Page 46 of The Heart Trials

I nod, though my chest twists.

“He said he should hang me in the streets,” Caelus says.

“From the sound of it, Skyborn wouldn’t be very happy about that.”

“Perhaps. He said he would give me a chance to make my own fate. I obviously don’t need to earn citizenship, but the trials are difficult. He’s betting I’ll die. So he can’t be blamed.”

“Why do the Skyborn love you so much?” I ask.

“I don’t know. It’s hard to know what Skyborn think.”

I look for a shift in his posture or fidgety hands. Either he’s an expert liar or he really has no idea why the Skyborn seem to worship him.

“Why do you hate your father?” I ask. It couldn’t be more clear. He’s undermining him, stealing from him. “What did he do to you?”

“The less you know the better.”

“It feels like you’re playing some twisted game with me when you keep me in the dark.”

“Well, I’m not.”

I tell him about the death certificate his father left me on my pillow. “He knows my father was accused of being a rebel, which isn’t true. Are you sure he doesn’t suspect me of being a part of your cousin’s schemes?”

“He doesn’t,” he says, fishing something out of his pocket. He pulls out a driftwood-handled blade that used to live in my hair bun. “I believe this is yours.”

I reach for it but hesitate, as if it’s too hot to touch, too real. When my fingers close around the handle, I can feel its carved grooves against my skin. “Thank you,” I say.

“Sure thing. I saw a guard with it and knew it had to be yours. The carved markings on the handle are from an old fishing wives’ tale.”

“How much do you know about Saltblood?”

“I’m the Prince of Ethyria. It’s my job to know all the districts, their cultures and histories.” His gaze flicks away.

“No one saw you take this?” I slip my dagger into my bosom against my chest.

“No. We’re safe. For now. But my father isn’t completely naive. I spared you from execution. He knows I’m against him. He may become suspicious, which is why we can’t be seen together. How did last night go?”

I hug myself, thinking of Serafina still at home burning up with a fever she can’t cure. Did the rations arrive today? Was there medicine this time? “It was fine.”

“Was it really?”

“You have no idea what it’s like outside these walls. Being here around all this, when…” I can see Serafina’s sad eyes. I can hear her raspy cough. “The sooner we get through this, the better. But I need a favor.”

“Yes?”

“I need you to get medicine to my orphanage for a girl who lives there.”

“Curly brown-haired girl about waist high?”

“How’d you—”

The corner of his mouth lifts. “I figured it out when you asked the first time. I had some sent. Enough for a few days.”

I suck in a breath. “I—thank you.”

“We need you focused.”

“Right.” I swallow, meeting his eyes, trying to understand why he would do something so…kind.