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“You’re royalty.”

Haden raised an eyebrow at me.

“Not really. I’m a bastard child of a king. He never claimed me as his daughter, so I’m not technically royal.”

“You’re royal,” Cassius insisted. “If you don’t like it, you can tell them to stop. They’ll listen to you.”

I nodded in response and took a bite of my food. I saw Cassius look at Haden with a pointed look, and Haden threw up his hands in surrender. He was smiling brightly at Cassius, and the whole exchange seemed odd. Obviously, there was more to this story, but I didn’t pry. I listened to them talk about training schedules for a while. Cassius had been running them ragged.

“We have less than a month until war starts. We will need to go scouting,” Cassius announced at the table.

“Is war really necessary?” I asked.

“I don’t want war, but your father and Jesper will declare it when I don’t return you.”

“No, they won’t,” I sighed. “My father is too scared to start a war if I am not in Cerithia. If anything, he will just try to kill me to start the curse over again.”

Cassius’ jaw clenched at this statement. Kace stared at me so intensely that I had to look down because it was making me feel anxious.

“You’re probably right, but we still need to be prepared,” Cassius spoke. “You can train with us if you’re feeling up to it.”

I nodded but said nothing.

“How did you discover Lavtan?” Kace asked as he began shoveling food into his mouth.

“I was snooping around and saw him go into my father’s throne room. It was a complete accident,” I chuckled softly.

“Lucky for us,” Zaden said with a smile.

“Speaking of lucky,” Haden smiled. “Where were you last night, Kace? You never came to your bunk.” Haden wiggled hiseyebrows at Kace and smiled when he refused to answer. “Fine, keep your secrets.”

I couldn’t help but smile at their banter. I glanced at Cassius when I felt him staring again. His gaze was intense.

“Would you like to go somewhere with me today?” he asked.

“Ok,” I agreed.

Haden was smiling brightly at us as we watched each other.

?????

Cassius was giddy as we rode our horses through the woods. Something about the area was familiar, but I could not place it. After a short ride, we arrived at a small hot spring, and I realized why it seemed familiar. It was the hot spring from my memory with him. Cassius glanced at me and smiled like he was so happy to just be with me.

“A hot spring.” I looked at him.

“You love this hot spring,” he answered back as the horses stopped.

I slid off Kaida and headed towards the spring. I could feel its warmth without even getting in. Nothing sounded better than soaking in the hot water. My eyes glanced at Cassius as I contemplated whether I felt comfortable undressing in front of him. Could I trust him? My mind waited to see if my darkness would protest, but she did nothing.

Slowly, I started to undress. When I glanced to see what Cassius was doing, he was standing with his back toward me. “What are you doing?” I asked.

“Giving you privacy.” His fists were closed tightly at his sides, and his voice was tight with desire. It made me smile as I slipped into the water.

“It’s nothing you haven’t seen before,” I called out. Cassius glanced over his shoulder when he heard the water. He strode toward me, stripping his clothes off too. I couldn’t look away from his muscles and tattoos. Cassius gave me a cocky grin asI continued to stare at him, not giving him the decency he gave me.

“It’s not polite to stare,” he teased.

“I can look away if you want.”