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Chapter 21

Ifloat up the stairs toward my suite, still in disbelief over the whole conversation with Bash. Everything makes sense now—why he ran off, why he’s so guarded and pushing me away, why he gets into so much trouble. Anybody would be jaded after going through as much as he has. But even so, he wants to risk his heart on me.

My heart soars at the thought. He really does like me, and as crazy as our being together seems on the surface, it’s perfect. Neither of us really fits in with the Royal School for our different reasons.

When I enter the room, Halen looks up from a table full of textbooks and papers. “Where have you been? And why do you look so happy?”

I close the door and lean against it, unable to find the words. “Things are turning around for me.”

“How so?” Her eyes widen with obvious curiosity.

“Things.”

She rushes over to me. “You can’t leave me hanging like that! Did you make up with Bash? Is that what’s going on?”

I take a deep breath. “Am I that obvious?”

Halen twirls a lock of my hair around her finger. “I can read you like a book. Don’t forget, I’ve known you forever.” She tilts her head. “Did you kiss him? Tell me everything!”

My heart thunders at the memory. I grin like a fool, but don’t care.

“Oh, this sounds good!” She drags me over to the couch. “Tell me everything, and don’t leave out a single detail.”

I close my eyes and see his gorgeous face looking back at me with the backdrop of the garden. “He took me to a garden, and he told me his heart-wrenching past.” I look at Halen, who’s staring at me with wide-eyed wonder. “It’s not my story to tell, but it all makes sense. Why he’s so standoffish, and why he gets into so much trouble. He’s a tormented soul, and it explains his music. Nobody could sing with that much emotion and angst without having suffered.” I press my hand on my heart. “His lyrics really hit you here, you know?”

“Really? I’ll have to give them another listen. Now I want to know what he’s been through.”

“Don’t get your hopes up. He’s never even told Neva or any of the other band members.”

She grabs my shoulders. “And he told you?”

I nod.

“Like, his whole life story?”

“Not every detail, but basically.”

She leans back and clutches her heart. “That is the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard! The tortured artist and the displaced princess—it’s better than the movies!”

“I really wish people would stop calling me princess.”

“That’s what you are.” She studies me. “The king’s daughter.”

“I’m just a first-year student. That’s it. I don’t want any special attention. Back home, I was invisible, and it was fantastic.”

Halen laughs. “I’d rather be a princess.”

“Until you have to live it.”

“Yeah, but who else has managed to put Earwyn and her dogfish in their place?” She lifts a brow. “Just this girl. The princess.”

“Oh, stop.” I glance at her class notes. “We’d better study.”

“Like you need to.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You picked up more government facts in a half hour than the rest of us did with a full day of studying plus having been here all semester.”