Page 6

Farron

I pace back and forth across my guest room in Soltide Keep, unable to settle. My thoughts tumble too fast for my mind to make sense of them. Pathetic. Completely and utterly hopeless.

How could I let myself be caught in the Prince of Summer’s undertow?

He hadn’t been Daytonales last night. He’d been Day, effervescent and explosive. Trapped sunlight in the body of a mortal.

And I was stupid enough to think he’d have any interest in me.

If my family had their way, I’d be married off to a boring, snobby crybaby.

Daytonales hadn’t seen me since I was a child, but that was enough for him to get a read on me. Even he, the brutish third son, knows I’m not cut out for anything. Especially not being High Prince.

With a groan, I collapse onto my bed, face down.

The silken sheets are cool despite the scorching breeze that drifts in through the open balcony doors.

How will I attend any of the other royal gatherings my mother and Damocles have planned for our two families?

I can’t imagine going to dinner, sitting across from Dayton as he winces, thinking how he’d kissed such a boring, snobby crybaby.

Ugh. This was all so much easier when he was the hideous toad who ruined my book.

“Hey! Fare?”

I jerk up. That voice…

“Hell-ooo? Come to the balcony!”

Day. It’s Daytonales. It has to be. His voice seems to reverberate in the beat of my heart.

“I know you’re up there! I saw you pacing a few minutes ago.”

My body moves of its own volition, and I scramble out the doors, sliding across the marble floor of the balcony and catching myself on the railing.

Down below, Day stands on the rocks that separate the keep from the sea. Even from two stories up, I can still make out the intensity in his gaze.

A smile lights up his face when he sees me. “Fare.”

I am helpless but to drink him in. I see why people say he’s the spitting image of his eldest brother, Damocles. At first glance, the resemblance is obvious, and I could kick myself for not noticing it last night. But I was drunk on sea air and rebellion.

Now, I notice how different he is from his brother. There’s a softness to him. Not in his body, which is all hard lines and cords of muscle, nor in his sharp jaw or straight brows. But in those eyes. Words from an old poet creep into my mind: Tide-kissed, made of salt water and sea glass.

A roguish grin appears on his face. “I knew you couldn’t stay away from me.”

Instantly, the haze of waxing poetic about his beauty drains away. That smile… What was once charming last night, now seems mocking. He’s here to make fun of me. All the shame and humiliation I felt moments ago floods through me again.

“What are you doing here?” I snap.

He cocks his head. “Well, I didn’t clamber over all these rocks at high tide just to stare at your balcony window.” When I don’t respond, he laughs. “I came to see you, of course.”

“Well, I’m honored. The great prince of the arena deigns to visit the boring, snobby crybaby from Autumn. How kind of you! Now you’ve seen me, so you can go.” With each biting word, I pray my red face isn’t visible. I turn on my heels.

“Come on, Fare! Don’t be like that!” he calls. “Didn’t you have fun last night?”

Yes, I had fun. More fun than I’ve had in…in…in ever , if I’m being honest. But that’s because it wasn’t Farron running around Hadria. It was Fare . Fare, with no expectations, no responsibilities, no impending doom of ruling a realm. Of course, Fare is likable. Of course, Fare is fun.

“Go away,” is all I manage before returning to my room. I duck to the side of the window and press my body against the wall so Daytonales can’t spot me. Tears sting my eyes.

I count out ten breath cycles before I chance a peek back out on the balcony. Day’s gone. That was easy. Guess he didn’t really want to see me.

I turn around, debating if I should spend my afternoon lying face down on my bed or wading into the ocean until a sea hag puts me out of my misery, when I hear a grunting sound. Rushing closer to the railing, I look directly down to see Daytonales scaling the wall that leads to my balcony.

“Are you crazy?” I cry. “You could fall!”

Using the coral and shells encrusted on the side of the keep as hand- and footholds, Day flashes that grin at me. “This? This isn’t crazy. This is madcap. Kooky, even. But we haven’t stepped into crazy territory. Not even close.”

“I’m not stepping into any territory with you, crazy or otherwise.” I should run inside my room and lock the balcony doors. If he actually succeeds and doesn’t fall and dash himself upon the rocks, I don’t want to be here when he…when he…when he what?

What exactly is his plan?

“You’re going to die,” I call down to him.

Daytonales tests a patch of coral before heaving himself up to another handhold. His body glistens with oil, skin sunbaked. “People love to tell me that. Hasn’t happened so far.”

I lean on the railing and rest my chin on my hands. “Why do you want to see me so badly?”

“It’s not seeing you that’s eliciting this fanciful behavior. It’s talking with you. Though, seeing you is a bonus.” He winks and somehow appears as charming as ever despite hanging off the side of a building.

My heart gallops in my chest. Settle down , I inwardly snap at it. “Why do you want to talk to me? Me, who is boring and snobby and a crybaby?”

Daytonales rolls his eyes as he leaps for an upward patch of coral. Damn, he’s scaling this wall fast. “Come on, Fare, I didn’t mean it! We were kids when I thought that. I was an idiot.”

“You’re still an idiot, Daytonales.”

“At least one of us has changed.” Another sun-bright smile. “Call me Dayton. Call me Day. Call me anything but Daytonales. That’s reserved for uptight nobles like my brother.”

“Dayton…” He’s so close to me now, I can see the sheen of sweat on his forehead, the tangles in his long hair.

He pulls himself up to the patch of coral beneath the railing, then stretches his hand upward. “What do you say, Farron? Give me a chance to make it up to you. Who knows, maybe you’ll be a good influence on me, and I’ll change too.”

I could lock myself inside my room. Better yet, I could shove him off this wall. Now, that would be revenge for my ruined book years ago. But my heart has started that gallop again, and I can’t seem to find the reins.

I reach down and clasp his arm. With a heave, I pull Dayton up over the railing. Though I must not recognize my own strength, for the force sends him careening into me. We tumble to the ground, him right on top of me.

“Hi.” He smiles.

“Hi.”

He doesn’t make a move to get off of me. “So, you forgive me?”

“I suppose,” I mumble. Mostly because I don’t know what else to say when his lips are a breath away from mine.

“Perfect.” He rolls, collapsing beside me. “So, I have a list of things to show you. Did you bring steel-lined shoes? Spring steel would be best, because this pond you have to see is beautiful, but the piranhas aren’t so friendly?—”

“You still want to hang out with me?”

Now, he’s giving me a look like I’m crazy. “I climbed your whole balcony, didn’t I?” He holds up his trembling hand. “Damn, I’ve never done that before. I could have died!”

“But what about your brother? I thought you didn’t wish to give him the satisfaction of being right about, you know.” My final word is an awkward mumble. “ Us .”

Dayton rolls onto his side. In a surprisingly delicate move, he strokes the edge of my face, pushing wayward strands of hair behind my ear. “You remember the saying, ‘What they don’t know, can’t hurt them’?”

“Yes?”

Dayton grins. “Well, what Damocles doesn’t know can’t help him.”

“So, we’ll be, like, a secret?” I ask.

“Exactly.”

Silence stretches before us until Dayton cups the back of my head and pulls me in. Our lips meet, his mouth commanding and gentle all at once. Now I’m tide-kissed, too.

Kissing Dayton back, all thoughts fade from my mind. All except one.

What I know can hurt me.