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“Humor me.”
“Are you doubting me?”
“No, but I wouldn’t feel as restless if I was able to trust that it’ll work every time.”
“So what do you want? A demonstration?”
“Perhaps.”
“Later this morning then? After my training with Sandus?”
He kissed me softly. “I may be a fool to admit this, but it’s near impossible for me to deny you anything, so yes, later this morning is fine.”
A tingle raced up my spine. “Good, then in that case, I’ll see you soon, my prince.”
* * *
I mistphased backto my chambers, and the second I appeared, my sister spun toward me.
Her hair was in disarray, her eyes bloodshot. “Blessed Mother, where were you? I’ve been worried sick all night.”
Her frantic expression made guilt bite me hard. “I’m sorry. I should have sent someone to tell you I was fine.”
“But where were you?” She gripped my hands, her wings flexing.
Sighing, I cast a silencing Shield around us, then nodded toward the sofa. “Come. I’ll tell you, but it’s imperative that you don’t breathe a word of this to anyone.”
She cocked her head but followed, and once I was certain Cailis understood the gravity of the situation, I told her. Everything. About the way I’d been feeling toward the prince all this time, his secret oasis hidden within the Cliffs of Sarum, our family’s faked deaths and that they were actually still alive and living on the tip of Isalee, the acknowledgment of the mate bond I shared with the prince, and the magical night I’d spent by his side.
When I finally finished, it was well past sunrise, and I knew Sandus would be growing impatient at my late start.
“They’re alive?” she finally breathed as tears poured down her cheeks. “Mother? Father? Tormesh? They’re all alive?”
I nodded, emotions bubbling up in me as we hugged and clung to one another. “Alive and well. And they’re happy, Cailis. Well, as happy as they can be given the circumstances.”
“Can I see them?” she asked. “Can I visit them on the Cliffs?”
“Not now, but soon hopefully.”
She pulled back, wiping her eyes. “And you and the prince, he’s really your...”
“He is.”
She shook her head, her look of disbelief turning to wonder. “How long have you known?”
“I’ve suspected it for a few weeks, but I didn’t know for certain until yesterday.”
She shook her head again, then laughed as another tear rolled down her cheek. “I had no idea.”
“Neither did I for the longest time.”
“Does this change our plans, then?”
I nodded vigorously. “It does. I don’t want to escape anymore, Cailis. I want to win the Trial. I want to marry the prince.”
She squeezed my hands. Shock, awe, and humbleness I rarely saw in her surfaced as she nodded. “If everything you’ve said is true, then yes, you need to win that Trial and marry the prince.”
* * *
