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“Prince Roark would like me to escort you outside the palace walls. If you would?” he asks, offering his arm for me to take.
I take Calian’s arm, noting the way he walks with such a straight back it seems like he must have a stick stuffed in his silky leather suit somewhere. His hair is slicked back away from his sharp features as well.
“How have you been adjusting to life as a Princess?” he asks as we make a slow path through the palace, passing servants, guards, and small groups of chattering men and women in expensive clothes. “I had meant to check in with you more often, but the prince has been keeping me busy.”
“I don’t know if I’ll ever adjust to this,” I say. “Am I supposed to?”
He chuckles. “I don’t have an answer for you. Your situation is rather unique. I imagine it must still be overwhelming.”
“It is. I haven’t even been outside the palace since I came here. To be honest, I’m glad Roark wants to meet outside the walls. I’ve been itching to explore the city a little bit.”
“Stay close to Prince Roark on the outside, Princess. The city is not a safe place, especially not in times like these. Your hair will make your identity abundantly clear, so expect attention.”
“Times like these?” I ask, nodding my head in thanks when he holds the palace doors open for me and we begin down the final stretch of path before the gates.
“Turbulent times. Yes,” he says. “I won’t mince words, Princess. News travels instantly among the nobility and the palace, and it travels fast outside as well. The situation between yourself and Prince Roark has reached the public, I’m afraid. Reactions are mixed. Certain factions are… well, they are calling for executions. So please. Like I said, stay near the Prince. Okay?”
I nod. “I will.” I sound more confident than I feel. All my flirtations with Roark and the moments we’ve shared have felt like something I could take back if I wanted, like I wasn’t committing to some huge act of rebellion. Hearing that others talk about it and knowing the entire city is buzzing with the news? Suddenly it all feels a lot more permanent and a lot scarier.
Calian brings me through the final gates separating the palace from the rest of the city. Roark waits outside the wall, dressed in sharp black and a deep blue that sets off his eyes so that they look like sapphires. He rakes a hand through his dark hair and flashes a smirk at me.
Calian slips away, leaving me relatively alone with Roark--if you don’t count the small team of guards standing by the gate or the mulling crowds of city goers passing by in either direction.
“The princess descends from her ivory tower to meet the dark prince,” says Roark with an upward flick of his brow.
“The dark prince, is it?” I ask with a grin. “Are you buying into the rumors about yourself now, too?”
“I never listen to rumors,” he says, reaching to take my hand and kiss the back of it. His lips are warm and soft, calling up memories of the last time they were on me, of where they were on me.
I shiver. “I think that’s probably good, because I’m hearing that we’re at the center of quite a storm of them.”
He shrugs. “Don’t concern yourself with it. Let that be my burden. Come, I want to show you something.”
I let him take me by the hand and lead me away from the gates, noticing the way the pair of us draws open-mouthed stares from civilians. I can only imagine what they are saying, how reckless we must look. I also notice a few unsavory types leaning their heads together and watching us darkly. Those must be the ones calling for executions. I just hope none of them decide to take matters into their own hands.
“Roark, they are saying your life could be in danger. My life too. I feel like we hardly know each other still. Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, what if you end up not liking me once you get to know me more?”
He stops, turning and backing me into the wall of a store. He plants his hand beside my head and leans down so his hair falls in front of his eyes. “You barely know me? Why, because you don’t know my favorite color? Because you don’t know about my childhood? Fuck that. The past shapes the present, and you see me here. Now. You see what my past has shaped and you know it as clear as day. I know you just as you know me, Princess, whether you realize it yet or not.”
I lean my head forward so my forehead presses into his chest. I can feel his heavy heartbeat pounding steadily, his regular, deep breaths. He’s right, isn’t he? Just because we haven’t spent a ton of time together, it doesn’t mean I don’t know him. I know how his hands feel on me, how he longs to protect me, and that he’d risk everything he has just to be with me. I may not know why, but do I need to? It’s like he said, his actions show the past that has shaped him, and his actions are sending a single message loud and clear.
