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“I am kind,” he says simply. The boat sways, and he compensates, then throws a glare at the ceiling. “Figures we’d be made to wait on that stupid, spoiled—”
“I suggest you not finish that sentence,” says Kilbourne, and all the warmth that existed in his tone earlier is gone now.
“What are you going to do?” says Lochlan. “Throw me overboard? Don’t think I don’t know why I wasinvited.”
“You were invited as an extension oftrust,” I say.
Surprise lights in his expression, and he gives a brief, derisivelaugh. Any flickers of kindness have vanished. “The sad thing is that you really believe that. Karri loves you, so I’m going to have to assume you’re just naive, because anything else would be insulting.”
“Oh, good,” I say. “I’m glad you’re not going to getinsulting.”
He takes a looming step toward me, and my heart thumps.
He must see the fear in my expression because he stops. “Again,” he says, “you’re scared ofme, when you should be scared ofhim. You probably think he brought you for some reason other than keeping him warm at night.” My cheeks flame, but he’s not done. “Somehow you’re smart enough to make the Moonflower work better, but you’re too stupid to figure out that the King’s Justice is a dirty liar who should be chained to the rudder—”
Kilbourne shoves him into the opposite wall so hard that the doors rattle. The movement is so quick and so violent that I give a little yip and press my hands to my abdomen. He might be good-natured, but he’s still a guardsman. Even Silas looks startled, but he catches up more quickly than I do. He puts a hand against Lochlan’s shoulder to pin him there, then glances at Kilbourne as if to ask if they’re taking it further.
Lochlan doesn’t fight him; he just looks at me. “Do you see?”
“I gave you fair warning,” Kilbourne says.
Footsteps echo from the opposite direction, and I turn to see Captain Blakemore approaching, followed by Corrick and Rocco.
The captain’s steps slow as he sizes up the situation. The hallway is narrow, but he waits for Corrick to draw abreast. “Your Highness. Are your people going to be a problem?”
Corrick’s eyes flick from me to Lochlan. “It doesn’t look like my people were the onescausingthe problem. Silas, see that he returns to his quarters.”
Lochlan draws himself up like he’s going to retort, but then he lets out a breath and shakes his head. He looks at me. “Just wait. You’ll see.” He pauses, then throws a look of pure hatred Corrick’s way. “And when it happens,” he says to me, “be sure to tell Karri I loved her.” Then he shoves past the prince and the captain and slips into a room just a bit down the hall.
Corrick looks at me. His hair is damp, his clothes shining where rain soaked into the shoulders of his jacket. His eyes, as usual, are piercing. “Did he hurt you?”
“No,” I say. I realize my fingers are still clutched around the candies that Karri sent. “He wasn’t doing anything wrong.” As I say the words, I can’t decide if they’re true. Too much happened in a short span of time. “He brought me medicine from Karri.”
“Are you unwell, Miss Cade?” says Captain Blakemore.
“I just need to get used to the motion of the boat,” I say. There’s too much tension in the hallway, and I want to undo it. I just have no idea how. “Corrick, I … I didn’t know which room you’d want.”
“Any room will do,” he says. His eyes haven’t left mine. “Captain, you have my thanks.” Then, without hesitation, he takes my hand, leads me into the room at my back, and closes us inside.
Before I learned the truth about Weston Lark, I never saw the prince up close—if I ever saw him at all. But the few times Ididsee Prince Corrick, I remember that he always looked distant and aloof, his eyes cold and unforgiving. The perfect King’s Justice. The perfect executioner.
The night he caught me sneaking into the palace was the first time I knew him for who he truly was, and I’ll never forget the look of panic and fear and uncertainty that was etched into his featuresfor one brief second, before going cold and hard and unreadable, the truest mask he ever wears.
Those are the same eyes looking at me right now. “Are you sure?” he says to me, and there’s a demand in his tone, a demand backed by concern. “I saw the guard shove him away. You weren’t hurt?”
“No,” I say. “He didn’t hurt me. He was just … just mouthing off. Kilbourne shouldn’t have hit him.” The first small caramel has dissolved, and my stomach already feels better. I take one of the peppermints next.
Corrick watches my action, but he says nothing. I wish I could read his expression.
I hold out the bag. “Would you like one?”
He hesitates, then shakes his head. “No. Thank you.”
The cabin is dim, lit only by an oil lantern hung suspended along the wall. It’s light enough for me to see his tension, the tight set of his shoulders.
I should have waited on the dock.
After a moment, this candy settles my stomach enough for me to take a deep breath, and maybe that eases the tension in the room, because Corrick sighs, too. He runs a hand back through his damp hair, then begins roughly jerking at the buttons of his jacket. Once it’s loose, he shrugs free to toss it over the back of a chair.
