Scythe turned the lamp up, her eyes wide. “What happened today?!”
“We need to find Tallon’s room!” I hedged, searching the darkness in the direction the footsteps had faded.
“Nienna! What’s going on?” She grabbed my arm as I tried to crawl past her.
“I hate Tallon,” I hissed, struggling against her grip.
Her nails dug into my skin like claws. “I know!”
“And he hates me!”
“Iknow!”
“And I lo—like–” I faltered, my words strangling me. I glared down at her hand, desperate to pull free.
“Nienna, I know! But why is the king so riled up about you?”
“Because he kissed me!”
Scythe’s jaw dropped. She snapped it shut, blinking as she digested that. Her grip loosened, and I sank against the wall, clutching my arm to my chest. My heart pounded, and I hated how wrong it felt to say it aloud, even though I trusted her.
“Is he a good kisser?”
Her mischievous grin pulled a reluctant laugh from me as she pressed against my shoulder.
“Gods, does Edith know?”
“She was sleeping like the dead when I snuck out. She’s as clueless as the staff.” I sighed, rubbing my face.
“Well, someone else knows.”
“Greaves was the one who… well, he found us,” I muttered, wiping away the spiderweb clinging to my leggings.
“Lucky man.”
“Scythe!” I laughed, giving her a playful shove.
“What else happened between you and Tallon, then? His royal brattiness growing?”
“Worse,” I groaned. “He’s bitter and lashing out. He doesn’t want this union, and the more time we spend together, the worse it gets. We’re at each other’s throats now. Last night, he attacked me–”
“And you didn’t kill him?!” She twisted in the cramped tunnel, eyes scanning my body as if she might find a wound I’d hidden.
“Kill him?” My laugh was bitter. “With what? I have no dragons here. No magic. I stole his dagger and fended him off, but not before he accused me of seducing his father.”
“That’s not a bad idea. Do you think if–”
“Scythe.” I cut her off with a sharp glare. “There is no me and Kallias.”
She leaned against the wall, lips pressed together, studying me with quiet intensity. She lifted the lantern, holding it higher, like she could peer into the depths of my thoughts, my unspoken desire for the king.
“The contract says I’m to marry the prince. Think of the scandal if Kallias tried for my hand. Father would ride Argos here and lay waste to the palace.” The blood oath could only be purged in dragonfire. “I’m marrying Tallon.”
Scythe grimaced, wrinkling her nose, but she didn’t push further. I was grateful. I didn’t need her to fuel any foolish hope. Neither Radaan nor Draconia could survive that.
“Right then, Future Queen. We’re missingsomethingdrastic.”
Chapter Twenty-One
