I shrieked and whipped my head around. The heron nearby jolted, then took off in flight.
I narrowed my eyes. “You scared the heron.”
Prince Thomas snorted. “He’ll be alright. Do you needassistance?”
He walked closer, then dropped to a seat beside me. His hair was ruffled, his eyes dark as they flicked over my thin robe before drifting to the starlit water.
Moonlight traced the sharp lines of his jaw and glinted against the spectacles that perched on his nose.
Suddenly, he turned to me, and I dropped my gaze to my hands.
“You didn’t answer my question.”
My mind raced to moments before, coming up blank. “I…”
“Do you want help?”
I glared. “How could you tell what I was doing?”
“You were either casting a spell—poorly, might I add—or you were trying to feed that sleeping heron by hand.”
“Was it that bad?”
He chuckled. “I apologize. I just meant… it’s clear you’re a beginner.”
My teeth ground together. “Thanks.”
He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it, instead choosing to scratch the back of his neck. “I meant to pull you aside earlier.”
“Like you did in the hallway this morning?”
“Why are you being so combative?”
“Me? You abandoned me in the middle of our conversation.”
He furrowed his brow. “I thought we were done.”
“No,youwere done. I was left behind and embarrassed.”
He picked up a pebble and skipped it across the water before it sank beneath the ruffled surface. “Sorry, I didn’t realize—”
“It’s fine. You’re a prince, so you can do whatever you’d like, of course.”
His body stiffened. “You’re absolutely correct.”
I fumed, watching the troubled waters finally still, my hands intight fists at my sides.
He cleared his throat. “I, er, I wanted to thank you privately, earlier. About Stephen.”
I remained silent.
“You didn’t have to do that—help him, I mean.”
“Of course I did. He needed help.”
“You’re in charge of his chambers, aren’t you?”
I nodded.
