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He drew in a long breath. “I’m just glad that’s all behind us. I never want to see anyone threatening your life ever again. It’s happened far too often already.”
“Don’t worry.” My arms wrapped around his waist and squeezed tightly. “I don’t think I’m likely to meet another Grey.”
“Thank goodness for that.”
I tried to pull away, conscious of everything we still had to do before leaving Eldrida the next morning. He tightened his grip, though, holding me in place.
“Can we stay like this—just for another minute?” he asked.
I settled back against him with a happy sigh. “If it was up to me, we could stay like this forever.”
* * *
Carriages and teams of horses were provided for our journey to the capital, and we were even given priority for the barge crossing. It was the most physically comfortable journey I’d ever made, but my nerves only strung tighter the closer we got.
Normally Nik would have been the first to notice, but I took extra care to hide it from him since I didn’t want to feed into his concerns.
Amara took me aside to check in on me, but there was nothing she could do to ease this particular anxiety.
“There’s no denying you’ve had a tempestuous romance,” she said with a sigh. “And I can’t promise there will only be smooth sailing ahead.” She gazed at me, a thoughtful look on her face. “But I’ll do the best I can to ease your way.”
I gave her a surprised look, but she only smiled.
“I am your master after all. I should do at least that much for my apprentice.”
Although she’d only spoken in generalities, her words comforted me somewhat. I was still only halfway through my apprenticeship, and no matter what else happened, I would still have Amara for a year yet. She had always managed to sort out every situation we’d encountered, so maybe she could somehow sort this one out too.
But when we entered the streets of Tarona, my tension started growing again. As the wheels rolled over the cobblestones, I peered out the window at a city far larger than any I’d visited so far. By the time we arrived at the stone wall surrounding the palace, my churning stomach was making me wish I hadn’t eaten lunch.
Large gates opened for us, and we entered an enormous courtyard. I had expected to alight in front of the palace, but to my surprise the horseshoe building in front of us wasn’t the largest of the structures within the walls. The towers and turrets of the palace loomed on our left, but the building in front of us was separate although built from the same gray stone.
“Welcome to the Tartoran Mages’ Guild.” Amara quirked one eyebrow, a slight smile on her face as she watched my reaction. “Does it meet your expectations?”
I gazed in some astonishment at the formal garden beds in the middle of the boxy horseshoe. The effect—which could have been grand—was broken by the occasional section of riotous growth and a sprinkling of odd-looking fountains.
Amara followed my gaze, nodding toward one of the areas where the garden was completely overgrown. “The work of the plants apprentices, of course.”
It made sense, but something about it didn’t fit the pretentious, image-focused concept I’d always had of the mages and the Guild.
“I don’t know what to make of this place,” I said at last. “But why are we here instead of the palace?”
The driver of the closest carriage peered down at us. “I thought you were all mages? Aren’t you reporting to the Guild?”
I glanced at the other two carriages as everyone climbed out. Obviously he hadn’t recognized the prince and princess.
“The Guild is fine,” Amara said, and the man smiled in relief.
Whether because of the driver’s mistake, or because our exact arrival time was unknown, there was no welcome party to greet us. I suspected it wouldn’t be long before one arrived, however.
“What do you think of it?” Nik asked in a low voice from behind me, making me start.
I twisted to see his face, taking in the tight lines of his body and his set expression.
“It’s very impressive,” I said. “I can’t imagine growing up in a home like this.”
His eyes grew distant as he gazed across at the castle’s towers. I wished I knew what childhood memories were running through his head.
“You can do this,” I said in a low voice, gripping his closest arm. “You can do this, Nik.”
