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The Lady
“I’ll be honest—you never struck me as the religious type,” a familiar voice drawled.
Riona turned to find Auberon standing in the doorway of the castle’s private chapel, a crooked smile on his lips. Behind him, the sky was a deep, cloudless blue, sparkling with countless stars. The sight of him standing there, starlight playing across his auburn hair, made her heart skip a beat.
He glanced around the room, and a wry smile tugged at his lips. “Did you only invite me here to see if I’d burst into flames upon setting foot on holy ground? If so, I’m afraid I must disappoint you,aramati.”
As his grin grew, Riona felt all the tension from their previous argument melt away. They had used and manipulated each other, but now they were free. They had won. They could finally leave this court of vipers far behind.
Auberon reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper—the summons Riona had sent him just half an hour earlier. She’d wanted to meet with him in private, but she hadn’t been able to stomach the thought of returning to the Royal Theater after the attempt on their lives. And with the amount of blood she’d lost, she wasn’t strong enough to trek far from the castle. “Ophelia must be growing tired of delivering our messages,” he said.
“Then she’ll be glad she doesn’t have to do it much longer.”
They stood at opposite ends of the prayer room’s central aisle, and Riona started to walk toward him. Her heartbeat picked up in pace with every step, remembering how it felt to sit on his lap, his lips moving against hers, his fingers trailing up and down her body. Remembering how it felt to dance in his arms, his rich, deep voice wrapping around her.
“I never thanked you for saving my life last night,” she said. “Before I was stabbed, I saw the way you jumped in front of our attacker’s blades, trying to buy me time to run. You were willing to give your life for me.”
His smile softened. “As I am now, and always will be,aramati. I would face all manner of man and monster for you.”
“Because you love me.”
“Because I love you.” A flicker of emotion passed across his face, but he turned away before she could identify it. “I told you, last night was a mistake—a moment of weakness. Of recklessness. You shouldn’t have sent for me. I shouldn’t have come here.”
“Then whydidyou come?”
“Because I am woefully short on self-control where you are concerned,aramati.”
Auberon turned to leave, but Riona quickly closed the distance between them and grasped his hand. “Please don’t go.”
Before he could protest, before he could tell her that nothing could happen between them, she pulled him into a kiss. He responded at once, his hands trailing along the curve of her waist and holding her flush against him. The blood magic pulsed within her, sending flares of heat through her chest where the stitches tugged, but she hardly noticed. All she could think about washim.His fingers tangled in her braids, his hand cupping the curve of her cheek. Her teeth caught his lower lip, coaxing a smile from him that made her heart soar.
She loved this clever, wicked boy.
Riona pulled back and leaned her forehead against his, her eyes closed. “Please tell me there is a future for us.”
He was quiet for several long moments, until he finally said in a soft, broken voice, “I can’t, my love, but it will be alright. You have everything you wanted. You’re free now—free to leave this wretched court behind, free to marry Drystan and rule beside him. Free to become the Empress you were meant to be. I cannot give you that.” He leaned back and pressed a soft kiss to her brow, his breath warm against her skin as he whispered, “I only came to say goodbye.”
“Goodbye?” Her eyes flew open, and she stepped back. “Why? Because you think I deserve better than the Emperor’s second son? I don’t want the crown, Auberon. I wantyou.”
“Do you think I don’t want the same?” He took several steps away from her, love and agony in his beautiful eyes. “I want to spend every day with you. I want to dance with you every night, to hold you in my arms and smell your perfume on my clothes when I go to sleep. I want to meet your eyes from across a room and know exactly what you’re thinking. I want to make you smile the way you did after I kissed you the first time. From the very first banquet, I have been yours,aramati.”
Riona moved to him and took his face in her hands. “Then explain to me why we cannot be together,” she said softly.
Auberon faltered, seeming to wage some battle within himself. Riona’s heart thundered in her chest as a mixture of regret and despair came over his regal features. He gently grasped her wrists and pulled her hands away from his face. “Riona, I talk about my mother as if she were dead because sheisdead. I pick up languages and accents easily because I spent most of my life traveling across the northern continent, searching for work and begging for scraps when I could find none. I know about that boy Eamon had whipped becauseIwas that boy.Aramati,” he breathed, “I am not the real Prince Auberon.”
ChapterSeventy-One
The Lady
“Iam not the real Prince Auberon.”
The confession struck her like a knife to the heart. “…I don’t understand.”
“My real name is Caelan,” he said, “and I’ve been one of Emperor Hyperion’s spies since I was fourteen years old. When he received Drystan’s invitation to sail to Rivosa and bid for your hand, the Emperor decided to send someone to accompany the prince and confirm the existence of eudorite mines. He knew that posing as Prince Auberon would allow me to get close to your uncle and the rest of the court without drawing too much suspicion.” He looked pointedly at the eudorite pendant at her throat. “It allowed me to get close toyou.”
Riona took a few stumbling steps back, her fingers rising to the pendant. “What?”
The memories of so many nights filled her mind: every smile, every joke, every touch that lingered just a heartbeat too long. How many of those moments had been real? How many had been nothing more than an act designed to lower her guard?
