Chapter 5
The River
Evelyn woke the next morning without her sister yelling at her. She’d dreamed about adventures with the old gods, dancing at the palace, and gazing into charming blue eyes.
Will Leo be at the ball? Am I allowed to dance with a high-ranking guard, or is that beneath a princess? I wish Father were still just the Lord of the Fire Court.
She rolled over and checked the clock. “Shit! I’m late!”
Evelyn threw on a simple dress, deciding she could bathe later and change into a better gown then. But a glance in the bathroom mirror revealed another problem.
“Nooo,” she whined. Evelyn had her usual red curls, yes. But she also had straight hair, wavy hair, frizzy hair, hair stuck to her forehead, and hair reaching for the heavens.
This never happens to Hannah.
Evelyn’s hands heated with Fire magic and she ran her fingers through the tangles. Her hair surrendered to the heat, straightening out enough for Evelyn to braid it.
Good enough.
She rushed downstairs.
It’s better to be late than not show up at all, right?
Evelyn rounded the last corner before the dining room and slammed into a person. She stumbled backward, bouncing off the man. He clutched her arms to steady her before she could fall.
“I’m so sorry!” Evelyn gasped.
“What’s the rush?” A familiar voice laughed.
Oh, gods save me. When I said I wanted to see him again, I didn’t mean by embarrassing myself.
“Leo, hi!” she said as casually as she could. “Sorry, I’m late for breakfast. I slept through it yesterday. Did I miss it again?”
“Nearly, but no.” Leo realized he was still holding Evelyn’s arms and released her.
She tried not to frown at the loss of contact. “Is the prince in there? I haven’t met him yet, and I’m a mess. Maybe I should go—”
“No, Prince Alexander is already gone. And he wouldn’t care about… whatever you are worried about. You look beautiful this morning.”
Evelyn’s heart skipped a beat at the unexpected compliment. “Thank you.”
The kings’ roaring laughter sounded from the dining room.
“I should go,” Evelyn remembered. “Sorry again for running into you!”
He’s going to remember me as the clumsy girl who sets flowers on fire.
Evelyn hurried down the hall before Leo could say anything else.
“Look who’s awake!” Her father chuckled.
Evelyn took her seat. “I sleep too peacefully in this palace.”
“Did you see the prince on your way here?” Queen Camille asked her. “He left the table not long ago.”
“No, I must have just missed him.” Evelyn noticed a tray of pancakes and snatched them up.
I would much rather see carbs than the mysterious prince, anyway.
“That keeps happening!” Hannah said. “You have to meet Prince Alexander eventually.”
“Is he coming back later? Is there another garden for him to show you?” Evelyn teased.
“We haven’t made any plans for today,” Hannah said with a hint of disappointment.
Hannah has been glowing since we arrived. It’s like she was destined to be in the sunshine of this kingdom. Whatever’s keeping the prince away from the palace, it surely isn’t her.
“Any word on your missing soldiers, Gerard?” King Tristan asked.
“Nothing yet,” King Gerard said curtly.
“I’m sure they’re fine. I bet they got drunk and passed out somewhere. The one with Vision magic probably hid them all so they wouldn’t get caught.”
“They are young. Only recently enlisted. It wouldn’t be the first time new soldiers made that mistake.”
That sounds like when my brother joined the Fire Court’s army. Instead of following the rules, Rowan only got more creative at breaking them.
Evelyn was pleasantly surprised to find a bouquet of freshly cut lavender in her room. The new flowers looked out of place, a dash of purple in the sea of red, but seeing them made her heart happy.
Leo really got me flowers. At the very least, he directed someone to bring me flowers. He didn’t have to do that, but he thought about me. I wonder if that was before or after I nearly knocked him over.
Around midday, Evelyn left her room and used the staff staircase again, passing a confused maid. She wandered over the east lawn and spotted the river in front of the palace.
The Celilo River flowed down the center of the continent.
It began in the north by Carrowmore’s castle and stopped directly in front of Gryon’s palace before running underground and out to the ocean.
The fae who built the palace created tunnels for the river, instead of building their home literally anywhere other than a delta.
The river was wide and deceptively calm from the surface.
Bridges spanned the river at several points in both kingdoms. Fae with Air or Water magic were stationed at each one to simply lift ships over or submerge ships under the bridges in order to let them pass.
From the palace, cobblestone roads on both sides of the river led to locations in the eastern and western halves of the kingdom.
Evelyn stood at the edge, mindlessly watching the flow of the water while enjoying the fresh air.
“Princess!” a voice called out.
Leo was crossing the road toward her with another man. The handsome stranger had a sword strapped to his back. He was nearly as tall as Leo, but with sharper features and brilliant green eyes. His jet-black hair reached his shoulders, and half of it was pulled back to keep it out of his face.
Who is that? He’s more than a little gorgeous. Is he a soldier? Working outside with the army would explain why his tan skin is a shade darker than Leo’s.
“You don’t have to call me Princess,” Evelyn replied.
Leo caught up to her and smiled. “Shall I call you Arsonist instead?”
“Absolutely not!”
“Evelyn,” Leo started again, “this is my friend Damien.” He gestured at the other man. “Damien, this is Princess Evelyn of Carrowmore.”
“Nice to meet you,” Evelyn said with a curtsy.
Are all of Leo’s friends this attractive? I could get used to this kingdom.
“Same to you.” Damien bowed. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Really?” Evelyn raised a brow at Leo.
“I had to tell someone about your various crimes,” Leo claimed. “Burning royal property—”
“Which was immediately fixed!” Evelyn argued.
“Trespassing…”
“I’m a royal guest!”
“Stealing books…”
“You told me I could borrow it.”
“Assaulting guards…”
“Because I ran into you this morning? Show me the injuries from this so-called assault.”
“Insulting, yelling at, and arguing with royal staff…”
“You’re the one harassing princesses!”
Leo smirked. “Only you.”
“I see what you mean,” Damien interrupted, obviously trying not to laugh.
Evelyn’s cheeks went pink. She had almost forgotten he was there. “Are you a soldier?”
“I’m a captain in the Royal Army,” Damien said.
“Oh! Impressive.”
Other than the sword, Damien was dressed similarly to Leo, in an all-black aesthetic of a tunic, trousers, and boots.
But, unlike Leo’s plain shirt, Damien’s tunic had lines of gold thread sewn in swirls down his sleeves.
He also had a gold music note embroidered on the left side of his chest over his heart.
“What is the music note for?”
“It’s the symbol of the Auditory fae,” Damien explained.
“Everyone in the Royal Army is required to display their affinity so our magic can be utilized more efficiently. It makes pranks difficult, though. If everyone in a group starts hearing voices and I’m the only one wearing the music note, they know who to punch. ”
Okay, I definitely need to be his friend.
“What are the symbols for the other powers?”
“Vision is an eye, of course. Aromatic magic is a rose, and Taste is an apple.”
I should have read about Gryon before coming here. Their kingdom is friendly with ours, but we don’t have a ton of interaction. Maybe I would have cared more if I’d known what their men look like.
Evelyn turned to Leo. “You would have an eye, then. If you could figure out how to do illusions correctly.”
“I don’t think I am the problem, Princess,” Leo argued. “I’ve been hiding my eyes for two centuries and you’re the first person to see through the illusion.”
Evelyn frowned. “How can that be? Why am I the only one?”
“I don’t know.” Leo stared at her like she was a puzzle.
“Is there anything else you’ve seen,” Damien asked, “or haven’t seen, while you’ve been here that hasn’t been right?”
Evelyn pointed toward the palace. “Is the rose and vine symbol still in the sky?”
“Of course. It’s always there.”
“You can’t see it flying over the palace?” Leo asked.
“No,” Evelyn said. “I thought Hannah had lost her mind when we arrived, talking nonsense about flowers in the sky.”
Leo and Damien glanced at each other, an unheard conversation passing between them.
“What?” Evelyn asked.
Damien met her gaze. “Can I use my magic and see if you can hear it?”
“Sure.” Evelyn shrugged.
Damien’s fingers twitched at his side, but nothing else happened.
Evelyn waited several seconds, straining her ears for any sound. “Are you going to do anything?”
Damien furrowed his brows. “There should be a buzzing noise circling your head, like a wasp is flying around you.”
Evelyn ducked and raised a hand to swat the wasp away, forgetting that wasn’t the point. “I don’t hear anything.”
Damien’s fingers moved again. Leo jumped.
“What’s wrong?” Evelyn asked.
“I wasn’t expecting a crack of thunder on a nice day.” Leo glared at Damien. “You’re going to make the whole palace panic.”
“I didn’t hear thunder,” Evelyn told them.
Damien stepped closer to Evelyn until he was only inches from her. He smelled like steel and coffee, bitter but not unpleasant. A seductive smile that made her breath catch replaced his quizzical expression.
“You are exquisite, Princess,” he whispered.
Evelyn’s cheeks went pink. “Um… thank you?”
Damien retreated out of her personal space. “That doesn’t work either? That always works!”
Leo snorted. “Sorry, friend. There had to be at least one woman you couldn’t seduce in this kingdom.”
Evelyn stiffened. “You use your magic to seduce women? Like, you control them with your voice?”
“No!” Damien assured, holding his hands up. “I just use my voice to get their attention. I would never force women into anything, and my magic doesn’t work like that, anyway.”
“He would die if he did,” Leo added. “Outside of war, it’s illegal to use illusions to hurt someone else.”
“Can illusions be that harmful?” Evelyn asked.
Damien nodded. “A vision of a bridge could cause someone to tumble off a cliff. You could mask the taste of poison in someone’s wine, or hide the smell of deadly gas in the air.
Illusions can mean the difference between winning and losing a war.
But causing harm to someone outside of a battle is punishable by death. ”
“And if you are immune to illusions,” Leo pondered, “you may be safer and more valuable than anyone else in the kingdom.”
I’m not so sure being valuable lends itself toward being safe.
“We’re going into the city for lunch,” Leo said. “You haven’t seen Pointe-Rosemère yet. Would you care to join us?”
Damien gave him a look that Evelyn couldn’t read.
“Am I allowed to do that?” she asked.
Leo winked. “Probably not. But you’re with a guard and a captain. What could possibly happen?”
“I thought we weren’t going to tempt fate today,” Damien groaned.
“Can you ride a horse?” Leo asked, ignoring his friend.
“Of course I can,” Evelyn said. “But I should ask my sister if she wants to come.”
“No!” Leo said quickly, shaking his head.
Evelyn went still.
Does he not like Hannah? Has he even met her? Why are his eyes so wide?
“I mean,” Leo continued, “I’m sure she’s busy with the queen.”
“They’re probably deciding on jewelry for the ball.” Evelyn rolled her eyes. “Hannah loves to explore, so I’m sure she would want—”
“It will be more fun with just us,” Leo said, a charming grin on his face.
Damien shot him a glare before turning to Evelyn. “Come on, Princess.” He waved her toward the stables. “Maybe your sister can join us another time.”
Why doesn’t Leo want to see Hannah? What am I missing?