Page 3 of Tears of Gold

I shrug. “I’ll be going home soon enough. This place will seem like a distant dream, and it’s not like anyone would believe me if I talked about it.”

He hums low in his throat. “You don’t think Exerin-Mi could ever feel like home?”

Shaking my head, I answer, “Definitely not. I’m an oddball with no qi, and what’s to keep me here? No, I think I’m better off going home as soon as possible. The Davinas can’t want to keep chasing me forever. Even if I once had secrets they wanted, I don’t anymore.”

“I see.” Sadness deepens his tone. “But unfortunately, since the entire rebel camp where you were kept was destroyed, we have no idea if the Davina leaders know you don’t have secrets or if that’s even the reason they wanted you to begin with.”

Something like a whisper walks through my brain. My feet stop moving.

Skye turns to me, his brown eyes glistening with interest. “Ava?”

“Bait.”

He steps closer. “What did you say?”

“She said I was bait.” I pinch my forehead with my thumb and middle finger. An ache blooms across my temples, and I wince. A flash of an image slowly grows substance in my memory; a woman with grey streaks at her temples latching onto my forearm as she peered into my eyes, talking about secrets and powerful beings.

Skye turns to face me. “Who said?”

“The woman at the camp. Hua.”

Skye clears his throat, his hands flexing at his sides. “Ava, you couldn’t remember anything from the camp except staying in a cell, that someone looked in your mind, and something about water.”

He reaches for my hand, but I jerk it away automatically, my fingers clammy. “Do I know more than one prince?”

Skye’s brow furrows. “I don’t think so. You’ve heard of Erritt’s brother Anik but never met him.”

I shake my head as if that could clear the cotton wool of my thoughts. “She asked me which prince . . . I . . . She said someone else wanted me, and I was bait to draw them in.” The memories feel disjointed as if they don’t quite belong to me. Yet as they settle, I’m certain they happened in the cabin at the Davina camp.

“Bait for Prince Erritt?”

“No. Hua said it was for a female.” I chew on my bottom lip, trying to remember more. Why is this coming back to me only now?

A soft exhale whistles between Skye’s teeth, and his eyes brighten with excitement. “Ava, you’ve remembered something! This is amazing news! We need to tell Erritt.”

I shake my head. “You can tell him. You just heard what I said.”

“Nuh-uh. Ava, you’re not even sure about what you’ve said, so it’s not something I can repeat. Plus, you might remember more as you talk about it.” His dark eyes widen with pleading, and he reaches toward my shoulder to touch me but barely brushes my sleeve before pulling back.

A chill of apprehension finger-walks up my spine. “Why do I need to report to Prince Erritt?”

A flicker of something I can’t interpret crosses Skye’s face, and he rubs at his jaw before answering. “Well, the prince has taken responsibility for your welfare while you’re in our realm, so he needs to be updated. Come on. He doesn’t bite, you know.”

Reluctantly, I nod. “Alright.”

If he’s taken responsibility for a foreigner on his planet, I should inform him, especially with information about the Davinas. I’m a bit foggy on the details, but I know they’re rebels against the government. Their organization name sounds familiar as if I’ve known it a long time, and yet I can’t put my finger on why.

Skye smiles, revealing his dimples, and leads the way through the stone porticos that cover the walkways between the academy buildings. I may have agreed, but the prince is so damn intimidating, with his straight posture and constant stern expression, I drag my feet as I trail behind Skye, my stomach tying itself in knots.

Chapter Two

Ava

A few minutes later, Erritt’s aide, Vanrey, answers our knock at the door and immediately ushers us inside. The tall elemental who’s always at the prince’s side looks to be in his late thirties with sun-streaked brown hair combed back neatly and a trimmed beard. I’ve never seen him without the black-rimmed tablet in one hand, and his every word and movement suggest crisp efficiency—an imposing bodyguard for the second son of the Exerin emperor.

Stepping into Prince Erritt’s office and seeing the searching look in his eyes as he greets me, I’m not entirely sure the prince won’t bite me. Something tingly in my belly makes me wonder if I wouldn’t enjoy it, which raises questions since I also feel so nervous around him—like how someone with a crush might react.

Is that what I’m feeling? I clasp my hands together, watching Prince Erritt stand and walk around his desk to greet us, his tall frame neatly filling out the jacket with rows of gold chains hanging across the front. There’s no doubt he’s a good-looking man, clean shaven with dazzling bright blue eyes.