Page 17 of The Starlit Ring (The Chronicles of Liridin #1)

Why did this feel like a trap? “Are you angry with me?”

The prince let out a huff that reminded me of the bear. “I’m annoyed . I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how reckless it is to wander through the woods alone at night. And you should fire your artificer. That crystal is absolute shit.”

Arms crossed, I scowled at him. “I happen to like that crystal.”

“It only worked when you threw it,” he reminded me, unimpressed. “Now please, will you let me save you from yourself?”

“I had it handled,” I insisted, even as I begrudgingly made my way toward him, pausing to snatch up the crystal, which flashed weakly in my hand, and died. “But thank you anyway, Your Highness.”

“Might I ask what brings a maid such as yourself into the woods alone so late at night?” Disapproval colored his voice.

I bristled. “Might I ask what brings a prince into the woods after her so late at night?”

“The screaming, mostly.” His eyebrows raised, the corners of his mouth turned up into a smile that I might’ve found charming if he hadn’t given me at least one thousand reasons to hate him.

“Actually, I saw you sneaking out of my betrothed’s tent, and I wondered why her guard might leave her unattended in the night. ”

I kicked a pebble between overgrown tree roots. “It’s hardly abandonment. There are soldiers everywhere. I just couldn’t sleep.”

“Hmm,” droned Prince Marius, so low that his voice practically vibrated. “Perhaps you went to meet someone.”

“That someone would’ve been very lucky not to become bear food,” I snapped. “There was no one out there. Just me and my thoughts.”

“They looked like heavy thoughts indeed,” he mused, tilting his head. “Is my camp not to your liking?”

“I’m less than pleased with the circumstances surrounding it.”

His smile tightened into a grimace. “Yes, I can imagine so. What was your name again?”

“Arina, Your Highness. ”

“I had hoped to avoid any trouble with Olmstead, but your king refused both reason and all of my messages. This was our final option. I hope you can understand.”

“You broke down the door,” I said, stepping over a mossy tree root that extended far from its trunk, reaching across the forest floor like the tentacle of an octopus. “You killed our people. You took Princess Valeria.”

He gave a sharp, curt nod. Official. The spark in his eye died away. “I would tell you of my regrets, but I know you won’t believe me.”

“You’re right. I don’t.”

He sighed. “Regardless, I’d like to pass them on.”

“I’m not in the habit of accepting other people’s burdens,” I snapped, skipping ahead of him. “Thank you for saving me, but I don’t believe a single word from your mouth.” I shook my head and turned to glower at him. “Didn’t they teach you how to fight off a bear? Don’t you have bears in Tocchia?”

I walked quickly, looking over my shoulder in case the great beast had returned. But we were accompanied only by silence.

“Not near the palace,” said the prince slowly, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear.

“But yes, I’ve been informed. I drew my sword because I thought you might be injured, or worse.

Regardless of what you may think of me, I am not a man who rejoices in bloodshed.

I don’t wish to see anyone suffer, no matter how they might,” his gaze lingered a beat too long on my face, “infuriate me.”

“Infuriate?” I repeated, too shocked to be upset. “What have I done to infuriate you?”

“I know you’re lying to me. I don’t know why you’re here.”

“Then just kill me now!” I said, throwing my arms wide, thrusting my chest forward, so that he might drive his blade through my heart.

The implication missed him entirely. He stared at my breasts, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, until he realized what he was doing, and tore his gaze away. “I don’t want to kill anyone!” he growled. “For goddess’s sake, there’s no need for any of this. I’m hardly going to skewer you here in the woods.”

“Which goddess?” I demanded. “Plenty of them would enjoy that.” Thalma, for instance, who drank the blood of lovers that betrayed her, but would accept just about any sacrifice so long as violence was involved.

“Not anyone I would make an oath to,” he sighed. At my expression, his frown deepened. “We Tocchians are not barbarians, you know.”

I didn’t know, so I didn’t respond.

The campsite came into view, its fires flickering orange, shadowing the peaked tents. The last of my tension faded.

“Will you speak with me?” Prince Marius asked, as we approached the first of the fires. A guard scowled at us, but Prince Marius waved him off.

“Why? What could you possibly need to know?”

“I’d hoped to make amends,” said Prince Marius. “For your poor impression of me.” His voice dropped. “And might I remind you that in public, you ought to use my title.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” I grumbled. He was right. I’d nearly given myself away.

“No experienced maid would forget something like that,” he said, the ghost of a grin on his lips.

“My deepest apologies, Your Highness. I’m afraid I was quite flustered, given the situation with the bear.” I kept my gaze low, away from his pale eyes.

“See that it doesn’t happen again, Miss Arina.

I can see you’d rather not speak further, so consider yourself excused for the evening.

See that you do not abandon your post, or your charge, again.

” He spoke in a clipped voice, quick and professional, like he hadn’t just thrown himself in front of a bear for me.

“Understood, Your Highness. ”

I practically ran to my tent, his penetrating gaze glued to my back as I went.

“You fought a bear?!” Ria hissed at me over a hurried breakfast of hard tack and last night’s leftovers. “What is wrong with you?”

“It wasn’t as though I went looking for the bear!

” I whispered back, taking another bite of greasy sausage.

It would sit poorly in my stomach, but I knew I’d regret skipping breakfast later, so I forced myself to eat.

“And it was hardly a fight. Your betrothed saved me. Well, kind of. I think maybe I saved him. Anyway, you may want to teach him about bear safety, lest you lose him to the woods.”

Ria groaned. “What happened? What are you talking about?”

My embarrassment mounted as I explained. Ria’s mouth hung agape, her eyebrows angled sharply downward.

“You absolute buffoon!” she moaned when I finished, dragging her fingers down the sides of her face in exasperation.

“I know,” I mumbled. “It won’t happen again.”

“What were you thinking? I’m going to have to vouch for you! Again ! You cannot continue doing things like this, Arina. You’re entirely too reckless, and you’ll put us both in a bad position. You realize that, don’t you?”

I stared down at my feet. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t do it again,” Ria said, stomping back to the tent.