Page 54 of Contested Crown

Howard cleared his throat, and Summer looked up, blinking. Her shoulders pulled back, spine going straight. Turning her head toward Cade, she stared at him unblinking.

“Prince Bartlett, what are your interests?” she asked softly.

“Magical studies,” Cade said vaguely.

“And running for our lives,” I muttered under my breath. It was hard to have a hobby, when you were afraid that every car driving behind you was filled with mages who could kill you.

“Any particular area?” Summer asked. “I could never get the hang of it because I could never concentrate long enough. Hearing voices makes it hard to pay attention to anything else.”

I blinked. There was a slight smile on her lips. One of her eyes twitched, almost a wink at me, before she shoved the offending asparagus into her mouth.

Cade seemed taken aback but managed, “There’s some research into sentient magic, how if a spell is powerful enough when we cut it off from our own magic, it can gain its own sentience. I enjoy experimenting with the concept.”

“You enjoy cutting off your own magic?” Summer made an exaggerated shiver. “I always find it so painful when they make me.”

“Summer,” Howard said sharply. “We have never made you cut off your own magic.”

Summer stared mulishly at her plate. Elizabeth broke in with some technical questions about Cade’s research, and the rest of the conversation focused on that until the dessert plates were finished.

Howard rose, shepherding the rest of us back down the stairs, while Caroline stayed behind with her daughter.

At the bottom of the stairs, after Elizabeth had locked the wards again, Howard said, “I hope the dinner helped alleviate some of your concerns about marrying her.”

“Miles’s question still stands. When you are gone, you would expect me to keep her locked away in the attic? That’s not sustainable. And it gives anyone trying to delegitimize my rule the perfect puppet.” Cade raised an eyebrow, and Howard inhaled a long breath.

“We can discuss logistics before we sign the marriage contract. But don’t worry. We plan to take care of Summer very well.” He nodded his head. “Elizabeth can take you back. Larissa?”

Howard strode away down the hall, and I realized that we were on the third floor, the royal rooms. Larissa followed silently, a half step behind him.

Elizabeth gestured toward the stairs, her palm open.

“Are you taking us back to our playpen? No more side trips to old ladies who claim to have changed Cade’s diapers?” I smirked. “Any more wives locked in the attic?”

Elizabeth turned, her expression fierce. “Prince Bartlett should be grateful the princess is even considering him as a partner.”

I raised an eyebrow, leaning forward. “And who becomes the head of House Morrison if she doesn’t choose a partner? You?”

Elizabeth scoffed, waving her hand. “You should sleep. Tomorrow, when everyone is feeling refreshed, I’ll show you the rest of the grounds.”

The rest of the short trip back to our room, no matter how many times I tried to engage her in conversation, Elizabeth ignored me.

When she closed the door behind us, I didn’t hear a lock, but I got the feeling that if we tried to leave, there was somebody waiting to direct us straight back to the room. Suddenly, the luxury felt more like a prison cell.

“Well, that was something,” I said.

Cade sighed, slouching down into the couch, running a hand through his hair, tousling it. When he looked up at me, his eyes were sharp, incisive. He glanced at my hand.

I raised an eyebrow but looked down, opening my fingers slowly. I’d kept the hand clasped, closed around whatever magic Cade had given me. Now, I frowned down at it.

“What is it?” I poked at the ten blades in a loose circle.

“Protection if you need it.” Cade didn’t say anything else, his eyes flicking around the room, and I wondered if he could see the magic watching us.

The blades were small, barely the size of my thumb, packed so closely together that their hilts almost touched. I tried grabbing at one, but the whole of them came loose from my hand, stretching between my palms. Now they looked massive, full-sized knives stretched in front of me.

I could do damage with weapons that size.

Carefully, I replaced them on my palm, and they sank back into my skin, no larger than the length of my fingers.