Page 5 of A Storm in Every Heart (Enchanted Legacies #2)

He crosses his arms over his chest. “And you’re a prissy little princess, but I’m polite enough not to scream about it in public.”

I toss my hair over my shoulder with a sniff. He’s exaggerating; this is hardly public.

The village of Storia is alive with activity. Sunlight bathes the thatched roofs and timber-framed homes in a warm, golden hue. Villagers fill the cobblestone streets, but not a single one of them pays us any mind.

“Are you going to tell me what you’re doing here?” I demand. “I assume if you had to be the one to come get me then someone is dead.”

His dark eyes widen. “No, nothing like that. It’s not urgent, Alix just needs to talk to you.”

“And she sent you to find me? I don’t believe that for a second.”

“Believe whatever you want, Princess.”

My scowl intensifies. “Fine. I’ll be home shortly. I just need to wrap things up here.”

“Wait!” He steps in front of the door, blocking my way. “You can’t seriously be thinking of going back inside.”

“Don’t tell me what to do, Your Majesty .”

His eyebrows twitch, betraying a hint of annoyance. “Don’t call me that.”

“You’re lucky I didn’t shout it for the entire street to hear. Now, move .”

Kastian crosses his muscled arms, refusing to move an inch. “What happened in the shop to make you bewitch the owner?”

“He refused to sell me what I wanted,” I say irritably, attempting to sidestep him.

“What was it?”

“Nothing you’d care about. Now move before the compulsion wears off and I never get what I came for.”

Kastian ignores my agitation and my attempts to push past him, a smile spreading across his ridiculously handsome face. “I didn’t know you had magic,” he says, his tone shifting from irritation to curiosity in the blink of an eye. “What else can you do?”

“None of your business,” I snap, even as my chest gives a painful squeeze. It feels something like anguish, and I wish I could pretend I didn’t know why.

There was a time when Kastian knew all about my magic because I told him.

There was a time when I would have told him anything.

That dark thought morphs my frustration into rage. I’m so over this little game of keep-away. I’m so over him. “Fine,” I snap, turning on my heel and stomping away down the cobblestone street. “Fine! Block the door all night for all I care, I’ll just come back tomorrow.”

I’m displeased but not surprised to hear Kastian’s footsteps following me down the road. I shoot him a glare over my shoulder, which he apparently interprets as a cue to quicken his pace and walk beside me. My frown deepens even further.

“I know you can walk faster than this,” I grumble after a long seething silence. “Don’t walk slowly on my account.”

“I can’t let you walk back alone.”

“You can. In fact, please do.”

He grins, as if trying to counteract my scowl. “But how would I explain it to everyone if you got lost? You have to admit it’s possible, you get distracted walking from the kitchen to the garden.”

“Don’t act as if you have the right to pretend you know anything about me.”

His eyebrows pull lower, displaying a hint of frustration, but when he replies his tone is almost impossibly calm. “Fine, not lost, then. You could still be kidnapped.”

I scoff. “Why the hell would anyone want to kidnap me?”

“Besides the obvious?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I feel his eyes on me. “Yes you do. Besides the fact that you’re the most beautiful woman in Vernallis, you’re the king’s sister and the queen’s best friend. If I was going to hold anyone for ransom, I know who I’d choose.”

My cheeks heat, but I refuse to give him the satisfaction of backing down. “That’s funny, because if I was going to hold anyone for ransom I’d say you’re a far better choice, Your Majesty. ”

He stiffens. “You really need to stop calling me that.”

“Why? Afraid someone will finally realize who you are?”

He shakes his head. “Because it’s not true anymore.”

Startled, I meet his eyes. Over the past year, ever since Kastian fled Dyaspora with Daemon, Jett, and Fox, he never once acknowledged that there’s any truth behind my taunting, or admitted that I’m aware of his identity before he was imprisoned.

I want to needle him about it, but that would require more talking…and honestly, even if he were to talk about “ before ,” I don’t want to hear whatever warped version of history he believes is true.

“I won’t get lost or kidnapped,” I snap. “It’s a five-minute walk back to the manor.”

“Ten minutes with how slowly you walk.”

Out of spite, I slow my pace even more. His legs are so much longer than mine he’s forced to take comically tiny steps just to keep in pace with me.

I almost smile.

“I see you want to prolong our time together,” he says over the sound of his shuffling feet.

The smile slides off my face.

I like to play this game with myself where I have to go as long as possible without thinking about His Majesty.

It works surprisingly well. Except that I’ve long suspected that Kastian is playing a similar game.

He likes to get under my skin, and every time I react it’s like he’s tallying up the points I’ve lost and hoarding them for himself.

I’m not sure how, but I think at some point we began playing this game of hatred together.

And he’s winning.