Just the rain, I told myself. And I knew that was a lie.
Footsteps sounded down the hallway. “Talia,” I murmured. He turned in that direction, and she appeared around the corner a moment later.
She was nearly out of breath. “Your Highness. She’s come. Her Ladyship. The baron’s daughter.”
There was a moment of perfect stillness and wide-eyed surprise on his face. “Catalaya? Why?” He sounded completely baffled.
“I’m not certain, Your Highness. Only that we just received a messenger from the palace gate. Two carriages, soldiers, and gifts from the Northern Prince.”
He frowned, his brow furrowed as if he were trying to unravel a stubborn knot. “I suppose we’ll find out when we find out. Ensure they have everything they need while they’re here.”
Talia nodded. “Of course, Your Highness. Would you like to receive her here?”
“I’m…” He looked down at his sodden clothes. “Damn it,” he murmured, then ran a hand through his hair again. “Probably best not to put it off. I’ll meet her under the dome.”
“Very well.”
She turned and ran off again. The prince kept frowning down the hallway.
“You don’t like the baron’s daughter?” If he was worriedabout another royal with potentially murderous intent, I wanted to know.
He seemed to remember I was standing there, blinked, and looked at me. “We knew each other as children; her parents are aristocrats in the Edgelands. But I didn’t know she was coming. Don’t mention that I pretended to be a guard.”
“She doesn’t know?”
He shook his head. “And wouldn’t understand it if she did. She wears her nobility more easily than I do. I’ll have to be…different.”
Wear a different kind of disguise, he meant. Because as the only royal in the stronghold, he could be himself, at least within the walls of his palace. He wouldn’t have that freedom while she was here.
“You can pretend you don’t know me. Or I can just go back to my room.” I probably looked like a wet cat.
His eyes flashed. “That’s insulting to both of us.”
“I meant it more as an insult to her. I’m not ashamed of who I am. But I might be hard to explain.”Wemight be hard to explain. Which was exactly why I shouldn’t have kissed him. But gods, I’d wanted to kiss him. And try as I might, I couldn’t bring myself to regret it.
“Do you play chess, Fox?”
I blinked. “Chess? The game with the emperor and empress and little soldiers? A time or two at the inn. Why?”
He leaned in. “Because being royal is a lot like chess. Strategy. Decisions. Long-term thinking. And I made a rule a long time ago—I don’t sacrifice my soldiers.”
Then he leaned forward and kissed me hard, one hand at my neck, tipping up my chin, the pad of his thumb over thepounding pulse in my throat, as if he needed—in that moment—to feel my heartbeat. To know whether it raced.
He must have liked what he’d found there, because his smile was wide and satisfied. “Let’s go say hello.”
We made our way to the dome, which was now lit by hundreds of candles on golden candelabras. Talia worked fast.
His hair might have been damp, but he still looked like a prince—shoulders straight, hands clasped behind his back. The space was empty but for guards, until the sound of footsteps moved down the corridor and began echoing across the walls.
“Did she bring a damned army?” he murmured.
Talia appeared first. She stopped and waited for the rest of the entourage to catch up. Then she smoothed her skirt, cleared her throat. “Her Ladyship Serafin Catalaya Lys’Delash,” she said, her voice ringing clearly through the silence.
Catalaya. Just like the blossoming tree the prince and I had lain beneath.
Talia gave a bow and moved aside, Orda in her shadow.
The woman the prince had called Catalaya stepped into view, her face glowing in the candlelight. She was beautiful, with golden hair piled atop her head, pale skin, high cheekbones, and deep-set blue eyes. Her lips were a perfect archer’s bow, and her smile was a perfect mix of womanly confidence and uncertainty. She was tall and slender, her hair piled into glossy and complex braids and dotted with glittering gemstones. Her gown was pale blue and straight, embellished with silver braid at the hems.
