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“I can’t do it. Let’s go.”
“You’ll regret this.”
“I won’t.”
“You’ve always lived for?—”
“I’ve never cared for anything like I’ve cared for serving you, my lady,” he said. “And… and I refuse to accept this is Nefrana’s will unless she tells me so herself. You can hide somewhere. In solitude. What does magic harm if you’re alone? If they can’t find you.”
She bit her lip. “I won’t let you sacrifice your life for mine. Nowhere will be safe for me. Or you, after this. Think this through?—”
“Do I strike you as someone who is impulsive or irrational?” His eyes flashed, stormy and black.
“No.”
“Then get your bag.” He released his hold on her and got to his feet, one hand still holding hers. She hesitated to follow. “My lady, get up.”
She stared into those brown eyes for just a beat longer. The gloom was gone, replaced by sheer determination. It was selfish to comply, but it’d be worse to continue arguing. Someone might hear them.
The chance she’d thought she’d lost had been given back to her; she’d be a fool not to take it.
“All right,” she breathed. She hurried for the wardrobe.
Chapter 10
Alekur
Jav’s pulse was pounding in his ears. Was this what it felt like to ruin your life?
If it was, it felt pretty good. Wild. Dangerous. But good.
Iseris tied her cloak around her shoulders then stepped over to her dresser. She opened the top drawer and withdrew a drawstring bag. Loosening the neck, she held it out to him, and he peered inside.
It was too dark to see in detail, but he did see a sparkle and slight sheen, and he could hear the items inside as they clinked against each other in that distinctive way that only gems could do.
Staying silent, he smiled, nodding once as she bent to drop the bag into her pack. In the darkness, her skin was pale like a ghost’s, and, for a moment, his breath hitched as he remembered the way she’d held his hand there, against her heart beats.
Then her cloak fell away from her shoulder and jarred him from the memory. Gods, had he been staring? More than one reason to be grateful for a sturdy, thick cloak.
He’d left his own cloak and sword on Sky. If he’d entered the castle not as part of a patrol or specifically requested royal guard or audience, a steward would have stowed his cloak and sword, and retrieving them to leave would have been problematic. At least now, he had a chance, if they could make it to the stable.
Entering the stable would be risky, though. They could escape on foot and without his sword if they had to. They could manage all right like that. But he’d need a cloak, at the very minimum.
He shifted quietly toward the door to her outer chambers and pressed his ear close, listening.
When he’d entered, the fire had been burned down to nothing. Now, he could hear it crackling. He studied the edges of the door, seeing the light from the fire seep through. His jaw clenched.
Maybe the servants had come to tend it after he'd arrived. Maybe… but then why had it been left to all but smoldering ash in the first place? One servant might have been late on their rotation, or maybe several rotations…
Or the prince had ordered them to leave the princess alone so no one would discover he’d tied her up and left her to be executed.
Maybe now, the prince was stoking the fire himself.
He turned back to Iseris as she shut the wardrobe quietly. She turned to face him, the smallest smile on her face and a fresh light of hope shining in her eyes. There was fear there, too, and worry. How could there not be?
He glared back at the firelight peeking under the door. Then at his dagger. Yes, he should have brought the sword. If the guards had suspected he was there to murder a royal, it would have been the truth.
Still was, perhaps. The royal in question might end up being a different one than Prince Alekur had planned.
