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I nodded.
“Holy shit. I need a moment to process this— Wait.” Her eyes bravely met mine. “Did . . . did something happen when you were with the Prince?” Everything about Naomi changed in an instant. Gone was the teasing seductress, and in her place was an alert tigress. “What happened last night, Lis?”
“Nothing I didn’t allow to happen— nothing that I didn’t want,” I assured her. “He was— I don’t know.” I shook my head. “Not as I expected.”
“He’s said to be— ”
“A monster. I know, but he’s . . .” Prince Thorne was a lot of things— infuriating and entitled, demanding and annoying— but he wasn’t a monster. “I don’t think a lot of what has been said about him is the truth.”
“For real?”
“Yes. I promise.”
“Good.” She relaxed, unfolding her arms. “I would’ve hated having to get myself killed in the process of chopping off a Hyhborn prince’s dick.”
A loud laugh burst out of me.
Naomi crossed her arms. “You think I’m lying?”
“I don’t. That’s why I find it funny.”
“This is the perfect distraction.” She nudged my foot with hers. “I want every last juicy detail about how the dreaded Prince of Vytrus was not as you . . .expected.” She winked. “And I may need a demonstration of exactly how.”
“Well, there may not be time for that,” I said with a nervous hitch to my voice. “There’s more. The Prince requested— and I use the word ‘requested’ in the barest sense possible— that I keep him company during his time at Archwood.”
She blinked once, then twice. “Seriously?”
“Unfortunately.” I gripped the edge of the settee.
She stared at me for what felt like a full minute. “Okay, I don’t believe nothing much happened last night. What are these things that youwillinglydid that must’ve impressed him enough to request such a thing?”
“Trust me, he wasn’t impressed.” Clearly he wasn’t all that impressed, since he didn’t believe I was as experienced as I’d tried and failed to present myself as. “I think he . . . You know, I honestly don’t know why. It makes little sense to me.”
Coming to the settee, she sat beside me. “It’s obvious you’re not thrilled about this. Did you not . . . enjoy your time with him?”
“It’s not that.” I brushed a strand of hair back from my face. “I did enjoy it.”
“But?”
“He didn’t really ask, Naomi. It was more like pretending to ask. He made it clear that he wouldn’t be happy with a no for an answer.”
“I’m surprised he even pretended, to be honest— and I know that’s not the point,” she added when I opened my mouth. “I’ve just never really heard of the Hyhborn actually asking for permission for anything.”
Neither had I. “I don’t like that he thinks he can just make such a demand, and I don’t care if he’s a prince or not. That shouldn’t matter.”
“No, it shouldn’t,” she agreed. “And it would piss me off too.” She glanced over at me. “Did you agree to it?”
“Not really.” I sighed.
“And what did Claude say about this?” Naomi asked, then snorted. “Then again, what could he truly say? A Hyhborn is denied nothing.”
“Exactly,” I muttered. “But here’s the strange thing. Claude has always behaved as if he feared that being around Hyhborn could lead to them accusing me of using bone magic. And I never really believed that to be the sole reason. I think he was also worried another would, I don’t know, coax me away . . . but he was actually relieved by the Prince’s request.”
“I . . .” Naomi’s nose scrunched. “That is strange.”
“Yeah.”
She was quiet for a couple of moments. “What are you going to do?”
