“Oh, nothing—it’s nothing.” Corvin pulled away, ears blazing red.
“It most certainly is not. Wait here a moment.”
She moved toward the soldiers only to find her path blocked by a thin man with a pinched face, leaning heavily on a cane. The steward, Mr. Huxley.
“Your Royal Highness, may I—”
“I’ll speak with you in a moment, steward.”
Curtness. Mark.
She didn’t care.
She turned to the officer in charge and gestured at the full squad. “What is the meaning of this?”
The officer stepped forward. “Per the king’s proclamation regarding Casters, my squad was given orders to escort Guillaume Reeves home after the tournament.”
As if he were aprisoner!
Aria breathed slowly, willing herself to consider the full situation, to weigh the responsibility of her kingdom against her personal feelings. Yet she found herself unable. Everything she had done in recent months, she had done for her kingdom, yet she’d gotten it all wrong. Widow Morton thought her an opportunity. Her father thought her a liability. She had tried desperately to be a worthy princess and wound up as nothing more than a scared girl, destined to either be auctioned off in competition or to be killed in it.
Perhaps it was time to do something simply because shewantedto.
Raising her voice to be heard by everyone nearby, Aria said,“Lord Guillaume is perfectly capable of finding his own way home. I imagine he knows the route better than you, officer. Your squad is dismissed.”
The officer started. “Highness, I—”
“Was it my father who gave your orders?”
“No, Highness. Lord Philip—”
“I outrank an adviser to the king. For the second and final time, soldier, your squad is dismissed.”
Though clearly still baffled, he saluted the order, and the soldiers peeled away.
“Boy, you told them.” Leon grinned.
Baron gave a slight cough, though it did nothing to cow the boy’s open enthusiasm.
“Your Highness.” The steward was back, sweating along his brow line. “If I may,Iwould feel much more at ease with an escort of soldiers. You see, during my time at the Reeves estate, I have found the Caster to be belligerent at best, and at times even—”
“You may not,” Aria said flatly.
He blinked. “Highness?”
“You said ‘if I may,’ Mr. Huxley, and based on the implications that followed, I have given my response: You may not.”
When Baron had first presented himself to the king, she’d missed the opportunity to fight for him. When she could have told Eliza of the man who’d begun worming his way into her heart, she’d kept him secret.
I’m sorry, she thought. She couldn’t fix it all, but she could fixthis.
“Your Highness ...” The steward gave an uncomfortable chuckle, glancing at the crowd blatantly eavesdropping on their confrontation. He was right; she couldn’t forget the crowd. Everything she said and did in this moment would determine their opinion of Baron.
So be it. She would give them something to consider.
Aria made a little shooing motion, and after a moment’s hesitation, the steward shuffled away, leaving Aria with the people she actually wanted to speak to.
“Corvin.” Her voice softened. “You’re certain you’re all right? I could send for a physician’s ointment.”
