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I rolled my eyes and pushed him away. "Absofuckinglutely, I will. You're the last person I'd want to fuck on this ship, and that's saying a lot considering that steward had a mouth full of needles."
Shaking my head, I turned and resumed my ascent.
Jaiel chuckled softly.
"Well, in that case …" he brushed past me as we hit the main deck, "I call the top bunk!" Then he darted off toward the opposite side of the ship.
"Hey!" I yelled as I chased after him, dodging deckhands and passengers.
He was too fast, though, and I didn't catch up until we reached the edge of the passenger cabins.
"One more rule." I said, catching my breath. "No one can EVER know about this little situation."
People knowing we were on a mission together was bad enough. But if they found out we'd shared a room?
Jaiel stopped at the entrance to a hallway and turned to look at me. "Of course. I'll even promise not to ravish you … unless you ask me for it, very, very nicely."
Did he never drop the flirtatious prince act?
"I'm serious."
"Don't worry, Princess." He chuckled. "I'm teasing. This will be our little secret."
I searched his eyes, but he seemed genuine.
"Fucking Roain," muttered a tall, fish-like sailor as he passed us.
Jaiel ignored it, just as he had every other time, but I couldn't anymore.
"Okay, I have to know. Why does everybody keep calling you that?" I cocked my head to the side and gestured to the man walking away. "Did you sleep with the captain's wife or something?"
The prince's gaze slid to the side, and he reached up to fiddle with the earring at the top of his pointed left ear. "Ehh — not quite. But it's not something you need to worry about. They may act tough, but the tension always settles down in a day or two when they see I'm harmless."
It was always like this? Holy hells. "And Roain? What does it mean?"
"It doesn't mater," Jaiel said, shrugging as he strode off down the hall. "There isn't even a word in your language for it."
"Wait. What?" I chased after him. "It does matter! Try explaining, at least!"
He let out a pained sigh and stopped walking, but refused to look at me. "Fine. I was born different from most Fae, Princess." His voice was tight. "You saw that earlier."
His hands clenched at his sides as he forced himself to meet my gaze. "The closest word in your language to Roain is Empty. I was born … empty … of what makes Fae a Fae."
My throat tightened at the odd vulnerability in his gaze.
"It's why I was so attractive to the kings," he said, shaking his head wryly. "It doesn't matter, though." His lips curled into a playful smile. "I learned long ago that ignoring it makes it go away."
Hells. My stomach sank.
Even I knew ignoring something didn't actually make the problem go away.
But then again … who was I to judge him?
The entire morning, people had been yelling at him, spitting at his feet, and just being general assholes.
I'd have been furious in his position!
But he'd just let it wash over him. Every. Time.
