Though he sounded entirely cavalier, Rose suspectedSebastien’s cheer masked a deep unhappiness. That had to have been a hard fall even for a prince not expecting to become king. And to have lost his mother, too. “I’m sorry,” she said, meaning it sincerely, though the words felt meager in the face of the magnitude of his troubles.
He cocked his head. “I do believe you are, sorry for me, that is. How very outré of you. Typically nobody pities a prince.”
“Sympathy isn’t pity.”
“True enough. Besides which, as you pointed out nearly immediately, discovering I’m a sorcerer, however pedestrian my talents and power, is hardly an event most people would see as a bad thing. And… I like it here. There are definite perks to being here at HASP.” He glanced around at the shelves, the ornately carved ceiling with its flying buttresses and gargoyle faces peering from the shadows, lively gaze skimming the rows of books before settling on her face, warm fascination in his eyes. “You strike me as one of them.”
She shouldn’t feel all fluttery. Courtiers like him flirted as easily as breathing. He couldn’t actually be interested in her, but her cheeks grew warm with a blush anyway, the sexual need she thought she’d successfully deferred roaring new demands. “I figured you weren’t talking about the food. Like me, it’s unpalatable to most tastes.”
He barked out a laugh, tipping his head back to release the joyful sound, displaying a long and tempting throat, his skin as golden as the rest of him. She had to restrain the impulse to lean in and lick that tempting length. “After living at court, yes, I do find the food leaves something to be desired.You, however, are most desirable. Far more so than any shallow court lady. Shall I count the ways you intrigue me?”
“Please, no,” she answered immediately, and a bit too strongly, then found herself flushing. She clearly possessed no skills to counter a determined flirtation and she would need them when she took a job in a court somewhere. The cardinal rule of thissort of thing, from what she’d observed, was to not take it seriously. It was a game, nothing more. “I mean, no need to trouble yourself.”
“As you wish, though I reserve the right to try again in the future.” He continued to gaze at her with such warm admiration that Rose, flustered, fumbled for something more to say.
“So, you, ah, like it here then?” she asked, wishing the bland question back as soon as she asked it.He already said so.
“I do,” he answered easily, seeming happy to have the opening. “There is something to be said for finding one’s, shall we say, tribe. For the first time in my life, I feel I’m among friends,” he added, the most serious she’d yet heard him speak. “I don’t need to be a big fish, which is a good thing, as my gift is so small. I’m just happy to have found my pond.”
“What is your talent?” she asked, realizing she didn’t know. “Or talents.”
He leaned in with a conspiratorial smile. “Just the one. Turns out I can talk to the animals.”
Unusual.“Zoopathy,” she told him, and he grimaced, charmingly, of course.
“I know. But saying I can talk to the animals sounds more fun, don’t you think? Ruff ruff! Mrow. Rawr. Bwok.”
She found herself smiling at his antics—and quite accurate mimicking of the animal calls and movements, making claws of his fingers and flapping his elbows like wings. Then she shook her head at herself for wasting time with this silliness. There were good reasons she’d forgone romance this far and those hadn’t changed. She must keep them firmly in mind. “I should go.”
“Please don’t go.” He seemed sincerely distressed. “I’ve been trying to find an opportunity to talk to you since our one perfect dance and now that I have, I’ve already blown it.”
“Why did you want to talk to me?” she asked briskly, trying to sound as if she expected something school-related. Not thatshe hoped he’d suggest something… steamier. Maybe whatever answer he gave would provide insight into the reason he devoted so much effort with her.
He grimaced a little, adorably, turning it into a half smile. “Because you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen? Plus powerful. Everyone here says how you’re the best oneiromancer since Oneira herself and definitely the star of this little academy. But I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. Everyone here is in awe of you. I’ve always been attracted to powerful things, so of course I wanted to get a little closer to the sun.”
Reading between the lines, Rose easily deciphered his intent. This was about her sorcerous ability. Rather than being hurt or disappointed, however, she found herself relaxing. This made more sense than him being truly attracted to her. And she knew how to handle power seekers. “Careful,” she replied, giving in to the flirtation a bit. Good practice for her. “You might get burned.”
“Mmm, I hope so. Or at least warmed,” he murmured, edging a bit closer. She tensed a little, waiting to feel crowded. Moving slowly, he picked up a long lock of her hair where it fell over her shoulder. “Your hair is like a spill of midnight ink.”
Oh, he was a true proficient. “I’m not sure that’s a good thing,” she replied, marveling at how she didn’t mind his proximity, the light touch. In fact… she wanted more.
He lifted his green gaze to hers. “Believe me, it is. One of the thousand compelling things about you. You fascinate me. But I’m wrong. You’re not the sun, are you? You’re the moon, gleaming against the starless night. A midnight rose. I’d love to know more.” He stood there, long, elegant fingers softly rolling that lock of hair between them as he held her gaze. Tempting.
Thinking practically—attempting to ignore her racing heart and the excited flush prickling her skin, the eager leap of her blood—Rose considered that this young royal could be good practice for her. There might be princes, even kings in her future, if she ascended to the ambitious heights she hoped for. Sheneeded to learn how they thought about their lovers—and she desperately needed experience. Since she actually liked his smell and the feel of him, Sebastien would be an ideal choice to test those waters. A practice lover.
Plus, he was so pretty. She wanted him. And who knew when she’d again find someone she actually wanted? She hadn’t been able to shake the feel of his elegant fingers lightly clasping hers, the seductive press of his hand on her lower back. He smelled appealingly of sunshine and hay, a light musk beneath that might come from horses and dogs, which she hadn’t expected to like, but did.
She and Sebastien would both inevitably move on, bound to different contracts that would likely take them far apart. But they had this time at the academy, the few months she had left.Ifhe was sincere in his attraction. She could touch his dreams to verify his intentions, she supposed. She’d learned how to do that, to find a specific dreamer within the Dream and examine their dreaming minds without altering them. Of course, she’d also learned how to manipulate those dreams, even how to insert herself into the dreams of others. Those were skills that could be valuable to future employers, especially those looking to subvert their enemies.
The subtler touch, however, allowed her to simply look, to sample without the person ever knowing. She should possibly tell Sebastien she planned to do that, but that seemed like a bad foot to start with. Nothing like telling a potential new lover—her very first—that she suspected his motivations and planned to invade the privacy of his mind to verify them. She also didn’t want to explain she would trust him more for verifying that he pursued her for political reasons. But she definitelywouldlook.
“What is the exquisitely beautiful Rose thinking, I wonder?” Sebastien asked wistfully of no one in particular. “Such deep thoughts lurk behind those liquid, dark eyes.”
With a soft laugh, she rolled those eyes, which felt likemarbles in their sockets and not liquid at all. “Your flirtation is terribly over-the-top, Your Highness.”
“Sebastien,” he prompted, a teasing note in his voice. “Remember?”
“Sebastien,” she agreed after a moment of hesitation.
