Chapter 3
Chance
Chance hit the pool at the end of the water slide hard enough to knock the air out of his lungs.
For half a second, everything was bubbles and the sharp sting of chlorinated water up his nose as water gurgled in his ears and over his head. He broke the surface with a cough when his throat burned from the wrong-way water. He slicked his hair back as he laughed at himself.
“Okay,” he muttered, treading water. “Not my most dignified moment.”
He swam to the edge and hauled himself up. Water dripped off him and his T-shirt clung to his torso like a second skin. His swim trunks felt about ten pounds heavier than when he’d started his day of incognito.
He grinned while he tightened the string to keep his shorts around his waist and not down around his ankles. Today was totally worth it.
“Wow. That was graceful.”
Chance froze at the voice.
He turned, blinking water out of his eyes, and there she was. She leaned casually against the metal railing with her arms crossed and wearing an expression somewhere between impressed and deeply entertained.
Randi.
His newest hire. The one who, not thirty minutes ago, had absolutely roasted him at the entrance booth without a shred of hesitation. The one he had sworn to stay away from.
She arched her brow. “I had you pegged as a walk-on-water kind of guy, not a scream-down-the-slide kind of guy.”
Chance snorted and grabbed a towel off a nearby chair. “I’ll have you know, I maintained a respectable level of composure.”
“Oh, did you?” she said sweetly. “Because from where I was standing, it sounded like a full-on distress call.”
“That,” he said, pointing at her with the towel, “was a tactical yell.”
“A tactical what?” She laughed and pushed off the railing. “Please explain the strategy behind that, I’m dying to hear this.”
He stepped closer and lowered his voice like he was about to share classified information. “Intimidation.”
Her grin widened. “You were intimidating the slide?”
“Absolutely. Establish dominance early.”
“Over a piece of fiberglass.”
“It knew what it did.”
She laughed again, full and unrestrained this time. Something in Chance’s chest loosened. It had been a long time since someone had laughed around him like that without a trace of nerves or expectation. His decision to avoid her was going to be more difficult than he had anticipated.
The problem was, he didn’t want to stay away from her. He slung the towel around his neck and studied her. “So, what about you? You just hang out at the bottom of slides all day judging people, or is this a special occasion?”
“Please, this is a public service,” she said. “Someone has to keep egos in check.”
“Ah, so I’m your latest project.”
“Oh, you were an easy target,” she shot back. “You walked in like you’d never seen a water park before.”
He hesitated for a fraction of a second, just long enough to make it feel real. “Maybe I haven’t.”
She tilted her head and squinted at him. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.” Even though he still couldn’t believe that she had no idea who he was.
“Huh.” Her expression softened and he watched curiosity slip in as she pursed her lips. “Okay, that explains a lot.”
“Like what?”
“Like why you stared at the map for five full minutes,” she said. “And why you asked if the lazy river had, and I quote, ‘rapids.’”
He winced. “Have you been stalking me?”
“It’s literally my job to notice details about the park,” she answered. “You just happen to be a detail.”
“In my defense, the lazy river is called Winding Rapids. The name is misleading.”
She pursed her lips again. “Okay, I’ll give you that one. You’re not wrong.”
“Well, I was hoping for a little adventure.”
She gestured toward the towering slide behind him. “You literally just flung yourself down that thing. I’d say you found it.”
“Barely survived it,” he corrected.
“Yet here you are. Alive. Thriving, even.”
“Thriving might be a stretch.”
She smiled at him, warmer now, and for a moment, neither of them said anything.
Chance became very aware of the fact that she was still looking at him. Not assessing. Not sizing him up like she had at the entrance.
Just… looking.
“So,” she said finally, “what’s next, Slide Guy? Going back up for round two?”
He followed her gaze to the stairs spiraling up the slide tower and immediately shook his head. “Let’s not get crazy.”
She laughed. “Thought so.”
“What about you?” he asked. “Are you off the clock, or just avoiding work?”
“Hey,” she said, mock offense lighting her eyes, “I am on a very important break.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“I already dealt with three screaming kids, a broken locker, and a guy who tried to argue that flip-flops count as secure footwear,” she said. “I’ve earned ten minutes of doing absolutely nothing.”
“Fair enough.” He nodded. “Your job sounds brutal.”
“It’s not so bad,” she admitted, shrugging. “Keeps things interesting.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
She studied him again, a flicker of something thoughtful crossing her face. “You don’t seem like the water park type.”
“And what exactly is the water park type?” He worried that his identity was catching up with him.
“I don’t know,” she said. “Louder. More… cannonballs, less… cautious observation.”
“Hey, I did not cautiously observe that slide.”
She smirked. “No, you screamed at it.”
“Tactically.”
“Right. My mistake.”
There was a pause, softer this time before another parkgoer came screaming down the slide Randi laughed as she compared the latest shriek to his own.
Chance realized, with a quiet jolt of relief, that she still had no idea who he was. She had no shift in tone. No sudden politeness. No guarded answers. Just Randi, apparently. Quick-witted, unfiltered, and completely at ease.
It was… refreshing. Dangerous, maybe, but definitely refreshing.
“So,” she said, pushing off the railing again, “are you gonna dry off and pretend that never happened, or are you actually going to explore the rest of the park?”
He considered it, then he looked back at her.
“Well,” he said with a slow smile, “I could use a guide.” His dragon leapt to attention even as his brain screamed inside his head. What are you doing? Get away from her!
Her eyes lit with amusement. “Oh, I don’t know. I’ve been told I’m pretty ruthless.”
“I’ve noticed.”
“I might make fun of you again.”
“I’m prepared to take that risk.”
She pretended to think about it, tapping her chin. “Hmm.”
“Come on,” he added. “For the sake of public service. Keep my ego in check.”
That did it. She laughed, shaking her head.
“Alright, Slide Guy,” she said. “You’ve got yourself a guide.”
Chance fell into step beside her and tried not to look as pleased as he felt. Anonymous. Unfiltered. Completely unexpected.
Yeah… this might be the best decision he’d made all day. Right along with the worst.
Beside him, Randi pushed damp hair back from her forehead and squinted against the sun. She had changed out of her work shirt and now wore a loose tank dress over her swimsuit with the strap slipping slightly off one shoulder. She grinned like a kid who’d just been handed the keys to a candy store.
“Snow cones,” she declared and pointed across the crowded midway. “Priority one.”
Chance followed her gaze to a bright stand painted with cartoon waves and palm trees. He nodded easily enough, though his attention had already snagged on something else.
Her wrist.
His dragon reacted to the tattoo again even as his head made up excuses to stay close to her until he had the story behind it. If his cover was about to be exposed, he needed to know. And justifying the need to stay close to her came easily.
They reached the kiosk and ordered blue raspberry for her and cherry lime for him. The teenager behind the counter packed the ice into flimsy cones and drowned them in syrup while a line formed behind them.
Randi accepted hers with an appreciative hum.
“Oh wow,” she said after the first bite. “Brain freeze is worth it.”
Chance smiled faintly, though his eyes had already dropped again. There it was.
Her fingers curled around the paper cone, leaving the inside of her wrist exposed.
The tattoo was small, no bigger than a silver dollar, but unmistakable. The royal crest of Stagholt.
Chance’s chest tightened and the noise of the waterpark faded into something distant and hollow, like he’d ducked underwater.
He forced himself to breathe normally.
Don’t react. Don’t stare.
He took a slow sip of melting cherry ice and gestured casually toward her wrist.
“That’s a pretty detailed tattoo,” he said lightly. “What’s the story behind it?”
Randi glanced down, as if she’d forgotten it was there.
“Oh. That?” She shrugged, licking a streak of syrup from her thumb. “Nothing exciting.”
Chance waited.
She gave him a crooked grin. “Teenage dragon phase.”
He blinked. “Dragon phase.”
“Yeah.” She waved the cone dismissively. “You know how it is. Fifteen-year-old me was very committed to the whole fantasy aesthetic. Dragons, swords, weird medieval symbols.” She rolled her eyes at herself. “It seemed cooler at the time.”
Chance studied her face. It was too casual and too rehearsed.
The crest on her wrist was no random fantasy symbol. Anyone raised around the courts of the Northern kingdoms would recognize it instantly.
Which meant one of two things. She knew exactly what it was or she’d been marked with it. Either way, she was lying.
“Right,” Chance said easily and forced a half-laugh. “Teenage dragons. Can’t say I missed that phase by much.”
Her smile relaxed a little, like she was glad he’d accepted the explanation.
They wandered away from the kiosk and into the winding pathways between attractions. Kids ran past them and somewhere a whistle blew near the wave pool.
Randi pointed out rides she wanted to try and debated between the tall spiral slide and the lazy river. She talked easily, quite animated, while the snow cone turned her tongue bright blue.
Chance listened, or at least pretended to. Inside his head, pieces were clicking together far too quickly.
Why lie?
If she knew what that crest meant, pretending it was a random dragon tattoo made no sense unless she didn’t want him to recognize it. Unless she didn’t want anyone to.
A knot tightened slowly in his chest. Because if she carried the crest of Stagholt, then she belonged to the same kind of world he’d spent his life trying to escape.
A world of thrones, of blood, and of fathers who believed mercy was weakness.
His gaze drifted across the bright waterpark and saw something else entirely.
Mountains, cold castles, and the day everything in his life broke.
Memories broke through the sunshine and everything around him faded away as they played through Chance’s mind. He had been fourteen when the execution took place.
The great hall of Noriveille had been silent enough to hear the torches crackle along the walls. Elders lined both sides of the chamber, their expressions tight with unease. At the center of the room, his older brother stood shackled.
Roderick.
The heir. Or who would have been the heir.
Chance remembered the way his brother’s shoulders had trembled, but with exhaustion, not fear. Roderick had always been gentle and thoughtful. The sort of prince who listened before speaking and who had all the makings of a great king.
The sort of prince their father despised.
King Gunner sat on the iron throne at the far end of the hall while his massive hands gripped the ornate carved armrests.
“Noriveille does not bow to weakness.” His words had echoed off the stone.
Roderick lifted his head.
“I’m not weak,” he spoke quietly. “I just refuse to rule with cruelty.”
Chance had held his breath. For just a moment he thought their father might listen.
Instead, King Gunner stood. “Then you refuse to rule at all.”
The sword fell minutes later. Chance had watched his brother’s blood spread across the marble floor.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
Because defying the king meant joining Roderick.