Page 25 of Of Masks and Fury

“There,” Mae said, stepping back to admire their work. “Beautiful as always, Your Highness.”

I looked like a stranger, nothing like the woman who’d slept in Trew’s arms.

My ladies curtsied and departed, leaving me alone with my guard. Silence stretched between us, heavy with everything we couldn’t say.

“Breakfast?” Trew asked, his voice pitched in that slightly higher register that made him sound like someone else.

“Yes.”

He opened the door and stepped aside, gesturing for me to leave the room. With Pherin on my shoulder, I walked past him close enough to catch his scent. My body remembered exactly how he tasted on my tongue.

Morning light flooded the breakfast room, and the table had been set with more food than any of us royals could possibly eat. Fruit and pastries, eggs and meat, bread still warm from the ovens.

Trew took his position near the wall, his hands clasped behind his back.

Since we were alone, Pherin landed on the table and dragged a pastry off the platter. She started pecking at it, gulping down bites.

I tried to eat while feeling Trew’s gaze on me like a physical touch.

Every movement I made, he watched. When I reached for my teacup. When I cut a piece of fruit. When I dabbed my mouth with a napkin. His stillness felt predatory, a hunter with prey. Except I knew exactly what he wanted to do to me and it had nothing to do with hunting.

Our eyes met, and the jolt of connection nearly made me gasp. Heat and hunger and desperate need hung in that single glance. I forced myself to look away.

I was going to combust before nightfall.

Mae entered with fresh tea, setting the pot beside my plate. “Will there be anything else, Your Highness?”

“Actually, I have a question.” I kept my voice light and casual. “I haven’t seen Commander Thorne since I returned. Is he well?”

Her expression shifted, surprise flickering across her features. “You didn’t hear?”

My pulse quickened. “How could I? I haven’t been here.”

“He left about a week ago. It was very sudden.” She poured tea into my cup, steam rising between us. “Some say he was dismissed, others that he fled.”

I forced myself to sound only mildly curious. “Why would he flee?”

“No one knows for certain.” Mae lowered her voice. “But Martha in the laundry saw him leaving through the eastern gate at dawn. He had a woman with him. She was petite, Martha said. Dark hair. She wore a hooded cloak that covered her face and most of her form.” Mae set down the teapot. “She seemed unwell. Martha said she saw the woman stumble.”

Thorne could’ve taken Addie. I’d been traveling. Even if he’d tried to reach out to me, I wouldn’t have received his message.

What if he’d had no choice but to run with her?

My eyes flicked to Trew, and he gave the smallest nod.

“How strange,” I said, picking up my teacup with hands that wanted to shake. “I hope everything is alright.”

“I’m sure it is.” But Mae’s expression said she thought otherwise.

She left me alone with my guard and my spiraling thoughts.

Petite. Stumbling. Dark hair. Could it be Addie?

“Your Highness.” Trew’s voice cut through my thoughts. “Your father requested that I familiarize myself with the castle grounds. Perhaps you could provide a tour today?”

The perfect excuse. We could have hours alone together, or as alone as we could manage in a castle full of eyes.

“Of course.” I stood, tossing my napkin onto the table. “We should start with the main corridors.”