Page 26 of Thief of Hearts

“How many of those have you stolen?” I asked.

“Drinks?”

“Goblets.”

“Tonight? Zero so far. Other nights? That would be impossible to keep track of,” he said, setting the goblet down on a table encircled by roses. Another servant came by and he grabbed an additional goblet and drank that one just as quickly.

“You’re going to be hungover tomorrow,” I warned him.

“If I can’t do what I need to do while hungover, then I don’t deserve my title as king of thieves.”

We fell silent and I again took in all the details in the room.

“It is beautiful in here,” I said.

I felt his gaze on me. “It is.”

When I glanced over at him, he looked away and cleared his throat. “The gods have always despised hubris in mortals and that’s what this entire city is. Hubris.”

His reaction surprised me. I would have thought this would be his favorite place to be, given how wealthy they were. There would be a lot to steal here.

“I think it’s like magic,” I said.

“Have a lot of experience with magic, do you?”

He was teasing me, but I actually did. “The queen of Ilion and her sisters call on their goddess and invoke an aspect. The queen is also the goddess’s savior, so she has some unimaginable powers.”

“What does she do with them?”

“Currently? She protects her nation and keeps the peace.” I paused. “And she uses them to keep her toddler from burning down the palace around them.”

He laughed, and that sound—I could get lost in the silken warmth of that sound. It could become something I craved. “She’s also bonded to an aether dragon, so it is a very good thing you let her husband go after you abducted him.”

“Kept him safe,” he corrected me.

It was then that I saw a red, raised line on his throat. I hadn’t noticed it before because I had been avoiding looking at him directly. Like he was the sun and I might go blind from staring at him.

“I did cut you. Why did you say I didn’t?”

His gaze returned to mine and my stomach fluttered. “I didn’t want you to feel bad.”

“Lying to me makes me feel bad.”

“Noted.” He paused for a moment and then said, “Follow me.”

My mother had often been furious with me when I was a child because I’d had a tendency to be contrary just for the sake of being contrary. I found myself wanting to do that now but instead did as he requested.

He led me outside onto a quiet balcony that overlooked the city. Lights sparkled from various houses and buildings. It was like they had plucked the stars from the sky and scattered them among the city.

“I wish I could draw this,” I said reverently.

“You draw?”

“I used to. I haven’t in a long time. My grandmother thought it was pointless when my time could be better spent training.”

He turned to lean against the half wall. “That’s a shame. You should be able to do the things you enjoy.”

That wasn’t how things worked in a Thracian family. I tried to imagine what my grandmother would have done if I had defied her.