His tone and manner were perfectly at ease, as if he was watching something as ordinary as receiving the morning post. I only tore my attention away from the guards’ movementsto send him a much deserved withering glare and whispered admonition to keep his voice down. My chest cinched at seeing him not crouching out of sight beside me, but standing fully exposed for the searching guards to notice.
“What are you doing?” I hissed as loudly as I dared. “You need to hide!”
“Forgive me, but it’syouwho needs to hide; I’ve committed no crime.”
“Considering you were about to inform me how to breach the enchanted barrier, consider yourself an accomplice.”
The goading words did nothing to cajole him into cooperating; he merely offered that infuriating grin that felt more like an attack than a sincere smile. “I’m not sure you’ve earned my favor enough to invoke such a privilege. Might I suggest a bribe?”
I cringed at his playful voice, jarringly loud in the circumstances. “With or without a bribe, you’ll be accused of aiding an escaped criminal by association if you don’t stop drawing unwanted attention to us.”
Even with my reprimand he still made no move to duck out of sight. Though the guards drew nearer to our hiding place, for some strange reason they didn’t appear to notice him or our whispered conversation…which did nothing to encourage his silence.
“This has turned into quite the memorable first meeting,” he continued conversationally. “Stalked, mistaken for the man of your dreams, and now I find myself unwittingly aiding a criminal. Whatever my curiosity may have been about you before is nothing to what it is now.”
Several retorts burned my tongue, but a sudden movement snapped my focus back to my pursuers. They were drawing nearer, now close enough for me to hear their frantic voices. They were still too far to decipher all their words, but a singleone drifted towards us that caused Evander to glance at me with new interest.
“Princess? You?I must have missed the coronation. So it’s not a crime you’re running from, but a crown…or did you steal it?”
His words triggered a brief, faint image in my mind: my hands wrapped around a crown, my heart seized in horror at what I’d done. I blinked in confusion. That hadn’t been part of my heist that had gotten me into this whole strange situation. Had it been from my dream?
I shook my head to clear my thoughts; now was not the time to be distracted. “I’m not the princess,” I snapped in as quiet a whisper as I dared, keeping a close eye on the guards’ movements, drawing ever closer.
“If that’s true, then there’s no need to hide because they’re clearly looking for one...unless your conscience has given you another reason to fear discovery.”
Now wasn’t the time to try explain a situation I still didn’t fully understand—how I’d woken up in a world I didn’t recognize and become entangled in a reality that didn’t make sense.
I peered back through the leafy shrubbery. Though my pursuers frequently glanced our way, my hiding place held true…but it wouldn’t be sufficient the moment they were close enough to discern hints of violet silk through the patches in the hedge.
I needed to figure out how to sneak away…but Evander’s unwanted presence made it difficult to focus, years of training lost in those laughing eyes. I attempted to wrangle my concentration in submission. My options were severely limited—I could either camp out behind this hedge for the foreseeable future, take my chances out in the open and make a run for it, or make another attempt to scale the impenetrable wall…whichwould require the cooperation of the last man I wanted to seek it from.
Beggars couldn’t be choosers. I heaved a weary sigh. “Now would be an excellent time for you to share your wisdom on ancient barrier enchantments.”
He tilted his head with far too innocent an air. “What do you mean?”
Did he expect me to grovel? I gritted my teeth. “You offered to assist me with breaching the wall.”
He lifted a taunting brow. “Ah. Unfortunately I can’t help you with that.”
I rounded on him. “But you said?—”
“It appears you misunderstood my knowledge of enchantments. My claim was that this protective enchantment was not beyond my knowledge,notthat I knew how to override it.”
Fury tangled with my rising panic. “You toying scoundrel!”
Too late I realized that in my emotion my voice had escalated loud enough to draw suspicion. The guards turned at the shout, and after a few barked orders, began hurrying closer, leaving me nowhere else to escape. After years of surviving countless heists and close calls, had I finally reached the end of my adventure?
By Evander’s triumphant smirk, he’d clearly baited me, giving me reason to suspect he was in cahoots with the guards after all…and like a fool I’d fallen for it. Attraction was a tool that could entrap even the most skilled thief.
“Might want to rein in your temper if you hope to charm your way out of your latest predicament.” He nodded towards our newly arrived guests.
The guards now surrounded us, enclosing us like a noose. I hastily counted them, the numbers helping me maintain a sliver of calm. A dozen—a tricky number, but not impossible to evade.Despite my reassurances, my heart beat wildly in my ribs, each beat a testament to the fear I couldn’t feign away.
I wouldn’t go down without a fight.
Fists clenched, I braced myself as one dark-haired guard broke away from the sea of armor glinting in the early morning sunlight. I immediately recognized him as Tomas—the Captain who’d acted as my escort during my sojourn at the palace, both to and from the dungeon and for the private audience with their Majesties.
He stepped forward, expression unreadable. I glared at him, my first attack before he drew near enough for me to punch him. I could likely manage at least one hit, two if I was lucky, before he drew his sword.
