Page 105 of To Touch A Silent Fury

I held the bannister behind me with my spare hand. “What were you going to say?”

“Nothing,” he responded quickly. Then he tried to smile. “Just to let me know if the dragon needs anything.”

Why was he helping me? The politeness reeked of guilt, but for what? Towards Vorska, he had done nothing untoward. I longed to find some excuse to touch him. I needed to know what he was thinking, feeling.

“Thank you, Your Grace,” I said.

“The library"—he flicked his head somewhere in the direction of ‘up the stairs’, which was far from helpful—“is well stocked. You might find some further reading to your tastes there.”

I nodded. “If I have your permission.”

“Of course,” he said, as if it was a ridiculouscomment.

Again, we both paused. One of us could have made an excuse to leave, and yet… neither of us did. I told myself it was because I had to convince him to marry me. I would get nowhere unless I was agreeable. Yet I knew that reasoning had comeafterI had already paused too long.

He looked just as lost as I did. “I’m going down to the canals. To spar.”

“Oh, I see.” I gave him a faint smile before realising he wouldn’t see it under my beads.

He clenched his fist. “Would you like to—Have you seen any of the city?”

The city was far too distant a prospect when I struggled even inside the castle. I glanced up at the staircase above, knowing my dragon would grumble at me again soon enough. “Not yet, Your Grace.”

Langnathin followed my upwards glance, then nodded. “When you feel more able to move away from him, I would be happy to give you a tour.”

“You are too kind, Your Grace,” I said. The words stuck in my mouth. I didn’t mean them and yet, there was something to it. In a small gesture, he had seen through me and my intent, my thoughts. He was as bound to Chaethor as I was to my new charge. We understood each other.

“Not by half.” The intensity of his eye contact froze me against the bannister. A maid walked past, and neither of us moved an inch.

I blinked, ready to question him.

Before I could, he rolled his shoulders and dropped his eyes. “I will leave you to your mission.”

“Yes,” I said, and I could not explain why my heart was leaping. The conversation was nothing more than civil. “Enjoy your day, Your Grace.”

I looked down at my feet, so as not to trip, and took a first step up at the same time as he took a step down. Then I took another, and he matched it.

I whipped my eyes to him, and he only stared at me with another emotion I could not place. The temptation to reach out to him only grew.

“Vorska,” he said.

“Yes?”

He dampened his lower lip, and I watched the motion, my fingers tightening around the rim of the bowl.

Then he blew out a breath, and the impassive prince was back. “Be on your guard.”

I nodded, utterly confused. “As ever, Your Grace.”

When I walked on, our steps were not in rhythm. If anything, I did not hear him at all, but I didn’t look back until I was two flights away. Only then did I finally breathe.

28

Tani

Afull day later, as the season progressed unerringly closer to my doom, noon light basked through my window. I was beginning to go mad from the lack of anything to do. I’d attended the kitchens this morning as well, and I planned to find the library this afternoon once the weight of leaving my dragon’s side had lessened. He curled up tighter beside me on the bed, as if he sensed my intention to leave. I patted his side, and he purred into my mind. He, at least, was a constant source of distraction. Half my time in the last week had been spent staring down at him.

Wainstrill opened the door without knocking.