My eyebrow raised.
“It’s so hard to keep track of all of Lioran’s love interests. The two of you are still together, right?” Pyrran asked Cora.
Silence fell in the corridor. I clutched the flowing fabric of my gown and twisted it.
They were together—no one told me. I glanced at Fyn. His lips were pressed firmly together. Fyn was never silent,until now.
“Oh…I hope I didn’t say too much. It seems I’ve made the princess uncomfortable.” Pyrran chuckled.
I smoothed my expression—my face would betray my every thought.
“Prince Pyrran, will you be staying with us?” Cora held her head elegantly high.
Anger flooded me. He averted his gaze from mine.
“I believe my visit will be brief this time. Lioran and I have business to attend to before I head to the High Court.” Pyrran leaned in, towering over me.
“Prince Lioran. There is a matter I wish to speak with you about when you have a moment.” My voice quaked.
“Certainly, let’s discuss it.” He nodded at me, before returning his attention to his brother. “I’ve had a room arranged for you. We will feast tonight and continue our conversation then. Lady Cora can show you the way.”
Cora flinched at the mention of her name.
“I imagine you know your way around here well, Cora.” Pyrran placed his hand out for Cora. She looked back at me as she placed her hand in his, before they disappeared from view.
“Fyn, keep an eye on them,” Lioran commanded.
“Yes, Your Highness,” Fyn murmured as he started after them.
The smell of oak and moss hovered inside his study. Candles flickered in the windowsills where ivy sprawled. Bookshelves curved with the edges of the room and rose all the way to the ceiling. Lioran gestured for me to sit. His nostrils were still flaring.
“I didn’t know your brother was here.” I gripped the back of the leather armchair, still seething at their words.
“It was an unwelcome surprise for us all.” He braced his hand on the edge of a bookshelf. “What did you want to tell me?”
My fingers dug further into the stiff leather.
“I think the blight has reached the Heart. When we were in Othryl, the trees were lifeless.” I traced my hands on the leather-bound books, inspecting them. Some written in another language and some in ours. “I usually sense something from trees when I touch them, almost like a hum, but when I touched one earlier, I felt nothing from it. I think the blight is here, too.”
He drummed his fingers on his biceps as his chest heaved. The candlelight flickered highlighting the deep circles beneath his eyes.
“You’re not surprised,” I said.
“No.” He lifted a glass of deep brown liquid from his desk and took a single sip. “I’ve felt it for some time. It’s slowly shifting through the lands.”
“You feel it, too?”
“I sense every bit of change in these lands that happens…like it’s a part of me.”
I had to touch something to fully sense it. But he just felt it.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“The blight ismyproblem to deal with.”
“You brought me here to fix it?”
“What could possibly make you think that?” he snapped as he set the glass back on his desk.
