Page 16

Chapter

Sixteen

T he days following passed interminably, the constant need to be on duty wearing Flora down further and further. She was embarrassed by her lowered capacity, especially when the prince caught her out, on the third day after their conversation in the hedge.

“Flora?” Cassius actually had to wave his hand in front of her face to bring her out of her reverie.

“Your Highness.” Flora gasped, embarrassed at her inattentiveness. “I apologize deeply for my distraction. I—”

“Relax,” he told her, with more warmth than she deserved. “You can dispense with the formalities. Look around, we’re alone. The audience has finished.”

Flora cast her eyes around the small meeting room, her face flushing with mortification when she saw that he was right. She hadn’t even noticed the two members of the Merchants’ Guild leaving.

“I truly am sorry,” she told him in a more natural voice. “I’m a disgrace as a bodyguard. I suppose we just have to be grateful they didn’t intend to harm you.”

Cassius leaned back in his chair, perfectly at ease as he surveyed her. “If I considered them a threat, I wouldn’t have invited them to meet with me privately. I don’t usually have guards in the room with me during every meeting, you know.”

She didn’t reply.

“You’re too hard on yourself, Flora,” Cassius said. “No one could keep their edge for this many days in a row without a break. I don’t expect it for a moment. You’re here because you have to be, through no choice of either of ours, not because your presence as a bodyguard is indispensable.” He waved a hand at the seat next to him. “Sit. You must be eager to get off your feet.”

Flora eyed him. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Your Highness .”

Cassius’s answering smile had an edge of smugness which made it hard to remember the need to retain the demeanor of a guard. If she was free to respond however she wished, she would have rolled her eyes at him for baiting her when she was on duty and unable to return the favor.

“Why is it not a good idea?” Cassius asked innocently.

“I’m sure you have other duties awaiting your attention.”

“Let them wait,” Cassius responded, his voice light.

He put his hands behind his head, watching her with far too much confidence. He was in a better mood than she’d seen in a long time. It reminded Flora of his infuriatingly relaxed manner when he’d woken on the floor of the inn that first morning after the tether was imposed. She distinctly recalled him lounging at his ease, in stark contrast to her fidgeting and not knowing what to do with her eyes while she waited for him to properly dress himself.

She couldn’t really be annoyed, though. Now that she knew him better, she secretly enjoyed this manner. It was a balm to her soul to see lightness on his brow for once, instead of the heaviness and frustration it usually wore. The meeting must have gone well—she’d been paying no attention to its contents, so she wouldn’t know.

“You’re so stiff, Flora.” The prince’s voice cut into her thoughts. “I could be excused for thinking you’re afraid to be alone with me.”

“I’m not afraid of you,” she told him, rising to the bait at once. “I just have more decorum than you do.”

Cassius leaned forward, his eyes pinning her. “Do you? I’m not sure I would call it decorum when you wound your magic around my hand at the dance. Some would even consider it brazen.”

Flora flushed in spite of herself, not missing the answering grin that crossed the prince’s face when he saw it. He was deriving far too much enjoyment from teasing her.

“You didn’t object at the time,” she said defensively.

His smile broadened. “I don’t object now.” But a moment later, his expression became abruptly more serious, and he swiveled on his chair to face her.

“I think you are afraid of me, a little.”

“I’m not.” Flora’s protest was immediate. “I never have been.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Not since that first night at the inn, anyway,” she insisted. “You told me I didn’t have anything to fear from you, and I believed you. I’ve never doubted it since.”

He considered her for a moment before answering, his gaze so warm Flora had to fight another flush.

“I’m glad,” he said, and he clearly meant it. “You can believe it with confidence—I would die before I intentionally harmed you.”

The words weren’t spoken dramatically, but with simple sincerity. Nevertheless, Flora suddenly found it impossible to meet his eyes.

“But that’s not what I meant,” Cassius went on. “There are different types of fear. I can’t think of any reason for someone to hide if there’s no fear involved.”

“Hide?” she repeated warily, bringing her gaze back to his face.

Cassius held her eyes with his, his expression still calm and uncomfortably penetrating. “Surely you don’t intend to deny that you’re hiding, even from me.”

Flora said nothing, her mouth suddenly dry. No one had ever seen through her as completely as Cassius had. It was the tether at work. It must be.

Suddenly, the prince was on his feet, his air still relaxed and his steps confident as he moved toward her. Flora found herself shifting backward, forgetting that she was standing against the wall, like a guard was supposed to. Her back connected with the stone, and she stopped, trying to keep some shred of her poise. It didn’t help that she was seized by a desire to reach out and grip the prince’s tunic with both hands when he placed one forearm along the wall next to her head. He raised his other hand to brush his thumb gently against her jawline.

“I wish you wouldn’t,” he said softly.

“Wouldn’t what?” It took her two tries to get the words out.

“Hide from me.”

His voice was low, with just a hint of huskiness, and it made Flora’s knees feel absurdly weak. Some guard she was—more like a fainting damsel. She was overcome by an impulse to pour out her heart to him, tell him all her history. But what would it achieve? It wouldn’t change their current situation, and it would make it impossible for the dynamic between them to go back to the way it had been.

Still, his nearness made her feel bold, and she lifted one hand, her eyes following its progress as her fingers traced the embroidery at the throat of the prince’s tunic.

“Haven’t you ever wanted to hide from the life you were born into?”

“Yes.” His answer was immediate. “But I don’t have that luxury. I have no choice but to face things head on.”

Flora bit her lip, refraining from pointing out his inconsistency. She understood why he was hiding from the tether rather than facing it head on, and it would give her no pleasure to make him feel like a failure for the decision.

“What will you do?” Cassius asked abruptly. “Where will you go when the alliance is complete and we’re free of the tether?” The intensity of his gaze made it impossible for Flora to look away.

“I…I don’t know.” She was struggling to gather her thoughts.

“Back to Siqual?” the prince pressed.

She shook her head. “I don’t think so. Not if Miriam isn’t there.”

He frowned. “Then where?”

“Maybe to Torrens,” she said vaguely. “There may be a role for me at the academy. Or the mistress may have useful contacts to help me find a position.”

The furrow on Cassius’s brow told her he didn’t like it. But they both heard the unmistakable sounds of the door being opened, and the prince straightened quickly.

Flora schooled her features as he stepped back and a servant girl entered the room. She had a broom in her hand, and she stared uncertainly between the prince and the guard.

“My apologies, Your Highness,” she said. “I thought the room was unoccupied.”

“It’s about to be,” he assured her casually. “I’ve just concluded a meeting with guild representatives, and was on the point of leaving.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” She bobbed a curtsey as he strode around the table.

Flora’s thoughts were reeling as she followed the prince out of the public area of the castle. Her main conclusion was that she was a hopeless cause. She found it impossible not to respond when Cassius was in a mood of anguished frustration over his various dilemmas. But it seemed that the lighthearted, casual version of him was equally irresistible to her.

It was a mess, that much was certain.

“What were you thinking about?”

“What?” Flora started guiltily.

The prince was walking just ahead of her, his gaze flicking back to where she followed.

“During the meeting, when you weren’t paying attention to whether the guild representatives were actually assassins in disguise,” he explained lightly. “Where were your thoughts then?”

“Oh.” Flora relaxed. “I was thinking about Princess Miriam, actually. If I know her—and I do—she’s been very distressed all this time, probably blaming herself for my…”

“Predicament?” Cassius offered, and she nodded.

“Yes, that. I wish I could send her a message to tell her I’m all right, but...” She glanced around to make sure no one was hearing their conversation. “But I don’t think it’s wise for me to send messages to Siqual through the royal courier.”

“Probably not,” Cassius agreed thoughtfully. “But I don’t see the danger in sending one through a normal courier service, outside the castle.”

She gave him a pointed look. “Except that to do that I would have to go outside the castle, which isn’t an option.”

“It is if I accompany you.” Cassius seemed enthusiastic about the idea. “Didn’t I promise to show you some of the beauties of the city?”

“You did,” Flora said cautiously. “But can you be spared?”

“I’m the crown prince, I can do whatever I want.”

A grin escaped Flora at the highly inaccurate statement, and Cassius’s answering chuckle told her that was how he’d intended it to be received.

The offer was irresistible, and Flora wasted no time in penning a note to Miriam. Before long, they were riding out of the castle gates, four other guards in tow.

“There’s a market not far from the castle,” Cassius told her, as their horses traversed the cobblestones at a walk. He was clearly as delighted to have a change of scenery as she was. “And a posting house just next to it. You can send your message, then we can buy something to eat at the market and take it to the nearest park. You said you wanted to see one of those.”

“I’m supposed to be on duty as your guard,” Flora reminded him. “You don’t need to buy me food—in fact, you shouldn’t.”

“I brought a full complement of guards so that you wouldn’t need to be on duty,” Cassius corrected her. “I want you to just enjoy seeing some of the city.”

She hesitated, and his pale blue eyes took on a hint of entreaty. “Please, Flora,” he said quietly. “For my sake if not your own, can you please try to just enjoy my home?”

Unable to resist the appeal, she felt her shoulders relax.

“I wouldn’t be averse to some food,” she acknowledged.

Cassius’s smile was blinding, and Flora’s foolish heart did yet another flip. She was unwise to so desperately crave being the one to bring the lightness back to his brow. But she couldn’t help it.

The letter was easily dispatched, and Flora felt more relaxed than she had in a long time as she followed Cassius into the markets. One of the guards stayed with the horses, the other three following them through the throng. The prince’s presence quickly attracted notice, and Flora enjoyed seeing the easy way in which Cassius wore his position. He didn’t show much warmth, but neither was he cold or aloof. He acknowledged the attention with steady grace, everything from his gait to his alert gaze proclaiming strength and confidence.

He took her to a series of stalls, apparently in no hurry as she admired beautiful fabrics, exotic flowers, and even a stall that featured a few wolpertinger pelts.

“They’re expensive, aren’t they?” she commented, running a finger over the soft fur.

She could still make out the squirrel-like shape of it, and she saw that feathers from wolpertinger wings were also for sale, along with a few of the antlers that graced the small creatures’ heads. She lowered her voice so the salesman wouldn’t hear.

“Is it a scam, do you think? Do people think that these items retain magical properties? They don’t, from what I understand.”

Cassius shook his head. “No, there’s no deception. They’re not marketed as containing magic. They’re just very rare, since it’s illegal in Carrack to kill wolpertingers.” He raised an inquiring eyebrow. “As I assume it is elsewhere?”

Flora nodded. The creatures were found in the woodlands of both Torrens and Siqual, and they were protected in those kingdoms as well. They couldn’t be bred, farmed, or hunted. The potential for misuse was too high, given their movements generated a disproportionately huge amount of magic.

“Vendors must prove that the animals died of natural causes,” Cassius went on. “Each dead wolpertinger must be registered intact and cause of death must be determined by an expert before the pelts can be harvested. All of which makes them a rare commodity. Doubly rare since the creatures are so infrequently seen in the first place.”

“I see.” Flora turned away, sniffing hopefully in the direction of the next stall. It was selling some kind of honey-dipped pastry.

“This is a Carrackian delicacy,” Cassius told her enthusiastically. “You must try one.”

Flora hung back as he purchased two of the pastries, her eyes scanning the area. She knew that the prince had said she wasn’t on duty, but being in a crowd ignited all her guard instincts of alertness. She noticed one man in particular who was watching the prince with intense focus. He was making his laborious way past a nearby fountain, leading a horse that pulled a cart of goods. He saw her looking and hurriedly averted his gaze, but Flora’s attention was caught.

She received the pastry from Cassius with a word of thanks, her focus still half on the stranger.

“What do you think?” Cassius asked, as they moved toward the fountain .

“It’s delicious,” said Flora, holding the delicacy with one hand.

“We should find a vendor selling cobaltite goods,” Cassius said. “I remember you were interested to see it up close.”

“Yes,” Flora said. “I would like that.”

She spoke mechanically, her eyes on the man with the cart as they passed by him. She was distracted the whole time they were looking at the polished, dark stone, and Cassius picked up on it.

“What’s wrong?” he asked quietly.

“Maybe nothing.” Flora searched, but the man was no longer in view. “But I feel watched.”

The prince frowned, following her gaze around the market square.

“We’ve seen enough of the markets,” he said. “Let’s head for the park.”

Flora nodded, and out of force of habit, she fell into position behind Cassius as the group moved out of the markets. Just as the prince left the market square, a horse pranced past, forcing Flora to stop and separating her from the rest of the group.

She waited impatiently for the creature’s owner to get it under control. She couldn’t even see the prince anymore, and her tension rose as she wondered how far they were pushing their twenty-foot boundary. Just as the horse was finally moving along, and Flora was able to start forward, the man leading the horse stepped back in front of her and gripped her arm.

An angry protest was on Flora’s lips, but it died when she looked up and realized whose hand was around her arm. It was the man from near the fountain. He’d unhooked his horse from the cart, and like a fool, she’d been too focused on catching up with the prince to recognize him.

“I’m sorry, Miss,’ the man said before she could speak. “I didn’t mean to hold you up. My horse is spirited, Miss, it was just an accident.”

“Yes, all right, no harm done,” she said tightly, her spare hand drifting toward her dagger just in case.

Up close, the man didn’t seem at all threatening, but there was still something suspicious about his manner. She tried to pull her arm away, but he held on tenaciously.

“I saw you were with the prince, Miss, one of his guards or servants or something,” the man rambled on. “I won’t get in no trouble for holding you up, will I?”

“Not if you stop holding me up,” she said flatly. “Let me go.”

“Oh, so sorry, Miss!” he declared again. He released her arm, but still blocked her way, his horse positioned in such a way that it was near impossible for her to get past. “I meant no disrespect by it.”

With the words, Flora felt the sudden pressure around her waist that told her Cassius was now twenty feet away. His stride was strong, and she stumbled sideways a step before the pressure eased. He must not have realized she wasn’t right behind him until the tether pulled him up.

“I must go,” she said curtly.

“Wait.” The man grabbed her arm again, still looking anxious.

“I’ve asked you not to touch me,” she said through gritted teeth, pulling herself free.

The pressure had started again, and it was difficult for Flora to make the movement inconspicuous as she was dragged awkwardly sideways. The prince’s guards were probably trying to urge him onward .

All at once the pressure stopped, and she let out a breath. She side-stepped the still talking man, about to pass him when Cassius came into view, his face forbidding.

“Why are you accosting my guard?” Cassius demanded of the man, entering the conversation with unnecessary aggression.

The man quailed under the harsh question. Flora cut off his stuttering apologies.

“All is well, Your Highness,” she told Cassius. “Apologies for delaying you.”

Her eyes conveyed the unspoken message, let’s go. She was eager to get away from the exposed position of the market. As they at last left the square behind, she glanced backward and froze.

“What is it?” Cassius, more attuned to her this time, paused as well.

A group of people was passing, and when her view cleared again, Flora stared at the fountain. The figure was gone.

“Flora?”

She looked at the prince. “I thought…I thought I saw someone. Back where that man with the horse was before.”

“Who?”

“I can’t be sure, it was only a brief glimpse, and he’s gone now. But it looked like…” She glanced up to make sure the other guards couldn’t hear. “It looked like Sir Keavling.”

Cassius stiffened, his eyes flying to the fountain in question, to search fruitlessly for the nobleman.

“Come on,” he said, his tone dark. “We’re leaving.”

He placed a hand on the small of her back, ushering her toward the guard who still watched their horses. Flora didn’t miss the way the other guards looked from the prince’s hand to each other, but she didn’t pull away. She didn’t want to get separated again.

Her stomach was in knots as they rode back to the castle. Had it been Sir Keavling, or had her suspicion of the man caused her mind to put his face on some unimportant stranger with a similar build? If he had been present, it felt sinister.

When they reached the castle, she was relieved to see Cassius make for his suite, and didn’t protest when he ushered her inside.

“I’m sorry,” she said, sinking into a chair as soon as they were alone. “I shouldn’t have allowed myself to get separated from the group.”

Cassius made a noise of protest in his throat. “You have no need to apologize.”

“I feel that I do,” she contradicted. “There was something off about that man. I noticed him at the fountain earlier, and I think the way he blocked me was intentional. If he’d been seeking to harm you, I made you vulnerable by forcing you to come back to—”

“Stop!” The passion in Cassius’s voice drew her up short. “Stop, Flora, I hate it when you talk like that, like you have no thought for your own safety, only mine.”

“Cassius…I’m a guard. Putting your safety before mine is my entire role.”

He wasn’t listening, striding up the length of his receiving room and back. “I don’t like it,” he said. “Any of it. Do you really think it was Sir Keavling you saw?”

“Yes.” Flora folded her hands on her lap, trying to stop her leg from jiggling with her nervous energy. “I can’t prove it, but I think it was. I feel uneasy, Cassius. The incident with that man and his horse, it felt like…” She hesitated. “Well, like someone was testing our tether. ”

“Curse the man, why is he always there, always watching?” Cassius muttered.

He was still striding up and down the room, almost as agitated as he’d been when they’d entered the hedge. Abruptly, he turned, dropping to one knee in front of where Flora sat.

“I’m sorry that happened, Flora.”

She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Yes it does,” he contradicted. “When I realized we’d been separated, and I saw that man grab your arm to keep you trapped…I can hardly explain the anger I felt.”

He’d reached for her with the words, and his hand now sat on top of hers where it rested on her knee. The contact was making it hard for Flora to keep her thoughts in order.

“I can.”

Flora’s hand shook a little under the prince’s, but her voice was steady. It was time to say what had been circling her thoughts since the last time he’d showed such a disproportionate level of distress, during their encounter in the hedge spiral. It wouldn’t be easy to get the words out, but it needed to be done.

“What do you mean?” Cassius demanded.

Flora drew in a slow breath before answering. “I mean that I think there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for the strength of emotion you might be feeling.” Her eyes flicked to his hand on her knee, then back to his face. “For any emotion you might be feeling where I’m concerned.”

Cassius’s eyes searched hers, the silence so tense she could taste it.

“And what explanation is that?” His voice was deep, the words spoken slowly and clearly.

“The tether,” Flora blurted out. “It’s the tether fooling you into thinking that you have stronger emotions than you do.”

“What?” Cassius said it as though she’d lost her mind.

“It’s true,” she insisted. “We’ve both observed that it’s not just a physical link. There’s an emotional connection of some sort, although I doubt Lord Armand intended it. It amplifies things, and…and connects us. How could it not…addle the way we think about each other?”

Cassius stared at her for a long moment. “Is that truly what you think is happening?”

Flora nodded, trying to swallow the lump in her throat. The words had hurt to say, but she needed him to hear them, to see that she was right. Before things went further, and she brought down more trouble on him.

He looked like he had a response, but a rap at the door prevented him from uttering it. He stood, Flora also rising and taking a guard-like position behind a chair as Cassius ran a hand through his hair in irritation.

“Enter.”

The prince’s valet appeared, ready to assist with preparations for dinner. Cassius looked irked, but Flora slipped from the room before he could protest, eager for a few minutes in her own suite before she would need to accompany him to dinner. Her thoughts were all in a jumble. She felt relieved at the interruption, but also regretful. She wanted to know the silent thoughts that had been in the prince’s eyes when he’d asked her so solemnly if she thought the connection they felt was due to the tether. It had been hard to read his reaction to the idea.

Her time alone didn’t bring much clarity, and soon enough, she was walking with the prince along the now-familiar corridor, in the direction of the smaller dining room .

“You look tired,” Cassius told her softly, when they found themselves in an empty stretch of corridor. He’d dispensed with his other guards again. “I wish you could rest in your room and have food brought to you there.”

“A kind thought,” Flora said with a touch of weariness. “But not possible.” She flicked her eyes around their still-empty area. “I confess I’d be grateful not to have to stand behind your chair for all of dinner. Do you think perhaps I could take up a position in the corridor instead?”

“If you prefer it, of course,” said Cassius. “The private dining room isn’t large. We shouldn’t have an issue.”

Flora nodded gratefully. She wouldn’t have to endure a whole meal of silent glares from the queen.

When they reached the dining room, Cassius nodded his approval, and Flora took up a position outside the door as he disappeared into the room. There were no other guards present, so presumably the king’s guards were in the dining room with him. Flora settled into position outside the door with a sigh of relief. She could afford to relax—no particular vigilance was required. The food was taken into the dining room through an interior door, so although the occasional servant would probably pass by, she knew it wasn’t a heavily trafficked route.

One person did approach the dining room from the corridor, entering with confidence about half an hour into the meal. She recognized the man as the head of Cassius’s personal guard, and her curiosity was piqued.

Only a few minutes later, a large food trolley trundled up. It struck her as odd, given that there was a more efficient way for the food to reach the royal dining table. There was no one else around, only the solitary servant who pushed the cart, and suspicion tickled at her mind. She slipped a hand into her pocket, closing it around her sling as the cart came to a stop outside the door.

She wasn’t quick enough. She’d only half drawn the weapon when a sudden flash of movement—or rather the Dust it highlighted to her senses—gave her only a second’s warning before the servant leaped forward and struck her a blow to the head.

Flora was too shocked to cry out, her head spinning and her thoughts fuzzy as she tried desperately to generate motion with her sling. How had she let herself be so easily caught off guard?

She’d just grasped hold of a tendril of magic when a second man—also dressed like a servant—poured out of the bottom space of the covered food trolley. Flora reached for the small blade at her side, but she was still dazed, and he struck with the speed of a viper. Before she could properly raise the blade, he was on her, wresting the weapon from her hand and covering her mouth with something.

She thrashed for only a matter of seconds before she felt her already befuddled senses slipping away from her.