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The sleeping boy jerked awake so quickly that he nearly toppled from his desk. He righted himself, gaping at Farrendel as if he had gone to sleep in a boring class and woken up in the middle of the apocalypse.

Essie struggled to keep her smile tempered into a practiced princess smile rather than a smirk. She lifted her own hand, drew on the magic in the heart bond, and let a few bolts of magic curl around her fingers. It was still strange, to see magic coming from her hand, even after all the months of practice she’d done with Farrendel.

After a few minutes of demonstration, Essie wrapped things up and orchestrated a graceful retreat.

When she and Farrendel were finally in the closed carriage, Farrendel slumped onto one of the benches, leaning his elbows on his knees, resting his head in his hands. “I do not think I can do this.”

Essie sat next to him, rubbing his back as the carriage started forward. “The public appearances?”

He shook his head, still not looking at her. “Taking classes. I like the correspondence courses, but in person…” His breathing turned ragged, a pitch of panic twisting his voice. “And after the truth of my birth comes out…”

“It will get more difficult, I know.” Essie wrapped her arm around his shoulders. “But fall classes don’t start for another five months. The scandal will be old news by then.”

“I still…I still cannot…” Farrendel’s breathing hitched, switching back and forth between ragged and too measured. “Could you come? To the classes?”

Essie grimaced. She didn’t want to copy Iyrinder’s route and take classes, especially not for a degree in magical engineering. She had taken a few classes—enough to appear to be an educated princess—but she had never managed to get an official degree in anything. It was always a fine line between being there for Farrendel when he simply could not manage on his own and gently pushing him.

“If it helps, I can visit Hanford University on your first few days of classes.” Essie reached with her free hand to clasp his fingers. “But you’ll have Iyrinder with you. You won’t be walking into those classes alone. And you’ll have your magic to protect you.”

Farrendel rubbed at his temples. “The stone buildings are going to cause an issue as well.”

Essie winced. All elves had an intolerance to stone, but Farrendel was especially susceptible. “Right. I’ll make a note to make sure we are stocked up on jars of elven healing medicine.”

Farrendel nodded against his hands, but he still didn’t seem too convinced that this could work.

Essie didn’t press him. If she pressed for a decision now, then Farrendel would unenroll before the night was out. No, better to give him silence and space until he was calmer and not in such a panic.

Whenever that would be. Likely not for a while, with all their public appearances and the scandal about to break.

Chapter Seven

Jalissa sat on the floor of the library, paging through the book about Escarland’s Kingsley Gardens. Elidyr bustled along the shelves, pulling out books, taking notes, then putting them back.

“I’d like to go there someday.” Jalissa sighed and stared down at the book in her lap. It was a foolish dream. With the tensions between Tarenhiel and Escarland, they were more likely to end up at war than inviting an elven princess to visit.

“Go where, amirah?” Elidyr glanced over his shoulder at her.

“Escarland. The Kingsley Gardens.” Jalissa turned another page, staring at the painting of the rose garden. “I would love to see so many plants in one place.”

“Perhaps you will, someday.” Elidyr shrugged and turned back to the shelves. “You never know what can happen.”

Jalissa swiped her sweaty hands on her skirts as she waited in the garden outside the back door of Buckmore Cottage. Why had she ever agreed to this? What had she been thinking?

Footsteps crunched on the gravel of the path between Buckmore Cottage and Winstead Palace a moment before Edmund ducked under a tree branch and stepped into the garden.

As he straightened, that lopsided smile of his crossed his face. “You aren’t going to fool anyone if you look that glum to see me.”

Jalissa tried to mask her expression, but she did not think she succeeded. Perhaps a blank mask was not much better than appearing glum.

Edmund’s smile widened. “Yes, that’s perfect. We wouldn’t want to make this fake relationship look too romantic. It will be that much harder to call it off later.”

Jalissa huffed a sigh and could not help the twitch of a smile. Why did Edmund have to make it so hard to stay icy and aloof around him? “You said we were going into Aldon today. I suppose we are visiting the Market again?”

She resisted the urge to grimace. The Aldon Market was nice enough, especially the artists’ section on the upper level. But browsing among so many people in such a noisy place was not something with which she was comfortable.

Edmund’s grin remained in place. “No, the Market is more Essie’s thing than mine or yours. We’re going somewhere that I know you’ll like much better.”

“And you aren’t going to tell me?” Jalissa raised an eyebrow at him as she took his arm. Her guard, Sarya, fell into step behind them.