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If there’s one thing I’m sure of is that I have none of the evil magic of my kind. None of the evil heart.
“I guess not.” Ziven stares at me, his expression serious. “We need to agree on a story, tell people something they’ll believe.”
I was considering telling the truth, omitting all the magic, but perhaps it won’t make much sense. “We can say he attacked us and left us unconscious by the river.”
His hazel eyes are distant, as if considering thousands of possibilities. “They’ll wonder how we escaped. They’ll wonder what he wanted.”
“Well, I’m wondering what he wanted, and wouldn’t mind some help figuring it out.”
He glares at me. “Do you want to tell them about our magic?”
I exhale. He’s right, and there are way too many things I’ll never dare tell anyone about my encounter with Marlak.
An idea comes to mind. “We say he mistook us for a fae convoy and attacked it, but let us go once he realized we were Krastel nobles. It explains how we escaped. That said, if Marlak is going to start attacking human carriages using the Fae Path, people need to be warned.”
“I don’t think he’s going to start attacking random people. He wanted something very specific, Astra.” I am quite surprised he knows my name. “And royalty aren’t supposed to take the shortcut anyway, so there’s no risk.”
“Fair, I guess.” I’m still not sure I shouldn’t tell at least part of the truth to my masters. Perhaps Marlak is after beacon stones or some type of relics. Then again, perhaps I could research it myself. There is something else I need to say. “You were brave back there, rescuing me. Thanks.”
“Oh, that.” He waves a dismissive hand. “My only thought was that he wanted to kidnap me, mistaking me for one of my cousins, but then King Leonius wouldn’t lift a finger to rescue me and I would end up floating belly down on the River of Tears.”
“You didn’t have to go back and save me.”
“Of course I did.” His eyes widen. “The king wouldn’t pay anything to get you back either.”
“I know that! But you could have run and saved yourself.”
He chuckles. “Don’t you find it sad? That the least bit of decency should surprise you?”
“When people are scared, they don’t think about others.”
“And then they try to fight alone, and it just makes everything worse.” His voice is quieter now. “Listen, I still haven’t apologized. I’m sorry I was an ass to you when I came in that carriage. I was just… so frustrated.”
A prince apologizing to a substitute? That’s a first. “Well, I’m sorry I ruined your plans.” Truly. I’m not going to confess it was my fault, though, but I can offer a half apology.
“Maybe you didn’t ruin anything, Astra. Sometimes things are meant to be.”
I sure hope not.
“What do we do now?” I ask.
“We have a wedding party to attend, don’t we?”
“You’re willing to walk there?”
He shrugs. “Or we can try to get a ride on a cart. What’s the alternative?”
True. It’s not like returning to the castle would be any faster.
I can’t stop thinking about Marlak, though. “We’ll need to figure out what he wants. It could be important.”
“When we return, I’ll help you look into it. But please, let’s keep what happened between us.”
“I won’t tell anyone.”
But I’ll find a way to understand what’s going on—and to get the disgraced prince out of my mind.
4
