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She understood his words well enough. He wasn’t worried about her, he was worried about her using magic if she lost her control. Somehow that made perfect sense. She should have known that that would be his concern.

“Fine.” She stood, drinking the contents of her glass quickly. “Are you coming, Your Highness?” she said mockingly to Malaki.

He only stood and offered her his arm as they walked down the dais, and she hated that he didn’t rise to the bait. He always had some cutting remark to make, but instead he was painfully demure. When they got to the floor, the musicians changed their music to a slower tempo.

Malaki made eye contact with Borno and gestured to increase the tempo. The music was fast enough that Wren didn’t have time to think about anything else. Her feet quickly found the pace as she moved around the room, Malaki always close beside her. He spun her and she tilted her head back, looking up at the vaulted ceilings.

The tempo rose to an impossible beat and she breathed in the stale air, her breath ragged with exertion. One more spin and the music stopped suddenly leaving her crashing into Malaki’s arms, her hair falling in her face. Wren panted, realizing the weight that had lifted from her chest. She laughed, putting her hand to her chest. Malaki was breathing fast, too, looking at her as if she were a puzzle.

She bent over trying to catch her breath. “Thank you,” she rasped. She stood back up and he was still watching her. “Truly, I am better. I don’t know what happened. I felt so much anger.”

It was as if the music under her feet had expelled something from her. The anger that had been raging in her quelled enough that it felt like a fog had lifted from her mind. Wren had never been prone to poor temper and now that her mind was free all that was left was guilt over her behavior.

“Did something happen, Wren?” he repeated his question from earlier.

“Why are you asking me that?” she voiced her earlier thought, but this time it was a quiet plea to lie to her. If he knew the truth she couldn’t bear it. She wouldn’t be able to bear that he was being so kind to her despite knowing what had happened between her and Wesley.

“What happened, Wren?”

Her eyes fought desperately for something or someone to spare her from answering his question. They quickly landed on Wesley who was nearby watching her with unbridled concern. She averted her gaze quickly, but it was too late. Malaki looked between them and Wesley turned and left the hall.

“I see,” he said, dangerously quiet. Before she could protest, he turned and left her standing there. She moved to where one of the servants stood with a tray of wine and greedily took another, downing the glass with lightning speed.

“Easy, Wren,” said Richard as he took the glass from her hand. “You are giving my father exactly what he wants. I’ve never seen him so delighted, and I can promise you that that is not a good thing for you or for my brother.”

“What do you care? You hate your brother and apparently me,” she spat.

“I don’t hate you, Wren. Quite the contrary which is mildly annoying. As for my brother and I, we have a complicated relationship,” he replied calmly, as if that explained everything. “I can’t get you out of here yet without him dragging you back, so we need to make the best of this. You don’t need to talk to anyone or do anything. You just need to be present. Stay with me and I will handle the small talk.”

She was almost grateful for him as he deflected each noble’s attention away from them by bringing up their family or something they were interested in. She quickly realized that Richard was good at this. He knew what moved each member of the court and he wielded it like a weapon.

She hadn’t seen Sophie approach until the small woman stood in front of her, her small frame taut with tension. “Not now, Sophie,” warned Richard.

Sophie only glared up at him before turning her glare on Wren.

Before Wren could ask her why, Richard stepped between them.

“Not now, Sophie. She needs to get through this.” Then lowering his voice, he added, “He wants her to get through this, Sophie.”

Wren blanched and groaned aloud not caring who heard. The wine was making her head foggy, but now she understood what this was about. Oh, gods, even Sophie hated her now. All she had was godsdamned Richard Blackwood as an ally. She was sure that if she died now she would just be reborn again to live a different kind of torture.

Sophie seemed to back down, but the glare she reserved for Wren was full of unspoken reprimands. “You are an ass, Wren Blackwood.” She said the last name as if it was a curse. Wren watched her friend as she stormed off and thought for sure she would just pass out right there in the middle of the hall. She reached for another glass of wine, but Richard smoothly took it from her.

“A little bit longer, Wren. There are some things wine can’t fix.” He placed his hand on the back of her arm to steady her. She hadn’t even realized she had swayed.

A few more members of the court came by, and Richard talked to them jovially. He casually turned his head to his father on the dais after the last one left and the king nodded subtly. “Okay, that’s enough.”

Richard took her arm in his and walked her from the hall with her only stumbling once. As they walked down the hall, she tripped once more and would have landed on her face if it were not for Richard catching her.

“Gods, Wren, you drank more than a grown man could handle.” Then he was picking her up, and she was too tired and the room was spinning too much to protest. When they made it to her room, he kept on walking.

She knew where he was going and she tried to protest, but he didn’t seem to care. Shifting her, he knocked on the door. There was no answer.

“Brother, I know you are in there. Open the godsdamn door, your wife is heavier than she looks.” She glared at the younger prince.

The door opened and Malaki stood with his shirt halfway undone showing the muscles of his chest and upper abdomen. His hair was tousled, and she couldn’t help but think how handsome he was. There was something wrong with her. She had caused so many problems and yet she seemed content to continue on making them.

He stood to the side and motioned for Richard to enter, still carrying her. He shut the door behind them as they entered and moved to the door to her room, opening it for them. She hadn’t even realized she had left it unlocked.