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“Clara had recently discovered her arcane powers. I happened to be in town and, well, we got to know each other,” Kaelis takes over.

“It wasn’t until I went to her home and saw some of the relics passed down on her mother’s side of the family that I put together her unlikely lineage.

After that, it was a matter of finding proof.

Given her mother’s untimely death, she’s now the last living heiress. ”

“How lucky for you.” Ravin’s smile is more like a sneer.

“I’ve had a bit of luck, I think.” I return his smile with one of my own.

“It does sound like quite the fated love story,” Leigh says thoughtfully.

“A legendary love story or not…others have raised many questions about you both.” The king speaks once more. “My court already buzzes like a field on a summer’s day with talk of you two, when they aren’t continuing to obsess over the Halazar escapee.”

“Court gossips should find a hobby,” Leigh murmurs under her breath with a note of disgust. She endears herself more to me by the second.

“I’ve heard those rumors—of the escapee.” I seize the opportunity to shift the topic off Kaelis and myself and not appear to be intimidated by the mention of the escapee. “Is there merit to them?”

“Of course not.” The king scoffs. “No one escapes Halazar.”

“But, Father—” Ravin begins to interject.

The king silences his son. “ No one escapes Halazar. And, were it to happen, the individual would not survive long.” He speaks as though he’s trying to bend reality to his will.

But, for once, King Oricalis’s preferred reality suits me, so I keep my mouth shut.

“What I find far more dangerous is that my nobility doubts the sincerity of your arrangement.”

So much for deterring him from Kaelis and me …

“Let them doubt.” Kaelis waves the notion away dismissively. “I shall continue sending their clans skilled Arcanists, and that will still their tongues. They need not worry about me.”

“You are second in line to the throne,” he says sternly.

“Only until Leigh bears an heir.” Kaelis tilts his head at his brother. “Which, how is that going? It’s been, what? Two years already? Don’t tell me you’re not well equipped, brother.”

Ravin’s jaw bulges as he clenches his teeth.

“Heirs aside, there is also the matter of the possibility of a clan returning. It will shift the balance of power,” the king says.

There is little more frightening to all Oricalis than the idea of another Clan Culling.

The last war between the clans tore the lands and its people apart.

“Which is another source of doubt among the nobles. How could the last surviving heir of a clan actually love the man who slaughtered all her kin?”

“Father.” Kaelis barely manages to say the word through a clenched jaw. His hand balls into a fist around his knife as if he has half a mind to stab it through his father’s neck at the mere mention of Clan Hermit.

I step in before Kaelis can say or do something to make the situation worse. “What must I do to assure them that my love for the prince is sincere and that neither I, nor Clan Hermit, would ever be a threat to the other clans?”

“I think what my court shall need to calm their wagging tongues is further proof of this clandestine romance,” King Naethor muses. “Proof that you are too focused on being a good wife to my son to be a threat to the balance of power.”

“And how might we offer them that proof?” I deeply hope he doesn’t suggest we rush to take our vows and seal them with the Four of Wands here and now.

“Many find it quite odd that you spend such little time together. For a couple so in love, and for a man as protective as my son, many would’ve expected you to already be a permanent fixture in his apartments.”

“Well, then…” Kaelis turns to me with a warm smile.

He rests his fingers lovingly on the back of my hand.

His movements are relaxed, as if he hadn’t been ready to stab someone seconds ago.

“I suppose it’s time we tell them.” All I can do is smile and nod, hoping he knows what in the four suits he’s doing.

Kaelis focuses on his father. “Those arrangements have long been in process. It was merely taking some time to bring my rooms up to the standards of a lady like Clara. Most of my apartments were dusty and out of care from not being used. I would not want to introduce my future wife to anything less than perfection.”

Ravin’s expression shadows into a sullen glower; he’s clearly not believing any of it.

“Is that so?” King Naethor arches his brows.

“Indeed,” Kaelis insists. “She should be able to join me tonight.”

“Excellent.” The king looks to Ravin. “Don’t you think?”

“Absolutely.” Gloom clings to the firstborn prince, and the rest of the meal is eaten quickly and in relative silence.

When the king stands, the room pauses. There are respectful salutes and bows as he leaves, Ravin and Leigh in tow. Kaelis and I are left standing, alone, at the head table.

“I’m moving in with you?” I whisper the moment the king has left.

“It’s this or Halazar,” he says dully.

“You know, there are times I might actually choose Halazar,” I murmur.

“You wound me.”

“I like to keep you on your toes.”

There’s a spark of amusement in his eyes. But it quickly evaporates, as I can see it dawning on him as much as it is on me that we’re going to have to live together.

“Go to your room and collect the essentials you want to carry yourself,” Kaelis instructs. “I’ll have the staff handle the rest.”

Begrudgingly, I tear myself away and head for the dormitories.

My steps are punctuated by my wondering what this will mean for me as an initiate.

The limited freedoms I’d clawed back for myself are gone.

I can’t exactly be heading out most nights to see my friends if I’m right under Kaelis’s nose…

But I force myself to look elated—to look like a woman who has all but secured the blessing of the king and whose brow is destined for a crown.

So, with a sigh, I open the door to my bedroom—or what was once my bedroom.

I’d been expecting to be alone. I hadn’t seen Alor leave the dinner. But, then again, I hadn’t been paying close attention to anyone not at the high table. She lounges in her bed, on top of the blankets, and in her now-mended hand twirls a dagger—the same one she’s slept with every night.

Her eyes are as sharp as its edge. “Tell me…How it is that you, as a first-year initiate, who should only be able to use the first five cards of a suit, were able to use a Ten card?”