Chapter ten
LYRIELLE
“Tav!” someone shouted.
I looked up to see a gentleman stride into the dining hall. His arms were open as he approached Tavric, who immediately stood. This must have been one of his brothers, another prince of Islewyn.
“You’re home,” Tavric said as he embraced the man in a crushing hug.
“Of course,” the man said as he pulled back and squeezed Tavric’s shoulder. “It was time.”
“It’s good to see you,” Tavric said, and I could hear the lump in his throat. “Oh.” He suddenly turned and gestured to me. “Lyrielle, this is my brother, Kavian.”
Caught off guard, I only nodded, and then had to wonder if I should have stood and curtsied. Probably.
“Ah, yes,” Prince Kavian said as he raised his brow and swept his eyes over me. “Mama said we had a…guest.”
He didn’t like me. I didn’t know how I knew that, but it was perfectly clear, just like it was clear that much of the castle staff didn’t like me.
Kavian gave me one last narrow-eyed look, then turned back to Tavric, effectively cutting me out of the conversation altogether. “Collecting trinkets from the ocean again, are you?”
Before I could shrink down into my chair, Tavric’s hand shot out and smacked his brother high on his chest. “Apologize,” he said in a dark tone.
I was speechless. Was he angry at his brother on my behalf?
Kavian shrugged away from him. “For what? I didn’t say anything.”
“Lyrielle is a guest in our home, and calling her a trinket is insulting.”
My eyes burned with sudden emotion.
Kavian put his hands up in surrender. “I didn’t mean it that way,” he said, and yet he still didn’t bother to apologize or acknowledge my presence further.
Tavric gave him a look of disgust and pushed past him. “Never mind.” He walked over to me and held out a hand. “Let’s go.”
I hadn’t quite finished eating, but I grabbed the remaining half of my biscuit and let him pull me to my feet and hurry us toward the door.
“Tav, come on, I didn’t mean anything by it,” Kavian said as we passed.
Tavric ignored him, and we’d almost made it to the door when the queen appeared and blocked our way.
“There you all are,” she said with a satisfied smile. “Kavian, I see you’ve met Lyrielle.”
“Yes, a pleasure,” Prince Kavian said in a much more polite tone than he had afforded me before.
“It’s been such a treat to have her. And did she show you her necklace? It’s a fascinating piece.”
Tavric looked at the ceiling with a huff, but both the prince and I regarded her in confusion. What did my necklace have to do with anything?
Prince Kavian looked at me, curious and expectant. I didn’t know if he actually wanted to know or if he was just humoring his mother.
“I…” All the attention was uncomfortable and I felt my shoulders roll forward.
“It’s nothing special. Just…” I pulled it out from my bodice with my free hand and took one step closer to the younger prince so he could see.
Might as well get this over with and get out of here.
This was my first time meeting Kavian, and his hostility toward me was making my stomach clench.
Prince Kavian stepped forward and gave my necklace a polite glance, but then his eyes widened and he gave the queen a very meaningful look before turning and giving Tavric that same look.
My eyes jumped from one family member to another. Tavric looked annoyed, the queen smug, and his brother incredulous.
“It was a gift from my mother,” I said to fill the silence.
“We’re going now,” Tavric said and towed me from the room.
I hurried at his side, wildly curious, but I waited until we’d rounded the corner into another corridor before I spoke. “That was very strange.”
“I’m sorry he was so rude.”
I looked down at our still-linked hands and then slowed my step. Instead of letting my hand drop or dragging me along, he slowed and came to a stop with a resigned sigh.
Once he looked at me, I asked, “Are you going to tell me why it was strange?”
His jaw tensed.
“Why is your mother interested in my necklace? I didn’t even know she’d seen it.”
He groaned and dragged a hand down his face. “Because family crests with crowns in the design always mean royalty.”
The idea was so startling that I stepped back and pulled my hand away. “I beg your pardon?”
He gave a little shrug. “My mother has come up with some fanciful ideas about you being some sort of lost princess.” One corner of his mouth tugged up just a bit.
I rubbed at my forehead with one hand and clutched at my pendant with the other. “It’s supposed to mean royalty?” That didn’t make sense.
He nodded. “Here, I’ll show you.” He gestured for me to follow him and I did, unsurprised when we ended up outside the library.
I’d passed it on a number of occasions but had never wanted to go inside.
The shelves and shelves of books reminded me too much of my tower home.
But I ignored that apprehension and followed him through the rows until we reached a back corner near a fireplace with a long desk strewn with maps and books, some stacked and some lying open.
He pulled one forward and pointed to a spread of pages covered with illustrations of family crests.
“I started searching through these right after I first saw your necklace. But look.” He gestured to the crests that all included crowns in their designs, then flipped to another page of the same.
“There is nothing like the crest you wear.” He flipped page after page.
“I’ve studied all of them, and the one from your necklace isn’t here.
” He flicked one last page over and then stepped back, his hands on his hips, his brow tugging down with the corners of his mouth.
I moved forward, my eyes taking in the wide variety of crests illustrated in the book.
“I even studied all the noble houses,” he said, turning to another page that illustrated crests without crowns. “Just to be sure yours wasn’t some sort of variation.”
I fingered the page of the book, wondering if I should be bothered that he hadn’t mentioned this before now.
Then again, what would I have said? Even now, I wasn’t sure if I was disappointed or relieved that he hadn’t found the crest. I turned and leaned back against the edge of the desk, looking up at him. “Tavric—”
His brow shot up.
My face heated. “I mean, Your Highness.”
His chin tilted down a bit, but his eyes remained fixed on my own. “You can call me Tavric, or even Tav.”
My cheeks warmed further, but I ignored them. “I was just going to say…there is no royalty in my land.”
His chin pulled back. “What do you mean?”
“Branfrie is not ruled by a king. Not anymore. And even if it were, I do not think you’d find evidence of it in one of your books.”
“Why not?”
“Because the royal family was ousted more than seventy-five years ago. It’s ruled by a High Court now, and any evidence of royalty has been destroyed or fallen to ruin.
” I bit my lip, but then plowed on. “My tower—the tower I was kept in—was just one corner of a crumbling castle where the royal family resided more than three generations ago.”
Tavric stepped back and laced his hands behind his head as he paced, his eyes darting about, no doubt trying to make sense of this information.
Then he abruptly came forward again. “Fine.” He flicked the book closed and leaned one hand on the table so we were eye level with one another.
“Why were you kept in that tower?” His mouth was stern as he asked it.
“I don’t care about the crest, or even your land’s form of government.
What I want to know is what happened to you.
” His eyes delved into mine, begging for answers.
“Was it punishment? Did they fear you? Was your aunt just a terrible person who wanted your misery?”
“She was protecting me.”
His brow furrowed even more, like he sensed the partial truth. “I know that’s what she said, but…you also told me that people visited you regularly and were not concerned by the fact that you were locked away. Tell me why.”
I shook my head, not ready to admit to my magic and expose myself to his suspicion or censure.
His face fell. “Why won’t you tell me?”
How could I explain it? “You won’t like it.”
“Of course I won’t. Whatever excuse your aunt came up with will—”
“Not her. Me.”
Two parallel creases appeared between his brows as they squished together. “You what?”
“I don’t want you to think less of me,” I admitted, realizing just how much I’d grown to cherish and depend on his friendship. “I’m afraid you won’t trust me.”
He went a bit pale. “Lyri, you’re making me think the worst. Please just tell me.”
“What would be the worst?” Would he say magic?
His lips pressed in frustration. “Did you hurt people?”
I almost laughed at that. “No.”
“Are you here to hurt or manipulate me or my family?”
“Of course not.”
He lifted his hands from his sides. “Then I can’t think of anything else.”
I studied him, confused that he hadn’t thought to mention magic.
Every story I’d been told about the world outside of Branfrie was that they feared and hated magic and anyone who wielded it.
Had that been lies? Or maybe things had changed over the years.
He’d spoken of the mermaids without fear, and surely mermaids were synonymous with magic.
The sincerity in his eyes tugged at me, begging me to let him in, to give him the chance to actually know me. I took a deep breath—and told him the truth. “My aunt was protecting my gift.”
I could see his surprise. “What gift?”
There was no going back now, but even though I wanted him to know, my voice still trembled. “I could heal people.” The confession was barely a whisper as fear coiled tighter inside me.
He seemed bewildered by my confession, like it was of no consequence. “You had a talent for healing?”
I chewed on my lip a bit, frustrated that he wasn’t getting it. “It was more than that. I didn’t heal with herbs and knowledge.”
“Then what did you use?”
I licked my lips and tilted my chin up, gathering my courage. “Magic.”