“So,” Arthur begins. “How are you feeling about delivering the message to the Hollowborns tomorrow?”
I tense, and my hunger vanishes. Ever since I’d gotten the king’s message about me going to the Hollowborn, I’d had a sense of dread deep in my stomach. I’d actually been working really hard tonotthink about how nervous I am abouttomorrow. It might be true that I had one decent experience with a Hollowborn, but I’m not a fool. Hollowborns are infamous for shooting the messenger. And that’s exactly what I’ll be: a messenger. I don’t even know if I’m bringing bad or good news. We’ve agreed to work with them to share our resources, but their leader will also be “forced” to marry me. No matter how old or ugly he might be. No matter how awful I might find him.
Still, as much as I might not want to marry him, he might not want to marry me just as much.
“I’m nervous,” I admit.
“Well, you’re going to be just fine. You’ll deliver the message, then be in and out,” he says through bites of his food.
“Not necessarily,” Prince Alaric says. “We shouldn’t set Harper up for failure. She’s going to be seeking out our enemies on her own. She should be entirely prepared for them to betray her. She and Ebron need to come up with a plan to protect themselves should it go wrong, which I seriously think it might. And if I were you, my plan would be to run. There are too many of them and only the two of you. You won’t win against those odds.”
My heart hammers in my chest.
“Stay close to Ebron. Don’t let them get between you and him. Don’t let them surround you,” Prince Gareth says grimly.
“And have your hand close to your dagger at all times. Be ready to strike if you need to,” Prince Lucien says, looking thoughtful.
“Really reassuring,” I joke.
Prince Gareth’s blue eyes lock onto mine. “We tried to get father to agree to send us with you. Do you want us to try again?”
I’m shocked. “You tried to come with me?”
“Don’t sound so surprised,” Prince Lucien says. “We’re betrothed. It’s our job to take care of you.”
Really? Nowit’s their job to protect me?
I huff. “Don’t blame me if I find that hard to believe.”
Prince Alaric frowns. “We think sending you to the Hollowborns is dangerous. We think you’re more valuable than to take that kind of risk. If we showed up with you, they’d likely come out to talk anyway, and then we’d be there to take care of any issues that might arise.”
Talk about hot and cold. These men don’t have a clue what they want.
“You guys are ridiculously confusing,” I say, spearing a piece of meat and chewing on the tender beef.
“Why is that?” Prince Lucien asks, those piercing green eyes of his locked onto me.
Arthur snorts. “Didn’t I already make our stance clear? You’ve been complete assholes to her and now you’re acting all protective of her. It’s kind of contradictory, don’t you think? I mean, if the Hollowborn were to just kill Harper, you wouldn’t have to marry her, and you wouldn’t have a female dragon rider in the academy. So you’d think them killing her would do you a favor.”
All three men look some mix of surprised, disgusted, and insulted.
“We wouldn’t let Harper die just to get her out of the academy,” Prince Lucien says, eating his food in an aggressive way, which is a little funny. “We prefer to win in an honorable way.”
“Good to know,” Arthur says, seeming amused.
Arthur talks some more about the city, and the different foods he’s tried. He even goes on to list the foods he’s eaten in the academy from his most favorite to his least favorite. I like that he’s talking. I like that he’s keeping things light and distracting me from my worrying thoughts. Besides, his talking gives me an excuse to watch the princes eat. To wonder whatthey’re thinking.Are they truly trying to keep me alive so badly because of honor? Or is it something more?
When the bell announcing the end of dinner chimes, I startle, having been lost in my own thoughts. I give Arthur a hug, while Tesson stares on, glaring. And the three princes stand close by, every muscle in their bodies tense. Then I walk out, surrounded by the big men.
We make our way out to the training yard. Night has fallen, and with it a cool breeze has found its way through the academy. I’m glad for the warmth of my leathers as I call Ebron to me, and my dragon lands in the training yard, followed by the princes’ dragons.
How does it go with your soon-to-be mates?Ebron asks me quietly as I climb onto his back.
Weird.I think about how best to explain our situation.They’re being… nice to me and acting really protective.
Good!
It should be good, right?
