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“By then, there were smaller orc tribes coming from all directions. My army branched off. And Roar managed to claim victory and survive.”

Yes, Roar had said,“Soon after the army dispersed to take on smaller tribes.”

The snake!

He’d done so well and manipulated my opinion ofVale before we met. All because Roar despised the prince—envied him. And though the two males were, in many aspects, evenly matched, perhaps he even feared Vale?

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “When I got here, I thought so poorly of you, and it was all because of what Roar had told me. It’s why I wasn’t the warmest of fae when we first met.”

Vale’s lips twitched. “Not to sound cocky, but I am pretty unused to females being so standoffish. Though . . . I have to admit, your reaction intrigued me.” He exhaled. “It’s why I was lurking around your corridor the night you arrived. You’dflummoxed me. I’d been half hoping you’d emerge from the Lisika suite—without Roar, of course—so I could get a better read on you.”

“Then I ran right into you!” I shook my head, recalling how I’d flattened myself against his hard chest. “Stars, that was mortifying.”

“Not to mention, tense.”

“You were so grumpy! Probably because you’d been caught!”

“And if you were any colder”—he poked my shoulder—“I would have thought you were made of ice.”

Together, we laughed. The sound of it melted a little of my worry. Yes, Roar had betrayed me yet again, but I’d also learned Vale’s side of the story.

A story that resonated in my heart as the actual truth and made far more sense.

Still, I didn’t plan on letting Roar get away with what he’d done. Neither leaving me here nor twisting his words and preying on my naiveté.

No, the next time I laid eyes on the Warden of the West, I intended to make him pay for all he’d put me through.

Though castle servants would clean it up without argument, we both thought the blood would garner more questions than we were ready to answer. Together, we wiped the blood from the ground and disposed of the glass. We’d finished when I caught sight of the books I’d thrown on the ground, spines up and pages splayed.

I cringed. It was so unlike me to manhandle a precious story.

One by one, I picked up the books, noting one of them was the one Roar suggested to me. The one his older brother, Brogan, loved.

I patted both tomes. “So sorry,” I murmured, wiping dirt off the covers. “Won’t happen again.”

No matter their connection to the conniving warden, I felt bad for treating them poorly. For many turns, books had been one of the few bright spots in my world.

“I’m sorry, but are you talking to a book?” Vale teased.

I turned to find that he’d shed his shirt. My mouth went dry as my gaze scanned his tattoos and the rippling muscles beneath. We needed to wash up for the Courting Festival event soon. Still, couldn’t he warn a lady that he’d stripped?

“I am,” I said haughtily. “Books are my friends.”

He pressed his lips together, clearly trying not to laugh. “I see.”

“I expect that you’ve spoken to your sword.”

That smug amusement vanished as pink tinged his cheeks. “Well . . .”

“Ha! Caught!”

“Skeldaand I are long-time friends.”

My lips curled. I’d heard that term before but hadn’t put two and two together. “That’s her name, isn’t it?”

“It is.”

“High Fae, if I’m not mistaken?” Yvette, my human mother figure in the Blood Court, had taught me High Fae, as well as Vitralic, the vampire language, and English. Though I was not as fluent in the language of fae as I was the other two.