The sun climbed over the tower roof, its rays warming my back. Time to go. Selena had asked me to come to her rooms for a surprise, but I’d dallied all morning. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to see Selena.
Thaan’s rooms sat beside hers, too close for comfort.
Sighing, I left the view of the sea behind, creeping past Kye’s door on my way down the stairs and taking a shortcut to thewestern wing—a sky bridge I normally declined to use, which overlooked the training yard. A major artery in the palace, the wide hall was often full of royal officials and guests who roamed in thick flocks on their way to the kitchens or the offices. Or so I’d always assumed. This morning they all seemed intent on weaving in the same direction, toward a side of the wing I hadn’t explored where the Royal Guard set up their morning rituals.
I found myself angling my head toward them as I passed, curious what the fuss was. Then, because I was in no hurry to go anywhere near Thaan’s rooms, I followed.
Over the bridge and through a wide corridor, tall windows on each side, the crowd of people faced out the panes of glass, their faces ranging from entertained to bored as they focused on the grassy fields beyond. The noise grew as I neared, metal clanging, the sharp cut of blades slicing the air, the hollow ringing of steel on shields, punctuated by deep voices, grunts, and quick laughter.
I ducked to the closest window, and as I gazed out, a faint smell of blood touched the edge of my tongue, silvery and salty. I quickly found the source—a man standing off to the side, a sodden cloth hanging from his nose, his face alight in self-deprecating laughter. He was watching what everyone else seemed to be, two men locked in a sword fight. Some distance away, a white dog lay in the grass, his head upright as he watched over his outstretched front paws.
Hard leather armor across their chests, the two men practiced without seeing the crowd. Each wore a baldric over his shoulder, empty, which swung in motion as they darted and lunged. Their swords twanged against each other in metallic ripples, sending sparks into the air.
One of them I’d never seen before. His long hair had been tied into a lazy bun, and humor rang through his gaze as he swungat his adversary, who deflected the blade and spun out of range before leaping in with his own strike.
That one I recognized. He might’ve been bathed in leather, but I’d spent too much time staring at the line of those shoulders to not know them. Finding a gap between onlookers, my eyes followed him as he twisted and turned, dark hair flying behind his head.
“Aren might be stronger, but Nikolaos will always be faster,” came a voice close beside me. “He’s been as quick as a whip since the day he was born.”
I turned my head then stopped as my eyes met with the heir to the throne.
There was no mistaking who he was. Though his hair was lighter, his skin slightly pinker, and his eyes a paler shade of brown, he was Kye’s brother. Prince Hadrian. He had an aristocratic grace about him that Kye hadn’t inherited, but there was something in the architecture of his facial bones, some ghost of their mother’s Cressian heritage, that was easy to place.
He smiled at me, his head cocked softly to the side, eyes taking me in. “You’re the Leihaniian Lady. I wasn’t sure you existed until the counsel approved of you. Nikolaos made his announcement a week ago, but I’d thought it was another tall tale he’d made up to somehow sneak out of the palace again. Did you come to watch him practice?”
“Yes,” I answered, with no other idea of what to say to him. Darkness flickered within me.Come to watch him.As though he were someone I cared to—
Kye parried an attack, made a swipe of his own, and paused as I spoke. He couldn’t have heard me through the glass, but his head whipped to the crowd—right at me, standing at Hadrian’s side. He glanced a second time, making sure I really was there, as the sword of his opponent smashed across his head.
A metallic ringing echoed in the windowed hallway, muffled as the sound traveled through glass and stone.
Kye crumpled, his body hitting the ground with a dull thud.
My heart stopped.
Beside me, Hadrian snickered. “Well, that doesn’t happen often.”
I gasped out loud as I leaned against the glass for a closer glimpse.
The onlookers lifted to their toes, peering over each other’s shoulders to see if he was alright. Outside, the guards standing nearby rushed in. The rat bastards enclosed themselves around him like aMihauna-damned veil over a face, leaving only hints behind—a knee straightening, an elbow propping up against the turf.
Gradually, the guards melted back to the sides. Kye leaned against another guard’s shin, grinning at his opponent—Aren, according to Prince Hadrian—with one eye squinted shut, though his eyes shifted between Hadrian and me. Aren kneeled in front of him, one hand on Kye’s shoulder, asking questions that Kye answered in good humor. He offered Kye a hand, hauling him to his feet, and they strode together towards the edge of the grounds, out of sight.
“Want to see him?” Hadrian asked. Through the glass came a shout from one of the captains to end the training session and begin target practice.
“I—no. I have somewhere to be,” I answered. He watched me crane my neck, trying to glimpse them again.
The corners of his eyes crinkled. “Come on.”
I had no intention to obey, but the crowd immediately carved a path for us the moment Hadrian’s foot stretched out before him. His tone had been light and friendly, but an air of command magnified his soft-spoken words, and as he stalked down the hall, I knew I had little choice but to follow.
“I’m pleased to make your acquaintance,” he said, folding his hands behind his back as he walked.
“The pleasure is mine, Your Highness.” Thoughts stumbled around in my head. What do you say when speaking to a prince?Are you enjoying your morning? The weather is lovely?The options bounced behind my eyes, though none of them sounded clever enough to say out loud.
“I’m so sorry,” I smiled in a way I hoped made me seem demure. “I’ve never been good at small talk.”
“No one is, though they all think they are.” His playful eyes roamed over my dress, my face and hair, with a look of amusement. I had the sudden feeling he was searching for details to taunt Kye with later, and resisted the urge to cross my arms over myself and hide. “Idle conversation was only ever made for predators hunting for fools.”
