”
“What can I say? He puts the ‘fennec’ in finicky.” She swiped another piece of Adhavian Delight and settled back into her seat. “Now we’re ready. Where was it we left off?”
“The woman with the golden ball turned the prince into a lizard.”
“Right.” Rana began stitching again, using the familiar motion to help gather her thoughts.
“Prince Kamden, surprised to still be alive but not yet fully comprehending his new form, scurried down the path in an attempt to escape.
The woman nabbed him by the tail to stop him and scooped him off the ground.
She held him out in front of her, ignoring his flailing, scratching legs.
“‘What have you done to me?’ the prince cried, relieved to find that, despite his new form, his voice was just as clear and human as before.
“‘I simply revealed the truth you kept hidden behind your crown and fancy jewels,’ she answered.
‘You are a prince, blessed with wealth and power, and yet instead of using your gifts for the benefit of others, you laze about like a lizard sunning itself on a rock. You chose selfish ambition and greed over doing what is right, even when making that choice would have cost you nothing.’
“Prince Kamden withered under the weight of her words and the intensity of her gaze. ‘I…’ he began, unable to find a suitable defense. ‘But I can’t stay like this! I’m a prince! How is my kingdom supposed to survive with me as a lizard?’
“‘Probably much the same as when you were a man,’ the woman said, not unkindly. ‘But take heart. There is a way to undo this transformation.’”
“Let me guess,” Kamaran interrupted. “He needs to find True Love’s Kiss to break the curse.”
Rana snorted. “I beg your pardon, but that sentence is as absurd as darning socks with gold thread. Why in Adhavi would a woman ever kiss a lizard, much less fall in love with one?” She shook her head. “If she did, her mental state would be of more concern than whatever curse the prince is under.”
“I thought True Love’s Kiss was the way all curses were broken in the stories.”
“In some of them, yes. But there needs to be an occasion for love to exist in the first place, and one of the parties being a reptile does not fit the requirements. May I continue?”
He nodded.
“The prince latched onto the woman’s words with the ferocity of a crocodile. ‘Tell me!’ he cried.
“‘To return to your true form, you must find a member of your kingdom willing to share their table and bed with you.’
“Prince Kamden’s heart lifted. ‘That’s it? Surely any of my subjects would be willing to play host to their prince.’
“‘Ah, but you may not tell them who you are or why you need their help,’ the woman added. ‘All you may do is ask.’
“‘But that’s impossible!’ Prince Kamden explained. ‘What kind of person is going to willingly let a lizard eat at their table, or sleep in their bed?’
“The woman looked at him sympathetically. ‘The better question to ask would be, what kind of person must you be in order for them to invite you? The task is only impossible if you make it so.’
“With that, the woman set Prince Kamden back on the path and disappeared in a flash of light.”
Silence filled the sitting room for a moment as Rana tied off her thread and reached for the spool again.
“You seem to have a rather low opinion of princes.” Kamaran seemed to be particularly fascinated with Zade’s fur as he spoke.
Rana pulled out a new length of gold thread, using her arm to measure, and snipped it off before answering, “You’ve only heard the one story so far.”
“It’s supposed to be me, isn’t it?” Kamaran’s voice, though quiet, was tight with emotion. She could see the muscles in his jaw twitch.
Guilt began chewing at the corners of her stomach, and she tried to save the moment by turning to humor. “I don’t recall a time that you have ever been cursed to be a lizard—unless there’s something you’re not telling me.”
“But you think I should be.” He finally looked up from the fox sleeping contentedly on his lap, his eyes betraying the wounded feeling he was obviously trying to keep from his face.
“I never said that.”
“No.” He laughed bitterly. “You just named the prince in your story after me and made it very clear that he was not worthy of the title he had been given. Tell me honestly, Rana, do you actually think I deserve my position?”
Rana twisted the needle between her fingers.
If anyone had asked me that question just a few weeks ago, I would have told them “no” without an ounce of hesitation.
But now…he’s different than I expected. It’s not a secret that he’s shirked out of duties in the past, but it seems like there’s more going on here than what is on the surface.
He was watching her, his dark eyes burning with intensity. She needed to buy herself more time to think, to formulate an answer that would be both honest and gentle, and she wanted to hear his perspective.
“Do you?” she asked.
It was the wrong question. Like a curtain falling over a window, his eyes lost their light.
“No,” he answered tightly, offering no other elaboration.
Zade, sensing the tension in the room, jumped off Kamaran’s lap and returned to his pile of pillows in the corner.
“I just meant—” Rana began, trying to salvage the conversation.
“You meant how on earth could someone like me possibly be given the authority of a Sultan,” Kamaran finished for her, jumping up and shoving his hand through his hair as he paced.
“Why would they put the crown on the head of someone so irresponsible and unqualified? Why would they trust the future of the empire in the hands of a man who couldn’t possibly appreciate what it takes to be a leader? ”
Rana’s emotions rose at the accusations he was hurling, and she shot to her own feet, eager to defend herself. “I never said that!”
“You didn’t have to! Your story said all that I needed to know.”
“Well, maybe if you actually made it a priority to do things like attend meetings and, I don’t know, act like a Sultan, people wouldn’t wish for more.”
Kamaran rounded on her. “You think it’s a surprise to me that everyone thinks I’m a disappointment?
My own father didn’t even think I was ready to be Sultan.
But guess what? He’s not here.” His voice cracked, and he swallowed thickly before adding, “He’s not here, and I am, and unless some assassin gets lucky, I’m what Adhavi has—a pathetic lizard masquerading as a Sultan. ”
“Then maybe you should do something about that,” she answered evenly, blinking away the angry tears that had gathered in the corners of her eyes.
His responding laughter was humorless. “Right. I’ll go find some unsuspecting citizen and beg them to share a meal with me.” He turned on his heel and stalked toward the door.
“Kamaran…” she began weakly, holding out a hand as if she could somehow draw him back. He continued without answering, and her arm dropped limply to her side as his footsteps receded down the hall.
She sank back down to the divan. Regret and sorrow quickly took over the space in her body where the frustration and adrenaline of the moment had lived, and she dropped her head in her hands. Zade padded over, booping her leg with his tiny snout.
She sighed as she transferred her chin to one hand and reached the other down to run a finger through the soft fur on the top of Zade’s head. “Well. So much for a happily ever after to that story.”