Page 41 of Prisoner of Darkness and Dreams (Fated to the Sun and Stars #3)

“I’m talking about the way you’re risking everything by bringing up—” she glances around and then moves a few steps closer to me, lowering her voice. “By bringing up our mutual friend any chance you get.”

I smooth my jacket beneath my hands. Fine, if she won’t be soothed with honey, then vinegar will have to do.

“Listen, my lady , I don’t know why you’re looking for reasons to be angry with me, but you’re smart enough to realize that our mutual friend needs more friends, especially in Elmere. And we’re in the best position to feel out who might be open to an alliance. Forgive me for thinking ahead.”

I stare defiantly at her hard, beautiful face. The sharpness in her gaze is still there, but her lips part, softening the set of her mouth.

“Let me do the thinking for both of us,” she says, her eyes sweeping over me. “You just concentrate on playing your part and looking pretty enough to keep these humans distracted.”

“Interesting. A few days ago, you didn’t even believe I could pass as a baron,” I say, raising a playful eyebrow.

“I should have realized your arrogance and self-importance make you perfect for it,” she throws back .

I grin, enjoying this much more than her anger a few moments ago. I sketch a mocking bow.

“But, my darling, I am important. Or have you forgotten I’m here at the future queen’s request?”

Her smile fades. “That’s exactly what I’m worried you’ve forgotten. We have to put our mission first,” she murmurs. “That’s what matters now. Worry about the future later.”

“Then let’s live in the now,” I say, reaching out and taking her hand.

She stiffens at my touch, but as I pull her closer, she relaxes.

“Everyone else will be at lunch for at least another two courses. It’s a perfect time to take a turn about the gardens and see if we can find a way in for the others. ”

She blinks, startled, then gives me a businesslike nod.

“That’s actually not a bad idea.”

As she leads me down the corridor toward the gardens, I laugh.

“What’s so funny?” she asks.

“That almost sounded like a compliment.”

She makes a dismissive chuff as she peers through a window beside an external door.

We’ve been told we can only access the front gardens of the palace, due to increased security around the regent’s wing, but that’s precisely the route Prince Leonidas told Damia he took when he escaped last time. We’re hoping to use it again.

“The patrol’s just about to go around the corner,” she mutters. “There’s five sets of guards, and they make a full circuit of the perimeter every twenty-three minutes. That gives us about four and a half minutes to get out of sight of the palace walls before the next patrol passes this door.”

“You’ve been paying attention,” I say, not bothering to hide my impressed tone.

She fiddles around with her skirts, and I realize she’s hiking them up and tucking them in her belt for easier movement, exposing a stretch of smooth, brown leg.

I swallow, but I don’t have time to dwell on the pleasant sight because she’s already picked the lock on the door and is easing it open .

“ Now ,” she whispers, pushing on the door and tugging me down the steps into the grounds.

We steal across the grass until we hit a conveniently placed orchard and duck between the trees groaning with apples.

There’s enough shadows here beneath their branches for me to shroud us without it looking strange to a passerby.

I use the opportunity to catch my breath, and Damia glances at me, amused, her breathing annoyingly even.

“Where are we headed then?” I ask, peering through the trees.

“The statue of Winnivus. It should be to our right, up against the outer hedge.”

I nod, and when Damia’s sure the next patrol has passed by, we dart across the grass. Sure enough, the god of the aesteri looms into view, his robes swirling around him.

“ Shit ,” Damia kicks the base of the god’s statue a few moments later. We both stare at the thick, freshly laid layer of brick behind the stone figure. “They must’ve found the hole in the hedge and worked out what happened. So much for using the captain’s escape route.”

I pat the god’s foot where Damia kicked it.

“Sorry,” I murmur. “She didn’t mean it, really.”

She stares at me. “Did you just say sorry to a statue?”

“To my patron god, actually,” I say, straightening my jacket. “I’d like to stay on good terms with him, if you don’t mind.”

She squints at me. “Shadows are Winnivus’s territory?”

“It’s complicated,” I say.

“Because light has to move through the air…so you do something to the density of it to refract the light and make shadows?” she guesses.

I struggle not to gape at her. “Yes. Most people can’t work it out.” Gods, is there anything this woman isn’t good at?

Besides being friendly , my brain supplies.

“Well, it’s not going to help us get anyone through this wall,” she comments. “We’ve got to figure this out—I’m not going to let the captain down.”

There’s a note of fierce loyalty in her voice. It’s clear she’d do anything for the prince. I don’t know why I feel a little twinge of jealousy—it’s not like my own people aren’t similarly loyal to me.

“Should we keep searching this wall? Try looking for another weak spot?” I suggest.

She nods, and we keep moving along the edge, peering through the hedge where there are gaps to examine the wall behind. Eventually, we reach a portion where the ground has sunk a few feet thanks to time and loosening earth. The hedge and the wall beyond are a bit lower here.

“What about bringing them over it?” I ask, the shorter wall giving me the idea.

“It still pretty high,” she says skeptically. “Eleven, maybe twelve feet? They’d need some decent equipment to scale it, and then it’s about making sure they’re not seen climbing the other side. It’s just a regular city street behind here.”

“So we organize a distraction,” I say. “Then, with my shad?—”

I stop at the unmistakable sound of footsteps.

Damia’s eyes widen, and I silently curse.

This part of the grounds is too brightly lit for me to hide us with shadows; it’ll be obvious there’s magic at play.

Instead, I grab Damia’s wrist and pull her to me, spinning her around and backing her up against the hedge.

“What are you?—”

“Kiss me,” I say, planting a hand on her leg where her skirts are raised. For once, she doesn’t argue, pressing her lips against mine.

There’s a moment when that’s all there is to it.

A chaste peck, held in place ready for whoever’s about to come around the corner.

But then Damia’s lips part ever so slightly, and I shift my own to adjust to their new position.

Her hand lifts to my face, and she runs her finger along the bottom of my jaw until it comes to stop beneath my chin.

Her touch is like fire, trailing across my throat.

I can’t help but breathe into her, and her tongue flicks out, tracing my lip.

When I meet her bright green gaze, I see a question there I know I want to answer.

Then we’re suddenly devouring each other, tongues clashing as they fight for dominance.

Heat spreads down my neck and chest as she presses herself against me.

My hand is still on her thigh, and I slide it higher, reveling in the smoothness of her skin, like silk beneath my fingertips.

She answers with a moan that sends my blood rushing southward.

“What are you doing here?” The gruff voice of a palace guard snaps us out of it, and we pull apart. Damia hurries to tug her skirts down, and I step neatly back from her.

“Excuse us, my good man,” I say, offering him a cheeky grin. “We were just enjoying the grounds and we got…carried away.”

The guard looks to his patrol partner, and I don’t miss the smirk on his lips. Good . Let him think he caught some nobles misbehaving. Then his face hardens as he addresses us again.

“This area is prohibited! We’re on orders to report anyone trespassing.”

“Oh please don’t do that,” Damia says, clutching her hand to her chest in fake alarm. I don’t think she’s a good enough actress to have conjured up the flush across her cheeks, however. “I’d simply die of shame if this got out.”

The guards exchange another amused look.

“Then be on your way, and don’t come out here again,” he barks.

“How rude,” I mutter to Damia, playing my part. “Come on, darling.”

I tug her back across the grounds, my skin still singing where her hand clutches mine. When we reach the palace, she grabs my sleeve with a look of excitement and leans in to murmur in my ear.

My desire flares again, and I imagine spiriting her away to our room to continue what we started outside.

“I know how to do it,” she says.

“What?” I ask, intrigued.

“The distraction. We’ll use Barb and her friends. A nest of snakes will cause more than enough chaos on the street to draw people away from the wall. ”

“I see,” I reply, trying to process my disappointment.

“Three yards over from where we were, there’s a second bit of wall that isn’t visible from the palace,” she continues. “ That’s where we’ll bring them over.”

I pull back and smile at her, trying to look as triumphant as she does. Of course, that’s where her mind is, and I shouldn’t be surprised. Damia’s already told me many times—she’s a soldier, and she’ll always put the mission first, last, and everywhere in between.