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“Fine,” I croaked, then cleared my throat and headed for the door. “I’m going to the training ring.”
“Of course,” she said quickly. “I’ll make sure there’s some lunch ready for you in case you want it.”
I doubted I would. I could almost feel those raw eggs floating around in my stomach. But I did already feel a touch better as I strode down the hallway and the two guards at the end moved to open the doors, though I suspected that might have been more to do with having something in my stomach rather than any special properties in Jora’s disgusting drink.
The cavernous front hall was cooler than our private quarters, the ceiling stretching high, letting the heat rise and keeping the stone floors from growing too warm. Trees in enormous stone pots dotted the edges of the room, their leaves rustling gently as palace staff crossed the space, going in and out of all the corridors that webbed off from this central room.
There were just so many of them. The Brid had employed an excessive number of staff, and Ash was reluctant to get rid of any and leave them without jobs, so they were all still here. Guards posted at almost every door. A stable of gardeners to tend to the lawns. Countless kitchen staff manning the two working kitchens here—the smaller one where our food was prepared, and the huge one in the cellar where the meals for all the staff were made and served.
I didn’t resent any of them being here, I was just uncomfortable being constantly surrounded by so many people. The unseelie palace had been cold and empty, just a very select number of Folk living alongside us within its walls, the tiny few the Carlin trusted just enough to sleep in the same place. Her royal dressmaker. Her private adviser. A limited number of kitchen and cleaning staff.
The Brid, on the other hand, had surrounded herself with as many Folk as possible, no doubt to soak up their forced adoration and respect. I hadn’t ever met her properly, but I knew she’d been vain and self-centred. Her King of Boars had supposedly worshipped her.
I’d wondered before whether he had been a spiritsmith like me. When Ash and I had inspected the Brid’s sleeping chambers after arriving here, the musty animal scent of him had been all over the furniture and fabric. Had he had another form, or had he… slept in there with her as a boar? I didn’t think he could have been a spiritsmith. He’d been able to talk as a boar, and I’d never heard of a spiritsmith being able to speak in an animal form.
Ignoring everyone, I strode across the front hall to the doors that would take me to the training ring. Before I could vanish through them, I heard a voice behind me.
“Good morning, Prince Lonan.”
Glancing back as I pushed open the door, I realised it was the irritating guard from the day before. The one who had insisted on walking with me.
Turning back, I mumbled a, “Good morning,” as I quickened my stride.
She followed. “Sword practice again today?”
“I was considering it,” I muttered, shoulders hunching as I felt her sticking close behind me.
“Would you like a training partner again?”
“No.”
I heard her chuckle. “Well, I can just keep watch by the door. How are you feeling this morning?”
“Fine,” I croaked, the word burning my throat. “I don’t need company. You can go.”
“I don’t mind,” she said cheerfully, following me out into the training ring.
I squinted against the bright sunlight, pain stabbing through my skull. The air was already so dry and dusty out here—too hot. Sweat immediately dampened my skin under my shirt.
“Warm today,” Sanya commented, though she didn’t sound fazed by it.
“It’s always warm,” I heard myself mutter. I wanted to get away from her, but I wasn’t moving, just staring at the empty stretch of space in front of me. My head pounded even harder, the thought of moving even an inch making me want to curl up in a dark corner somewhere instead.
“Maybe you could do something else today,” the guard offered. “I’m happy to accompany you. A walk in the kingswood, perhaps? It’s cooler there.”
My eye twitched. Confusion rose, twisting into something defensive and angry, but it mingled with something else that made me feel weak and pathetic. The desire for company. To not be alone. To have another person nearby—any person, it didn’t matter who. I’d never craved that kind of companionship from anyone but Ash. I’d always been more concerned with avoiding the rest of my family, preferring solitude over them.
But now…
“Why are you doing this?” I gritted out, spinning to face her and trying not to waver when my head throbbed. “Why are you trying so hard to befriend me?”
“You won’t like my answer,” she said simply, crossing her arms. I stared at her, jerking my chin after a few moments to indicate that she should continue anyway.
Was it… some kind of bet made among the guards? A silly game designed to humiliate me, to laugh at me behind my back?
“You look lost,” Sanya said, green eyes soft in a way that made me uncomfortable. “And lonely.”
I could feel heat rising in my cheeks, so I lifted my chin and gave her an imperious look. “I have Ash.”
