Page 28 of The Prince and His Stolen Throne

My eye twitched when he said ‘our’ master so easily, like it was natural for the old man to control both of us. “Because there are no official quests to defeat the Lord of Grimnight. None of the pamphlets even mention him. The best I could do was suggest we break the curse on the Grimnight Forest, which will at least get the champions close to the lair. But you have to admit, breaking a curse isn’t as impressive as slaying beasts or thwarting necromancers.”

He tapped his fingers on the bed, the tips barely brushing my thigh. A little thrill shivered through me, and I pictured his delicate fingers traveling higher, slow and teasing. I shifted my leg away from him, but he was too absorbed in his thoughts to notice. “When do you officially decide?”

“When we meet with the Good Wizard. He needs to sanction the quest and confirm that the evil is ‘great and terrible.’”

He nodded. “Very well.” Whatever conclusion he came to, he didn’t bother to elaborate.

When he stood up to leave, I held up a hand to stop him. “We’re not finished yet.”

He frowned and I suddenly understood why he didn’t want to remove the hood. Long eyelashes and pouty lips did not make an intimidating combination. “Did you omit something important?”

“No, but we”—I gestured between the two of us—“need to find another way to communicate. You can’t chop down a tree or break into my room every time you want to chat.”

“I will think of something.” Then he lifted the hood to hide his face again and turned on his heel with a dramatic swoosh.

I expected him to fade into the shadows or disappear in a puff of smoke.

Instead, he walked through the bedroom door, carefully closing it behind him.

After he left, while I struggled to fall back asleep—too distracted by bossy apprentices and evil fathers, pending quests and betrayals—I realized that I’d demanded to see his face but never asked for his name.

Chapter Ten

Delilah’s mouth stretched open in a yawn wide enough to swallow a rat. I clenched my jaw, resisting the urge to follow suit, which was completely unfair becauseIwas the one who had a nighttime visitor interrupting my sleep.

“Late night?” Father asked, his lips quirking in a sympathetic smile. He filled up my cup of coffee, already drained, and splashed a few drops into Delilah’s cup, leaving her more than three-quarters of the space to fill with cream.

“Fitz wanted to discuss strategies,” I explained, resting my elbow on the table, and supporting my head in my hand. “He said we needed …” my eyes drifted shut.

“Trey?”

I blinked and straightened, looking around in confusion. “What?”

“You fell asleep while talking,” Dad informed me gently. “Do the two of you need to return to bed for a few hours?”

“No, no, I’m fine.” I reached across the small table and started filling my plate with eggs, bacon, and toast.

A loud, rattling snore came from the other side of the table. Delilah had also been supporting her head with her hand, but she now slid slowly forward, her hair falling onto her plate.

I poked her with my fork.

She jolted awake, sending her own fork flying in her enthusiasm. “What is it? Who’s attacking? Is it the Grim-Faced Quill Beast?”

Laughter bubbled up in Father, but he covered his mouth as he asked, “The what?”

“I can’t tell if she’s speaking nonsense or quoting a bestiary,” I said with a shrug.

“So, have you decided which Great and Terrible Evil you’ll be defeating?”

“Not yet. Fitz mentioned the Prince of Shadows—”

A spray of coffee hit me straight in the face. I squeezed my eyes shut and groped around for a napkin. Dad apologized as he wiped the mess away for me. “Sorry, Trey, I just wasn’t expecting …”

He and Father exchanged wary looks. “I wouldn’t recommend challenging that particular mage,” Father said with much more composure.

I finished mopping up the rest of the coffee mess. Honestly, getting sprayed with it had done more to wake me up than drinking it. “Don’t worry, Delilah already chewed Fitz out.”

Delilah nodded firmly. “I told him under no circumstances was he to interfere with Aunty Lucy’s writing.”