Page 11 of Where Broken Wings Fly

“You couldn’t have picked a worse time to find a pet.”

The sting of the Prince’s words almost made me look up, but Killian’s arm brushed against mine in a warning. “She’s not a pet.”

I caught the shadow of the Prince as he waved a hand at us.

“What is your name?”

It took me far too long to realise he was speaking to me. Killian’s warning was a powerful thing in my mind, halting my desire to respond.

The Prince let out a sigh. “Does it speak?”

“Go on,” Killian whispered to me.

Finally, I drew my spine back to full height and forced myself to look right at the Prince sitting before me. I couldn’t help but to let my eyes roam as they picked up the subtle shining to his various pieces of jewelry, soaring from the dark pieces on his hands and wrists to the shimmering gold around his neck and pierced into his ears that were slightly curtained by his hair.

Even in the long, braided strands of browned-gold hair around his face were entwined threads of actual gold. While half of his matted, rugged hair had been pulled back behind his head, enough of it roamed free to catch the light of the fireflies and reflect those intense rays back from the jewels.

“I speak.”

His eyes widened, allowing an extra illumination to his dark eyes that almost appeared green for the briefest of seconds.

“That, you do.” He leant back against his throne, hooked one ankle over his knee, and set his hands on the rests to his side. “What is your name?”

“Olivia.”

Shea shot forward with such intensity it was a surprise she didn’t stumble. “She should address you as Your Highness.”

The Prince lifted a flat hand to the air to silence Shea. “And when was the last time you addressed me that way?” A dark brow lifted as he bore a gaze into her.

“A few decades, at least,” Shea chuckled as she bowed deeply to him, earning her a slight dip of his chin.

That something that had been in Killian’s voice was now prominent in Shea’s.

It was… familiarity.

“You must have more to you than just being Olivia. Tell me about your titles.”

“Titles?” I croaked, my eyes searching the ceiling as if the answers were written there. “Vet?”

The Prince leaned forward, using an elbow against his knee to hold his chin in his hand. “What does Vet mean?”

Niamh cleared her throat before stepping to my side and bowing to him. “It’s a human job.”

Both of his brows lifted higher as he refused to blink away from me. “Interesting.”

Niamh leaned closer to me. “He means your full name.”

“Oh.” A breathy, nervous chuckle fell from my lips. “Loughty. Olivia Loughty.”

I swore the corners of his lips twitched. “Niamh, Shea — you let Killian steal away this… Olivia Loughty?”

That sense of familiarity and comfort sank into his words as his eyes roamed over the three of them. Perhaps I was a fool, but it was starting to appear like the four of them were friends.

“Just Olivia is fine.”

Fox-like eyes snapped to me as the Prince considered this.

Niamh came to my rescue, saving me from his scrutiny as she answered. “You know Killian. What were we supposed to do, Raegan? It’s your fault, you know. You’ve let him become reckless.”