Trials of Embers and Trust (Flameborn #2)

Chapter 1

Chapter

One

ARA

“The maid will be with you in a second,” the butler tells me, and never have words sounded so threatening.

The door closes, and I’m alone in an opulent room with golden walls, pristine and dainty furniture I’m afraid to touch, and a white marble floor I’m sure has my boot prints on it now, but I suppress the urge to check.

What am I doing here?

I rush to the door, but I’m not sure if it’s to call my brother back or make a dash for it.

Before I can push down the handle, the door opens, and I find myself face-to-face with a young dark-haired woman.

Her simple dress in the dark blue and cream of the Belardi family lets me assume it’s the maid.

The same colors are present throughout the palace.

The woman’s startled look morphs into a timid smile as she curtsies.

“I’m Ana, my lady, and I’ll be at your service,” she says in a bubbly voice, seemingly excited at the thought of being at my beck and call.

“I’m Ara,” I tell her, and her eyes widen.

“I can’t call you that, Lady Blackstone,” she says, and despite her kind tone, I feel chastised. I sigh. Going up against three opponents in a hand-to-hand combat sounds lovely right now. What am I saying? I would fight ten rather than suffer through the next hours.

“So let’s get you dressed, shall we?” Ana plows on, and I nod. I probably wouldn’t have made it far anyway. The palace is too big, and too many people are around to get away unnoticed.

“I could pick you up at your window,” Solaris suggests, and I seriously consider it while Ana goes through my bags. They were miraculously waiting when I was shown into my room. She turns to me with a puzzled look.

“Is the rest arriving soon?” she asks, and I only blink. Rest? I had already scoffed at the twelve dresses my mother insisted I bring.

“Oh, never mind. You have some wonderful choices here, and I can get everything else from the royal seamstress.” She gives me a careful once-over and hurries out the door.

An hour later, I regard myself in the mirror and have no idea who the person is that’s staring back at me. I looked more like myself when I was posing as a boy.

The corset and dress push my breasts so high that I could probably rest my chin on them if I get tired, while the stiff fabric makes any relaxed posture simply impossible.

I have no sleeves to hide my blades and can’t strap them to my legs either, due to the heavy skirts.

The result is that I feel naked and caged at the same time.

In a small act of defiance, I strap the dagger to the delicate belt circling my waist. I’m not going out there unarmed.

“Are you alright?” Solaris inquires. His amusement is loud and clear, so I wonder why I don’t believe him when he tells me I look beautiful.

My hair is the only part of me left unbound, and I watch Ana wearily while she arranges the last curls to her satisfaction.

There is a knock on my door, and I meet my brother’s eyes in the mirror when Ana answers it. His gaze wanders over my painted face—my red lips and my black-rimmed eyes—before taking in my hair and dark green dress.

“Don’t say a thing,” I warn him while I turn, pick up the gloves Ana insists I wear, and brush past him into the corridor. My dress is ridiculously long, trailing behind me on the floor. At least that explains why the floors are so spotless. Those dresses do half the work.

“You look beautiful, little sparrow, and very grown up.” Dar falls into step next to me, and I snort.

“I look like a damn show pony,” I reply, making him chuckle.

We turn corner upon corner, our steps loud on the marble floor. It’s a good thing I didn’t make a run for it because I’m already lost.

All the corridors appear identical, featuring royal colors and paintings and statues lining the walls. The view out of floor-length windows framed in curtains of dark blue is the only indication that we don’t move in circles.

“I probably would have starved before finding the exit,” I grumble.

“I would have picked you up before that happened,” Solaris assures me, his voice full of laughter.

“I don’t belong here.” I sigh, drawing my brother’s attention.

“Yeah, I wonder how that feels.” My bird’s sarcastic remark is accompanied by images of a crowd staring at him, and I giggle.

“Okay, you win.”

“Behave,” Dar warns, before stepping through a massive door into what sounds like a verifiable party.

I follow, and a presence brushes over my skin like a swarm of fireflies, setting it aglow. Tate. I swear my insides change places.

What is he doing here?

Puzzlement and hope war in my chest while I get on my tiptoes, trying to spot him in the sea of strangers. Dar strides forward, oblivious to my turmoil, but stops when he notices I’m no longer by his side.

“What are you doing?” he spits, grabbing my arm.

There he is. It’s only been a week, but my eyes drink him in like my body thirsts for his sight. Damn, he’s so handsome. He stands alone, wearing one of his usual scowls, and everyone gives him a wide berth.

His skyrider uniform accents his powerful build, the dark gray highlighting him amid the colorful, fancy clothes everyone else prefers.

His hair is tousled, his cheeks sport at least two days’ worth of stubble, and his dark and commanding aura stands out even in this room full of influential people.

I’m not the only one noticing, and who can blame them?

He is beautiful, powerful, breathtaking.

I want to run to him, but that is out of the question, and not just because my brother is dragging me in the other direction.

Only now do I register the other people milling around in the giant room with the high ceiling. Again, it’s decorated in the royal colors, and I wonder if you can hate a color just from its dominance around you.

The wooden floor and giant fireplace create a warm ambiance in the room, while two large chandeliers dominate the ceiling. There is shuffling and whispering all around us, and when my eyes sweep the crowd, I find many gazes trained on me.

Darren stirs me toward a blond man sprawled in a chair, holding court.

There is no other way to describe the way everyone gathers around him, desperate for his attention.

He is as light as Tate is dark—not just his hair and eyes, but his whole demeanor as well.

He wears a carefree smile, his eyes crinkling at the corners and already resting on me.

But there is also something calculating in his gaze.

“Your Highness. May I introduce my sister, Tamara Blackstone?” Dar says next to me, and I remember my manners and curtsy. “Tamara, this is Crown Prince Frederick,” he completes the introduction. Frederick kisses my hand.

I have no idea how it is even possible in a sea of people, but I feel Tate’s eyes on me, and I can’t help but meet them.

“Tamara, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Frederick follows my gaze, and his mouth twitches. He beckons Tate over, who follows slowly, lazily, like he couldn’t care less what the future king thinks of him, his eyes never leaving mine.

“May I introduce my brother, Prince Alexander? I assure you, his presence is as much a surprise to me as it is to you. He just arrived,” Frederick says, his eyes on Tate.

Brother? Prince? Something niggles at the back of my mind.

It seems the prince has a weakness for you.

The sentence pops into my head, accompanied by emotions and images.

Smoke, pain, blood, my heart races, a metallic taste coats my tongue, a man’s face, the desperate need to get away, trees.

The impressions are there and gone in an instant.

I try to hold on to them, but that only makes me nauseous. I sway.

But that means … my eyes fly from Tate to Frederick and back. My fingers tingle, and the blood rushes in my ears. I try to draw a deep breath, but the corset makes that attempt futile. Why is it so damn warm in here?

“Are you alright?” Frederick asks, and I fight for composure.

“Yeah, I’m great,” I press out, but don’t dare to look at my brother or, even worse, Tate. If I don’t do something, I’ll faint right here in front of everyone.

“Actually, I think … I need … if you’ll excuse me,” I say and rush to a door that is to my right. I don’t care where it leads, but I’ll be damned if I faint in the middle of a crowd. My fingers tremble on the handle, my heart races, and no matter how much I struggle, there is not enough air.

I stumble into a hallway. My vision dims at the edges, and I focus on the bright light of the balcony doors at the end of it. If I can make it there…

I haven’t come far when arms come around me, steadying me, holding me up when my legs give out. For a second, I hope it’s Tate. That he has come after me, but when I blink up, I meet blue eyes instead of golden ones.

I blink again when I recognize the man from the library.

“Well, angel, so we meet again, and you end up in my arms once more.” He winks at me. “And aren’t you a vision?” His eyes flicker over my head, and his grin widens. “And in high demand, I see. Do you need someone to protect you from those brutes?”

“Get your hands off her.” If the situation hadn’t been so messed up, I would have laughed at Tate and my brother’s twin demands.

“My, my, our rogue prince and the general are laying claim on you. Now I do have to know who you are, and if there is any chance, I can throw my hat in there as well.” Mischief winks in his eyes. He obviously enjoys teasing them.

“Uh, air,” I gasp and push against his chest to disentangle myself, but he doesn’t budge.

He looks down at where his hands circle my waist and lifts an eyebrow. “No wonder you can’t breathe. You wear an underdress, yes?”

I nod faintly.

“Well, then. Rest assured, I know my way around a corset,” he says, and pulls out a dagger.

“One wrong move and we’ll need a new admiral,” Tate growls before I’m ripped out of the man’s arms. Before I have the chance to topple, I’m swept up into arms I would recognize anywhere, and my already racing heart stumbles.

The terrace doors behind me burst open, and Tate steps out with me into the cool air.

“Tate, what…?”

He sets me down gently and pulls me into him so my back rests against his chest.

“Just breathe, sunshine,” he murmurs, and the use of his pet name sends shivers skating down my spine. “Just relax and breathe.”

Yeah, right, as if relaxing is so easy with his breath caressing my skin and so much left unsaid.

I close my eyes, and for just a moment, I let myself pretend we’re back in Tate’s room, and everything is fine between us. I relax into him, and his arms tighten around my waist, his body solid and reassuring.