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It took all his self-control not to draw his blade across the man’s throat, his rage already hot at William for taking Ahnna into the city, at Alfred for allowing her to wander off alone, and at himself for not being here to prevent this.

The man lowered his hands from Ahnna’s shoulders and turned his head, and it was the king of Ithicana who gave James a scowl of irritation as he said, “Good to see you aren’t entirely useless.”

Fuck.

But king or not, brother or not, Ahnna was crying so hard she could barely breathe, and that was not acceptable. So James did not lower his weapon.

“Why are you here, Your Grace?”

“Not your concern.”

James let out a long breath. “The lady’s welfare is very much my concern.”

“She’s fine,” Aren retorted. “And you overstep.”

“It’s you who oversteps.” James angled his blade, forcing the other man’s chin up. “You are a foreign king on Harendell’s soil without permission from the crown, which is grounds enough for me to take action. Made far worse by your choice to threaten a lady of Harendell’s court.”

“She’s my goddamned sister, and I didn’t threaten her.”

So he said, yet Ahnna’s distress was obvious, the reason not something either of them appeared willing to admit.

“While in Harendell, Ahnna is mine to protect,” James said, voice low and dangerous. “You will not approach her without an appointment and approval from the crown, which you do not have, Your Grace.”

Aren’s eyes narrowed, but before he could answer, Ahnna said, “Enough. Both of you.” Her hand closed on James’s arm, moving his blade away from her brother’s throat. “It was just a conversation. It was nothing important.”

James didn’t believe that for a heartbeat.

“Go,” he said to Ithicana’s king. “Get out of my city and back to Ithicana, or we will have a problem.”

“I think we already do,” Aren replied, then his eyes flicked to Ahnna. “Get your head on straight.”

When she didn’t answer, he gave an angry shake of his head, then strode out of the hallway.

James waited for the sound of his boots to disappear into the din, then sheathed his sword and stepped close to Ahnna. “Are you all right?”

The light was dim, but he could see she was pale, eyes swollen from crying. “I’m fine. You shouldn’t have done that.”

James didn’t agree. “He upset you.”

“Yes.” Her throat moved as she swallowed. “But maybe I deserved it.”

“What did he want?”

She only shook her head. Keeping Aren’s secrets. Ithicana’s secrets. Her own secrets. He could see her regaining control, her breathing steadying as she smoothed her hair and straightened her skirts. Then she asked, “Who is Elsie?”

Shock radiated through him, and without stopping to think, he demanded, “Who told you about Elsie? William?”

“It’s common knowledge, apparently.”

Which was exactly how he’d intended it to be. For no one to ever question his regular visits to Thistleford because men like him were supposed to have women like Elsie. But faced with Ahnna believing he had a mistress, James found himself feeling sick to his stomach over how that would change things between them.

But not so sick that he lost reason, for the last thing he needed was anyone questioning his absences.

“A woman I used to take up with. Now she’s just a friend.” James grimaced. “I need to be away from court sometimes. To be around normal folk who have some decency to them.”

“You can do what you like,” she said. “You aren’t betrothed to anyone. I only wondered why you’d never mentioned her.”

“Mistresses are not appropriate conversation topics,” he said, though the answer in his heart was, There is no one who will ever measure up to you.

Ahnna gave a soft laugh, but there was no humor in her eyes. “When did it end? Before or after?”

He needed no clarification of what she meant. “Does it matter?”

“Yes.” She stepped closer, looking up at him. “Because it tells me what sort of man you are.”

Lie, logic screamed at him. But James said, “It ran its course before I left for Northwatch.”

And from the moment Ahnna had knocked him off the deck of the Defiant, his heart had known no one but her. Part of him wondered if it ever would.

Ahnna’s shoulders sagged. “I’m sorry. It’s not my business. You should do as you like. It’s better if you do.”

For reasons James couldn’t articulate, her words were a punch to the stomach, and he uttered the first thing he could think of to keep her from pulling away. “Your horse is sound, so you can ride him again. It will make the tedium of the Sky Palace more bearable.”

Rather than erasing the misery from her face, the news only seemed to deepen the shadows in her eyes.

“And here I thought the tedium was part of your plan,” she said. “To use boredom to drive me to beg Aren to bring me back to Ithicana so your brother won’t have to marry the wild Ithicanian woman who wears all the wrong things, says all the wrong things, does all the wrong things.”

“Ahnna—”

“Don’t.” She lifted her chin. “A stolen kiss in a garden doesn’t change the very real fact that you’d rather have better trade terms than have me. What exactly am I worth, James? A five percent reduction in tolls? Ten? Or will something as simple as better seats at Northwatch’s auction yards be all it takes? Articulate my value. Since you are so very Harendellian, that should be no challenge to you.”

Her voice was harsh with bitterness, and James hated that she’d been made to feel this way. That he’d made her feel this way. Like an animal at auction to be poked and prodded and then stamped with a price. It didn’t matter if his motivations to send her away were good—his methods had harmed her, and James hated himself for that. But the truth was worse. “Ahnna—”

“You don’t want me here,” she interrupted. “You’ve made that abundantly clear, because your every action demonstrates a belief that I’ll soon be gone. Now if you’d excuse me, William will be wondering where I am.” Then she strode back into the common room, leaving him standing alone.

Prudence demanded that he let Aren Kertell’s presence go. That he give the king at least the opportunity to leave Verwyrd before escalating the situation.

But James was too angry for prudence.

Going back into the common room of the alehouse, he watched Ahnna sit next to William, only her red eyes betraying the distress she felt. Approaching Alfred, he said, “You don’t let her out of your sight, understood? If she goes to the privy, you follow and stand right outside the door.”

“Yes, sir,” the guardsman said, cheeks coloring in shame at having let her wander the first time.

Catching Georgie’s eye where he stood against the bar, James gave his friend a tight nod and left the building.

“Please tell me that was not the king of Ithicana who just stormed out,” his friend said once he joined James outside.

James didn’t answer, and Georgie winced. “What is he doing here?”

“That’s a good question,” James replied. “And I intend to find out.”

Approaching a pair of prostitutes loitering on the corner, he said, “You see a big man in the company of a handful of others?”

“Yes, Your Highness,” one of them answered, giving James a slow smile. “Went that way.”

He tossed her a coin, then started toward the quay.

“What precisely is the plan here?” Georgie asked. “Because you look like you’re going to pick a fight, and if it’s a fight with the king of Ithicana and a group of his warriors, we might need more men.”

“I have you.”

His friend gave a soft laugh. “I’m flattered, Jamie, but I’m not sure that my prowess with a blade will be sufficient. The Ithicanians fight to kill.”

“So do I.”

Georgie cursed softly, then caught at James’s arm. “What did he do that pissed you off?” When James didn’t answer, Georgie said, “Is this something to do with Ahnna? She looked upset when she emerged. What happened? What was said?”

“She wouldn’t say,” James finally answered. “But it looked to me as though he threatened her.”

“Why?” Georgie demanded. “What possible reason could he have to threaten his own sister?”

“That’s what we’re going to find out.”

“Shit.” Georgie gave a sharp shake of his head. “James, I know you’re fond of Ahnna, but you cannot pick a fight with the king of Ithicana over a few tears. They are our allies, and if they want to bar us from the bridge because you decided to take justice into your own hands, it will not go well for you. Hell, he might decide to kill us and toss both of us into the river, no one the wiser!”

“That’s a risk we’ll take for the sake of answers.”

“I don’t want to take this risk.” Georgie stepped in front of him, pushing James to a stop. “Speak to your father on the matter and see what he says about Ithicana’s king free-ranging around Harendell. Find out if this is an altercation he wishes to pick, because if it is, you’ll have his backing with whatever comes from it.”

“Aren will be long gone by then.”

“Good!” Georgie’s grip on his shoulders tightened. “Ask yourself the real reason why you’re pursuing this. Is it because of a quarrel between siblings or an unnegotiated royal visit, or is it because you’re pissed off Ahnna is out with William?”

All of the above.

“You shouldn’t have allowed her to leave the Sky Palace without a more significant guard,” James said, struggling to keep his anger in check. “William is careless and drunk and doesn’t consider the risks. You shouldn’t have left her alone.”

“I didn’t have a choice,” Georgie snapped. “Virginia got into a row with Ahnna and got out of the carriage. Would you have preferred I’d allowed your sister, who’d had far too much to drink, to stumble blindly up the spiral by herself?”

“I’d have preferred none of this had occurred,” James snapped. “Now is not the time for carousing in the city, George. You know that.”

“And I protested. Vigorously. But William was bent and determined, and as much as I might wish otherwise, I do not get to give orders to the crown fucking prince.” Georgie gave a sharp shake of his head. “Where were you?”

James had been in Thistleford, meeting with Cormac.

“Elsie didn’t get it out of your system?” Georgie huffed out a breath. “Maybe instead of picking a fight, you get on Maven and head back to Thistleford, Jamie. Because don’t think for a heartbeat that I haven’t noticed how you look at Ahnna. Or how you lose your head over anything to do with her.”

James’s anger vanished, hands turning to ice.

Georgie gave a soft laugh that was devoid of humor. “We’ve been friends all our lives, and you think I didn’t notice that you were taken with her? I could tell from the moment that I saw you standing barefoot on that pier, staring at her like she was a candle in the darkest night, Jamie. You’re falling for the woman who is betrothed to your brother.”

“I’m not…” James trailed off. “It’s nothing.”

“Nothing? That’s what you call losing sleep so that you can turn that fool of a racehorse into a proper saddle horse for her? That’s what you call locking the Sky Palace up like a prison so no one can get in or out? What you call dragging our best men in the Lowlands back to Verwyrd to play bodyguard? What you call picking a fight with the king of another nation over? Nothing?”

James grimaced because there was no good answer in the face of Georgie’s accusations. “I’ll get over it.”

“The only way that’s going to happen is if she’s out of sight,” Georgie said. “Get your father to send you back to the Lowlands. Work off this frustration fighting the Amaridians. I’ll stay and do what needs to be done until you’ve gotten her out of your system.”

If only that were possible. In more ways than one.

Yet though he couldn’t take Georgie’s advice, his friend’s words had done their duty in dousing his anger, reason making its way back into his head.

“Go get some sleep,” Georgie said, giving him a gentle shove. “I’ll keep an eye on Ahnna and William tonight.”

Giving a tight nod, James turned and started back toward the Sky Palace.