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I’m frozen solid, unable to breathe, unable to move, not even sure if I can blink.

“I’ll wait for you to want it, Firecat.”Then he drops his hand, turns on his heel, and swaggers back toward the camp.

I’m left with a puddle between my legs from one slow brush of his fingers to the side of my body, and a raspy whisper to my neck. What just happened? I…hate him?

“Just promise me you won’t fall in love,” he calls back over his shoulder.

I probably shouldn’t laugh as hard and loud as I do. “You sure have a royally high opinion of yourself if you think you’d be the one to find a heart where it doesn’t exist.”

He shakes his head as he continues to walk away.

Yes. I hate him.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

I’m so sick of people thinking I am something to conquer, something to achieve. Riley is no different, even if his words and his touches are smoother; it’s all the same because it’s not about me, it’s about them.

I’m pacing back and forth in the forest, and it takes me a moment to realize that I am so worked up, I’m shaking. I take a deep breath and try to calm the never-ending tornado inside. Steeling my shoulders and straightening my back, I stride back to camp. Everyone is back and getting ready to settle down.

“There she is, we thought maybe you’d gotten lost!” Beans tries to joke while throwing an actual bean at me.

“Oh, I was just checking around to see if I was the only person here who didn’t know Riley was the Prince Ofnemoris,” I respond with fake brightness as I hurl the bean back at him.

Beans looks contrite and stands to offer me his seat by the fire. I wave him off and sit across from him in front of the fire instead. Riley starts to chuckle before I cut him a death glare that has him turning it into a cough instead, trying to hide his smile.

“Am I being played for a fool here? Should I not trust any of you?” I say to the fire and whoever is listening.

“For the record, I wanted to tell you when you got to Mama’s.” Bitty’s clear voice rings out as they make deliberate eye contact with everyone around the fire.

“Noted, Bitty,” Beans says wryly. “It was a calculated risk, and it was ultimately decided that it would be better if you didn’t know. You might have felt more pressure with Lyss’ sibling around, and perhaps not comfortable in the presence of the royal family who have purchased you. It was the wrong call, Mika. Please forgive me?”

I nod, unable to look at any of them. Beans isn’t the one I don’t want to forgive.

“Tovi tells me it was a group of Erduborn men harassing you at the bar?” Beans asks with sincerity.

Before I can answer, Tovi cuts in. “I went back to speak to the owner. He said the men you had been talking to had already left.”

“They were telling the truth about Riley, so what about everything else they said?” I ask.

Tovi answers me. “Of course we aren’t selling you to the king as his sex slave. We aren’t so sophisticated to have told you this entire strategic plan and discussed it daily for it only to be a ruse.”

“So, the princess is missing?” I venture, needing further confirmation.

“Yes.” Riley’s change in demeanor at the mention of his sister is instant. And the fire that was burning so hot inside of me only a moment ago extinguishes just as quickly.

And it occurs to me that it’s no wonder he’s been drinking. His sister has been missing for months.

The sun rises far too early the next morning. My mood is tempered dramatically when Beans and Tovi arrive with a breakfast of two giant, freshly baked, and still steaming loaves of bread.

One loaf is savory, with spicy pork mince woven through it and a sharp cheese browned on top. The other is the deep brown color of cacote, and much to my delight, has the nutty and sweet flavor to match. Beans cuts the bread into big, healthy-looking slices for us, and we all eat greedily, polishing off both loaves by the time we’re ready to leave.

Despite the early morning, Teorann is a hub of activity. We obviously aren’t the only ones hoping to be on the first barge. With our packs on and trudging toward the beach, the dirt gives way to sand, and the large trees of the forest begin to thin.

I smell them before I lay eyes on the bright pink and yellow flowers of a tree I don’t recognize. The air is filled with a rich and sweet scent, like honey, but with more spice and slightly fruitier. The perfume alone was enough to have me looking around in glee before I spotted the flowers themselves.

The trees are tall with big curly leaves and thin branches drooping downward. The flowers cluster together along the branches, slightly swaying in the morning breeze, and the five-petal blooms have a soft velvet look to them. They are mostly white and then ramp up the color to a warm yellow in the centers, some with a magenta pink along the edge of the petals.

I stop and reach up to run my hands delicately along a branch. The flowers caress my skin and bees dance in and out with heavy bags of pollen on their legs. A big hand reaches up and plucks a flower from the branch I’m staring at in rapture.