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“I can’t…I’m…” I heaved a breath then blurted out the truth, “I’m so sick with worry, I fear that if I try to eat anything, I’d just thro w up.

And that would be a waste of a perfectly good dinner.

Dawn…” I straightened in my cushions. “The guards detained the man who brought us here. They say he’s now in the dungeon, but he doesn’t deserve to be there. ”

“Rha rarely puts anyone in the dungeon. He usually just kicks criminals out of Teneris and bans them from ever returning. The worst of them, he executes pretty quickly.”

“Well, Kurai doesn’t deserve either. He is not a criminal.”

“They say he’s a Watcher, Ciana.”

I remembered the scorpion tattoo on Kurai’s wrist and how carefully he’d been trying to hide it, even from me.

“What does it even mean?” I asked.

“The Watchers swore to protect what they call the kingdom’s one true Source of Joy.

They see all humans as a threat, believing we can somehow pollute it.

At first, they just wanted us gone from their world.

But with the last portal now closed, we learned that they want all of us dead.

Rha forbade them to enter Teneris. The only reason he hasn’t ordered them killed on sight is because he wants to learn more about their organization, to better understand how to protect us from them.

It’s been a challenge to catch a Watcher alive.

They guard their secrets so rigorously, the moment we come close to one, he or she ends up dead.

They would kill themselves or each other, rather than talk to us. ”

“Kill?” I exclaimed, jumping to my feet. “They kill each other?”

Blood ran cold in my veins. Kurai wasn’t safe. While I was chatting here with my cousin, he was in mortal danger.

“I need to get him out of there, Dawn. Please, can you help me? I’ll plead with the prince. I’ll do anything.”

She peered at me closely. “Are you in love with the Watcher, Ciana?”

“Love?” I almost choked on the word, then shook my head quickly. “No, of course not. Why would you even think that?”

“Hm,” she hummed skeptically. “It’s just the way you talk about him. Also, instead of relaxing after a long journey, you’re stressing out and won’t even eat.”

“Kurai is my friend,” I said quickly. “He kept me alive, protected me, and eventually brought me here to safety. I owe him my life. Wouldn’t you worry about a friend like that if his life was in danger?”

She raised an eyebrow but got no chance to say anything as the gates to the sarai opened and a guard announced, “His Highness, Prince Rha.”

A tall, elegant fae entered. He wore a chest armor full of jewels and a golden circlet upon his long hair. The way he held himself with his chin up and his shoulders rolled back—strong and proud—left no doubt he was of royal blood.

“Rha.” Dawn smiled, looking at him as if he were the life-bringing sun in the sky.

He gazed at her the same way, opening his arms for her to run into them. “I missed you, my treasure.”

With a soft, contended giggle, she placed a peck on his cheek before he pressed her to his chest.

Normally, I would’ve likely rolled my eyes at them, laughed, and told them to get a room. But now, a deep longing seized my heart.

I had someone I could kiss like that, with a happy giggle, someone who’d call me his treasure too. I recognized the feeling flooding my chest—the giddy mix of happiness and poignant need of being near him. I could deny it all I wished out loud, but deep inside I knew it—I fell in love again.

I loved Kurai. And it scared me to death to give a man this much power over me again.

Keeping Dawn in his embrace, Prince Rha turned to me.

“Allow me to welcome you to my sarai , Sweet One.” He inclined his head as if I was a lady of his court.

“Rha.” Dawn freed herself from his arms and took my hand, leading me closer. “This is Ciana, my missing cousin. She’s been found. ”

“Ciana? The one we’ve been looking for?” His mouth fell open in genuine shock, which looked surprisingly human on his regal face.

“Yes! The one who’s been missing for over thirteen years. But not anymore.” Dawn hugged me tightly. “I’m not letting you out of my sight ever again. No more disappearing on me.”

Returning the hug, I pressed the side of my face to hers and closed my eyes.

For a moment, it felt like I was back in my aunt’s house during a Christmas sleepover.

My parents and Dawn’s were still asleep early in the morning when I caught her and Melanie sneaking downstairs to see the presents under the Christmas tree.

I remembered snuggling them both in blankets and reading them a children’s book until our parents woke up a little later.

Unlike so many bad memories from my past, this one was worth cherishing. I realized I had many more memories just like this one, filled with love and laughter.

“I never thought I'd have my family back,” I whispered into Dawn’s blonde hair that smelled like the desert already but still retained a tiny hint of home.

“You and I, we have to stay together,” she echoed. “From now on, you’re living in Teneris with us.”

I glanced at the prince, who stood back politely, giving us space. Meeting my gaze, he nodded.

“Humans are always welcome here. And Dawn’s family especially so. It’ll be my honor if you decide to make Teneris your home, Lady Ciana.”

So, I became a “lady” too.

“Well, I’m very honored. Thank you, Your Highness.” I curtsied awkwardly.

It wasn’t every day that I met royalty. My knowledge about how to behave around them was spotty at best. It didn’t help that Dawn called the prince only by his first name and treated him casually if he were a boy next door.

He spotted the tray with my barely touched food .

“Please forgive me if I interrupted your dinner,” he said. “Should we sit down so you can finish your meal?”

Well, he certainly didn’t speak like a boy next door.

“Rha and I can have some coffee or dessert,” Dawn offered. “So that you don’t feel like you’re the only one eating.”

“No. I…I really need to ask for your leniency, Your Highness.”

His brows rose up to his golden circlet. “What would you need it for?”

“Not for myself. I’m asking…no, I’m begging you, please release Kurai from the dungeon.”

“The Watcher?” He looked even more shocked.

“Kurai is a Joy Guardian. He rescued us and brought us here.”

The prince shook his head. “Many Joy Guardians became Watchers, as we’ve discovered. They’re dangerous.”

“But not Kurai. He could’ve killed me a million times over the past weeks. It wouldn’t even cost him that much effort. He could’ve just left me out in the desert to die. Instead, he kept me alive through his tendrils, spending his life energy to sustain mine.”

“How is that even possible?” Dawn asked.

I ignored her question for now. Freeing Kurai was more important.

“Please, Prince Rha…um, I’m sorry, Your Highness. He doesn’t deserve to be in jail. His life is in danger there?—”

“If it is, he brought it upon himself. I have not executed a single Watcher yet. They murder their own.”

“I can’t let it happen to him. Please release him.”

“The Watchers give a vow of an undying commitment to a cause that means harm to you and everyone like you, including the woman I love more than life.” With an arm around Dawn’s waist, he drew her closer into his side.

I blew out a breath in frustration. It was hard to argue with someone who was so obviously devoted to my cousin.

I wanted Dawn to be safe and happy too. But I had to get it in her otherworldly boyfriend’s head that Kurai was not a threat to her or any human.

I believed with all my heart that he was not.

But belief alone was not enough. I had to prove it.

“If Kurai had any sinister motive toward humans, why would he bring us to Teneris? We came here, hoping it was a safe place for all of us. And you threw him in jail. For what? For rescuing us?”

“The accusations against the Watchers are extremely serious.”

“But these accusations aren’t true. At least not in Kurai’s case,” I argued.

“We cannot be sure about that, not without a thorough investigation.”

“Alright. Let’s go then.” I spun on my heel to face the gates.

“Go where?” The prince gaped at me.

Dawn grabbed my hand. “Where are you going, Ciana?”

“To the dungeon. The prince said he wants to investigate. Let’s start by talking to Kurai. Please, give him a chance to explain.”

“Right now?” the prince asked.

“The sooner the better, since the chance of being murdered in your royal dungeon is quite high, I heard.”

“What a stubborn woman,” he muttered under his breath.

“I would be stubborn, too, if it was about your life and freedom,” Dawn said.

The prince moved his attention from me to her, then turned back to me again.

“I can certainly tell you two are related,” he concluded. “The brazen rebellion against royal power must be your family trait.”

Unsure whether that meant good or bad for Kurai, I exchanged a questioning glance with Dawn. Thankfully, she didn’t look concerned. Her attitude around the prince remained comfortably confident and not at all intimidated by his “royal power.”

“Well, what are you going to do, Your Highness? ” She clapped her hands and stared at the prince expectantly.

I got a feeling Dawn didn’t want to publicly make the decision for the prince and possibly undermine his authority in front of the Keepers and the guards—who kept a respectful distance from us but likely overheard our conversation—but it was clear to me what decision she had made.

Prince Rha, the smart man that he was, understood it too. He headed to the gate.

“I will question the prisoner now,” he announced to the guards on his way out from the sarai .

Two of them ran off, probably to bring the news of the royal visit to the guards in the dungeon.

“I’m coming too,” I hurried alongside the prince.

“I gathered that much,” he muttered.

“Me too.” Dawn caught up with us.

The prince sighed but made no attempt to fight her on that.

“Triple our escort,” he ordered the leader of the guards by the gate. “We’re all going to the dungeon.”