Page 69 of Veil of Vasara (Fate of the Five #1)

CHAPTER 69 - HESTAN

D yna gripped onto my arm so tightly her knuckles paled, near matching the shade of the white robe I wore.

I looked at her startled. She appeared shocked, glancing in the direction of the hall’s entrance.

Had she seen something? Someone from that night? Was someone dangerous here, someone she recognised?

But, as I asked myself these questions, I realised the hall had become utterly soundless, even more so than when the King had asked Audra’s Princess to dance.

I followed Dyna’s gaze to the door.

And I understood immediately.

Standing at the top of the stairs was Audra’s Prince. Audra’s Prince who was universally feared, notoriously lethal, whose name was tarnished in darkness and in death, defiled and drowned in slaughter and blood.

And there he stood, looking…

Like that.

His light brown skin glittered in the dwindling sunlight, as if it were made to be illuminated by a sunset. His chest was almost completely visible. He wore a chemise that was black but transparent. It covered his arms and only the outer part of his chest, sliding down his torso to meet a dark belt at his hips. His pants were made of a similar, but much opaquer version of the material, decorated with the same golden patterns interwoven into the thin, and curtain-like fabric of his upper clothing. The chemise’s back, however, was long, and fluttered behind him down to his shins. He walked down the stairs slowly, one by one.

His dark golden eyes searched the hundreds of faces in the hall with speed. He was clearly looking for his sister.

“My gosh,” Dyna whispered under her breath.

“He’s half naked!” A woman exclaimed to her partner.

“Disgusting! Absolutely disgraceful!” another said, fanning herself.

“To think he’d have the nerve to show up, late, wearing…this!” a man stuttered.

Several voices began to make their displeasure known, but the truth of the matter was easy to discern.

The Prince looked far more beautiful than any of the attendees.

I had not cared for such things. I still did not see the use, in either possessing or seeking them. Such superficial splendour came and went. Trying to hold it, like trying to preserve the petal of a blossom tree, destined to wither and fall.

But beauty. No. Beauty was no fitting word for what he was. It felt too empty to describe him. Too shallow.

Dyna’s hand let go of my arm. “He’s actually handsome!”

My head turned sharply to meet hers.

“Wasn’t he always?” I asked her, confused, glancing at the Prince again.

Dyna giggled, covering her hand with her mouth. “I suppose, only it’s his…”

But the rest of Dyna’s words were drowned out, as I returned to watch the Prince, and found him staring at me.

Dyna and I were at the furthest point at the back of the room, the Prince the furthest to the front, and still, from the distance, I could feel his gaze, fixed in my direction.

He stopped walking, and several people turned towards us, wondering what it was the Prince’s attention had been caught by.

Dyna spoke in a hushed manner, “Why are all these people looking at us?”

But before I could answer, she had noticed.

“Why is he looking at us?”

But before I could answer that, she inquired again, “At…at you?” She sounded uncertain.

“I don’t know.” I glanced around the curious faces with discomfort.

The Prince began descending again, his eyes now fixed elsewhere.

“That was so strange! What does he want?” Dyna exclaimed.

She was doing an incredible job of acting well, appearing joyous and normal, of shoving her fears to the back of her mind, of speaking on, talking about, and filling the silence with activities, or conversation. She had always been that way, but it had been even more obvious since her poisoning, and perhaps, since the culprit remained unfound, even more necessary.

She squeezed the folds of her lilac dress tightly. We both wore the garments we had acquired from the Kalnasan merchant, whose words I had not soon forgotten.

Whose words I had been dwelling on every hour of every day since.

The Season would soon be over, I told myself, and soon, I would be able to answer the questions burrowing into my mind about Kalnasa’s state, to see it for myself.

Several minutes passed. Dyna and I spent them politely conversing with others, wandering around, observing the various statues and ornaments that had been brought here for this occasion. Some were made of glass, others marble, others water and ice.

It was hard not to glance around at the food wasted, at the sculptures that could be melted down into water for cooking, and for heating meals, at the platters that remained untouched and not think of…it.

I frowned deeply at the thought.

“Did my entrance offend you as well?” The Prince’s voice crooned from my left. He tilted his head, standing at my side, watching me frown. I fixed my face into a neutral expression. Dyna stood next to me, her large dark blue eyes watching me closely.

“No, Your Highness.”

Loria stood next to the Prince, her arm in his.

“It’s nothing, Your Highness, he’s just…not a ball person,” Dyna hurriedly said, probably believing she was saving me from genuine suspicion.

I side-eyed her, trying to silently convey that was not in fact, necessary.

“I would never have supposed,” the Prince said ironically.

“Nor I, that you would arrive in such a manner…Your Highness,” I returned his sarcasm.

Dyna tensed up. Loria blinked hard. The two of them seemed deeply surprised by my statement. It was enough to make me question what had given me the audacity to say it.

But the Prince only seemed entertained.

“How little we know of one another, Captain. Isn’t it shameful?”

We knew far more about one another than we should have.

Loria, who always seemed to interject when her brother spoke in this way, interceded.

“My Lady” — she looked down at Dyna — “the other candidates and I have arranged …a get together of sorts after the ball. We would be very happy if you could join us. I know the past few weeks have been trying for you, and it would please me to see you smile, and enjoy yourself.”

Loria’s invitation sounded genuine, but still, I could not help but glance at the Prince during its delivery.

He had been watching me the whole time.

“Can he come?” Dyna pointed at me.

The Prince answered. “I am going to be rather selfish and request I have the Captain all to myself for a short time. I’d like to…rectify that issue of our lack of acquaintance somewhat. Especially since he seems to be the only person within this hall who wasn’t mortally offended by my arrival.”

“I wasn’t!” Dyna said defensively, then she frowned and looked at me, realising what the Prince had said.

I too was struggling to comprehend his words. His sister, however, seemed as if she had expected them.

“The other escorts will be there, as will we, and all the guards of the Palace will be present, so, you will be safe, I promise,” Loria reassured her.

Dyna looked unconvinced. I shared her sentiment.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness, but I should stay by the Lady’s side.” I met the Prince’s eyes.

He scratched the back of his head then turned to Dyna. “My Lady, do you think you could spare him for an hour or so?” He clasped his hands in a pleading gesture. “I’d be most grateful.”

She looked at him with an unabashed level of shock, then at me.

“Your Highness…I’m sorry but—" I started.

“You were staring at him when you came in…is this why?” Dyna blurted out, too loudly. Some people even turned their heads at her urgent tone.

I side-eyed her again. Her youth was at times like this, inconvenient.

The Prince laughed. “That, and the fact he’s the only person wearing white in the whole room.” He appraised me slowly. “Combined with his hair he looks like—"

“A Celestial!” Dyna blurted out. “That’s what I said! I chose it for him, you know!”

Celestials, it was said, were servants of the Nine Divine Gods, crafted and made by them, and that only Noxos refused to craft any. The accounts of people who claimed to have seen them were all the same. That they were resplendent, grand in stature, larger than any creature in Athlion, and that they appeared bathed in white, silver or gold.

I blinked slowly and my lips tightened.

The Prince crossed his arms and made a sound that was difficult to distinguish between agreement or disapproval.

“So, do you think you could spare your glorious companion for a few hours?” he asked Dyna. Her turbulent eyes found my face once again.

In the end, despite my reservations, meeting with the Prince, I knew, was something I could not refuse. If he wished to speak to me, there must have been a reason.

I nodded at her and smiled, very slightly, to the point where it resembled more of a wince.

Dyna gulped and forcefully nodded. “Very well.”

“Wonderful. I’ll find you later, Captain.” The Prince’s eyes glittered with intent. He strolled towards us, placing his palm over the upper half of his torso.

He bowed in Dyna’s direction. After he rose, he reached out to me with his other hand.

His fingers brushed against my shoulder fleetingly. I flinched at the action but took care not to follow my instinct of brushing his hand away.

As they did, his fingers made contact with the hair draped over it.

He peered at it with great focus, then his face relaxed.

“You had something in your hair…Captain.”

From around us, a few whispers could be heard. Fortunately, it didn’t seem completely out of character for the Prince to do something so presumptuous or unusual, so they quietened down rather swiftly.

The Prince lingered for a few moments, then stepped back, and walked away.

The remaining hours of the ball passed by in what felt like a vacuum where time ceased to move. It consisted of endless dances, conversation, and idle gossip rippling around the room like a polluted river. It took everything I had to muster the strength to withstand it. Not because I was unable to tolerate events like this. In fact, I was rather indifferent to them, they neither excited nor bothered me, but because the Prince’s invitation had occupied and oppressed all other thoughts within my mind.

Eventually, however, it was over. Dyna came to bid her farewells and left with Loria, Princess Rhana, and Jayli at their heels like a shadow.

Audra’s Prince, however, had vanished.

It did not surprise me however, that he had done so. It was hardly as if he and I could be seen parting together, if we wished to discuss sensitive matters.

Once I’d returned to my room, I entered the washroom and stood in front of the mirror. My fingers angrily and hurriedly tore through my hair.

Until I found it.

It was so small, almost invisible, but as my hair had been laced with several small braids tonight, within one slot between the grooves, an almost identical colour to my own hair, was a piece of silk.

I yanked it out, suddenly realising I was beginning to collect strange and unknown materials with hidden messages.

It took great effort to unfold the tiny piece of silk, and an even greater effort to read the message inside.

Directions.

I memorised them, then pocketed the silk. I waited for a short time, then carefully made my way around the Palace, taking care to avoid being witnessed by too many as I made my way to the described destination.

The Prince was sitting on the ledge of an alcove, looking outwards at the night sky.

One push was all it would take to kill him. One stumble for him to fall to an early grave. But he sat on it, utterly calm, one leg perched up, his right arm resting on his knee.

He was closer to death than any man in Athlion perhaps, to the backdrop of both screams and starlight.

I braced myself. I hadn’t fully approached him, but he heard me instantly, turning around. He didn’t move. The alcove was fairly small, it could probably only fit a handful of people. And yet, with only the Prince and I in it, the space felt crowded somehow.

I glanced over the edge, frowning.

The Prince watched me for a moment. “I would have thought you were quite used to heights, Captain, being in the Hunt.”

I regarded his stance, his imperviousness.

“You certainly are, Your Highness.”

The Prince shifted slightly but didn’t come off the ledge. His clothes rustled with the movement. He was still wearing the same ones. The light from the moon illuminated the fabric in tones of silver as well as grey and black.

“You came faster than I expected,” the Prince stated.

“Your directions are to thank, Your Highness,” I said coolly, but internally I was tense, waiting for the Prince to reveal his reasons for this rendezvous.

The Prince beckoned me closer to the ledge. I eyed it suspiciously. He clearly found my reluctance amusing. After a few moments of debate, I carefully approached it.

The Prince pointed at the sky, the moon more precisely, which tonight was full, and illustrious.

“Like that,” the Prince said softly. “With your clothes and white hair… I was going to say… you looked like that.”

I wasn’t sure how to respond, I only watched him in a daze.

The Prince dropped his hand and stood. He took a step closer to me again. I watched him cautiously. A silver sheen suffused over the edge of his neck as he walked through the moonlight, his sleeves billowing in the soft breeze like the petals of a flower.

He looked down and licked his lips briefly. He almost appeared uneasy.

“You need to leave, Captain.”

His admonishment baffled me. The placid expression on my face was completely nullified by his statement.

“They know. About what you stole,” he explained.

It wasn’t as if I hadn’t anticipated this risk, but it was one thing to be aware of its existence, and another for it to come to fruition. It felt as if a wave had engulfed me, pulling me underneath its weight.

The Prince watched me with a regretful look in his eyes as I took in his words.

“You…told them, Your Highness?” I concluded.

The Prince frowned deeply. “No, Captain, I did not tell them.”

Now I was utterly baffled.

“Then…how?”

“They know what was stolen, and they…” The Prince seemed to be pondering how to explain. He fiddled with his fingers and thumb slightly. “They will find out your identity soon. Regardless of what I say. There are others they can use.”

“I cannot leave the Lady now.”

“Then take her with you.”

“That…is not possible. And if I leave, would that only make me appear guilty to these people?”

“No. Your Kingdom is in a dire state. Leaving now to return there wouldn’t seem particularly suspicious.”

“I cannot, Your Highness.”

The Prince sighed, exasperated.

“I had a feeling you might refuse, Captain. Your removal from Vasara would have been preferable. Nevertheless, it doesn’t change the second part of my plan. We must give them another individual.”

My face did not betray my disapproval. “Condemn another person for my actions, that is not—"

The Prince raised his hand to stop me speaking. My gaze fell to the silver light of the moon, rippling against the surface of his palm.

“Captain. I understand you are someone to whom morality and integrity are important. But these things matter little when you are being hunted by these individuals, for they possess none.” He placed his palm back on his chest and with a mocking smile, added, “I would know.”

He brought both his hands behind his back as he spoke again, “The only way to cease their hunt and therefore, prevent them from discovering the truth, is ending the hunt for them first, and the only way to do so… is this.”

I understood his words, but I could not accept them. I shook my head. “No, Your Highness.”

The Prince chuckled in a fatigued manner. “Well, in all honesty, Captain, I am enacting this plan anyway, your approval isn’t necessary. I am simply informing you of the danger you are in.”

“I do not wish for you to do this, Your Highness.”

“No? You wish to be taken and apprehended by these people?”

“No, but—"

“It will not happen, Captain. While I have the ability to turn their attention elsewhere, I will,” he declared adamantly.

A light breeze drifted through the open space, caressing his hair, sending some of his locks across his forehead lazily.

“Why, Your Highness? Why tell me at all?”

The Prince’s light laugh was carried by the wind. “When I offer to work with someone, that doesn’t usually involve me placing a blade in their back, and burying their body in the ground.”

My voice was crisp and unwaning as I replied. “Surely the trouble saving my life is worth, far exceeds any benefit our alliance may have to you. I am quite sure you could complete the mission of discovering the authors of that note on your own, or at least with the help of…other parties. To be frank, you do not need me. This, we both know.”

The Prince remained silent for a long time. The breeze continued to play with his clothes.

“Normally, in these situations, a person would agree, and offer up several reasons why their life should be spared. It’s almost as if… you’re asking me to kill you,” the Prince remarked, his voice expressionless.

The remote possibility struck me then, that he was here to do just that.

I stepped back, once, twice. I looked around, unbidden fists forming at my sides.

“This would be the perfect place to do so,” I commented, slowly.

The Prince looked over the ledge. “Is that what you think?” He gave a cold laugh, as lifeless as his previous words.

“Is it not so?” I challenged him. “Perhaps there is a reason you wish for me to live I do not know of, but you could also end my life, here and now.”

The Prince was still looking out over the ledge, he huffed out a weak laugh again.

“I have no intention of killing you, Captain. I never did. If I had done, I would have killed you a long time ago.”

That statement did nothing to placate me.

“Then what are your intentions… Your Highness?” My voice was thin and steely.

The Prince moved away from the ledge, and regarded me carefully, as if he were thinking of his answer while looking at my face.

He pinched his brows with his thumb and forefingers, looking down.

“You truly have complicated things, Captain.” He laughed and shook his head.

I waited, watching him. For some reason, I believed his words. I believed if he had wanted to kill me, he would have already done so. He and I were aware that when it came to combat abilities, he was far superior.

He clapped his hands together softly. “Since you have removed all other options only one remains.”

“And which is that?” I asked warily.

The Prince wearily closed his eyes and shook his head again, exhaling loudly through his nose.

“It won’t concern you.” He opened his eyes and smiled tightly. He turned around, ready to leave.

It is difficult to say what possessed me in that moment to step forwards, and stop him with my arm, which I stuck in front of his chest.

Although I moved swiftly, the Prince’s agility prevented his skin from coming into contact with my robes. He backed away, blinking hard and jerking his head in my direction.

“And you?” I said quietly. “Will it concern you?”

Surprise flashed through the Prince’s eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a wave of irritation.

The Prince, without answering, side-stepped my arm, and attempted to move around it.

I blocked his path again, with my body.

This time, he tutted and glanced up at my face. “No, Captain. It will not. Now, let me pass.”

I didn’t move.

“I do not believe you, Your Highness.”

“Why should that matter?” He frowned.

“What will happen if the culprit is not found?”

The Prince shrugged, “They’ll look for—"

“No,” I interrupted him. “What will happen to you ?”

The Prince sucked in a breath, then released it slowly. His voice was low when he answered.

“Nothing.”

“You said to yourself, how can we work together if one of us is incapacitated?” I reminded him.

“No, no, they won’t incapacitate me just…” The Prince laughed, but then his face froze over, shifting in a fraction of a second, as if he had just realised his words.

“Just what…Your Highness?”

The Prince licked his lip then cleared his throat. “Goodnight, Captain.”

The Prince tried to leave for a third time.

“We’re not finished,” I said to his back, sternly.

The Prince moved his head over his shoulder. “Oh? Aren’t we? What is it… that we have left unfinished?”

“Is this why you were gone for days?” I asked him. My voice was betraying signs of agitation now, disquiet.

The Prince turned back to face me, so that our positions were reversed from just minutes ago. At this angle, the moonlight struck his face rather than his back.

“I didn’t realise you’d noticed.”

My brows dropped. “That is not an answer, Your Highness.”

“So many dances tonight, Captain, and here we are, having one of our own. Questions, answers, no answers, accusations, self-sabotage, secrets.” He huffed. “Do you truly expect me to give you everything?”

“It’s one question, Your Highness.”

“No, Captain, that is most certainly not what it is.”

I took a few steps towards him, the shadow of my own body falling over him. He glanced at me up and down as I came closer. “If you will not answer then let me speculate. You were gone for days because of this. You have been ordered to kill me, for some reason, you do not wish to do so. You therefore decided you must offer up another in my place, to take the blame. If you do not do that, then it will be you that suffers…am I correct?”

The Prince smacked his lips together, and looked over my shoulder at the sky, laughing. “You should really stop thinking so much, Captain, I—"

“Am I correct?” I insisted.

The Prince’s eyes very slowly slid towards my face. “Of course not.”

I shook my head in disbelief. “Perhaps others would believe that because of your status, such a thing would not be possible. I would have believed that too once, until…” I lifted my finger and pointed down towards the wound on my shin. The Prince’s eyes followed the movement.

“Now, I am not so sure. In fact,” I hastily added, “I am almost certain that is not the case.”

“Your confidence is admirable.” The Prince raised a brow.

“As is your insistence on denial,” I retorted instantly.

The Prince grinned at that, appearing both irked and gratified. Astonished and offended.

“Ha.” He fiddled with his fingers behind his back.

We stared this way at each other, frustrated and unrelenting. The Prince made it clear he would not be confirming or denying anything.

I took a step back. “There was a man,” I remembered. “A sorcerer. He healed Dyna.”

The Prince raised his eyebrows.

“I can ask him. For assistance.”

The Prince squinted. “And what would be the difference between asking him and me? Of him framing another and me framing another?”

The question threw me off guard.

“None, Captain,” the Prince answered for me.

“Still, it would be better if you were less involved, Your Highness.”

The Prince looked at me smugly. “It’s about ten years too late for that.”

I frowned.

Ten years? Too late for what?

The Prince cleared his throat and clasped his hands behind his back.

“Ask him. If you wish. Since you are so stubborn regarding your own life, I will not stop you preserving it using the means you see fit. I only hope he’s as competent as you imply.”

“I believe he is.”

The Prince smiled with sarcasm. “So, you believe in his capabilities, but not mine?”

“It’s not that.”

“It is. Although I can’t say that I blame you for your distrust.”

Then why was he asking?

The Prince pointed at me. “But you should know that I trust you, Captain. Not with everything, but with a small amount.” He dropped his hand. “Which is far more than I usually offer.”

Knowing the Prince trusted me felt unusually gratifying, but also unnerving, since I could not understand why a man of his background, his position, would trust me at all.

“I am grateful for your trust, Your Highness…and for the warning.”

The Prince nodded. “This man, will he help us with other matters?”

“He will.”

“So, you have decided to agree then? To our…alliance?”

“Yes, Your Highness,” I replied frankly. “I have.”

He smiled slightly at that, then turned to the side.

“This man will help us, but at what cost, I wonder,” he mused aloud.

“I asked him the same.”

“Directly?” The Prince raised a brow.

I nodded in confirmation.

The Prince seemed impressed at that. Not that it was particularly impressive.

“And what did he say?”

“That our interests aligned in such a way the cost was irrelevant.”

The Prince huffed in clear disagreement.

“Who is he?”

“I don’t know, Your Highness, he was disguised.”

“Like that woman.”

I nodded in confirmation once again.

“There’s something else.”

“You really weren’t finished with me.” The Prince laughed. “I didn’t realise you had so much to share. How come I had to approach you, Captain?”

“You have been gone for days,” I reminded him.

The Prince's face dropped at that. He resumed a serious air. “What is it?”

I proceeded to tell him of the words that Dyna’s attacker had uttered.

“That…tells us little.”

“Other than his gender,” I stated.

“Not even that. There are plenty of ways to make yourself appear and sound like a man or a woman, even a child, if you are young, or small enough.”

“So, it truly does tell us nothing.” I sighed.

The Prince waved casually. “It’s no matter. We will discover their identity soon, and they’ll be dead soon afterwards.”

“Dead?” I said flatly.

The Prince squinted in confusion. “Do you suggest we…let them live?”

“We could detain them.”

The Prince smirked. “This person was connected enough to enter the Palace and poison that girl. I am not quite sure detaining them will prove effective.”

I breathed in and out quickly, casting my eyes to the ground in frustration.

“You’re too just, Captain,” the Prince remarked gently.

I looked up at him, he had his head tilted, observing me.

“Not resorting to death as the first option for all things hardly qualifies as just, Your Highness,” I replied.

“It counts as believing that others are, which…is usually something only just people can do.”

“But you do not.”

“I do not,” the Prince sighed out.

I uttered the first question that came to my mind without thinking on it.

“You think yourself an unjust person, Your Highness?”

“Oh, Captain.” The Prince shook his head. “There you go again.”

He stroked the side of his own jaw quickly, outlining its cut. “But it’s alright. It means that during our allyship, I can do whatever it is you cannot, and you can maintain your” — he waved his hand around in a circle— “purity of soul.”

“Purity of soul?” I repeated the words bitterly.

“Good faith in others? Sturdy reputation? Nobility? Morality? Place in the Divine Halls? Choose one,” the Prince said teasingly. “The blood is already on my hands, Captain, why stain yours with it also?”

I couldn’t help but chuckle weakly, shaking my head. The Prince was startled by it. That was understandable. I had not yet appeared truly amused in front of him.

“Your Highness, you accused me just now of seeing the good in others far too often, or too easily, but…you are assuming much about me now, much which is not true. If your statement earlier this evening was right, there is still much that we do not know about one another. If you truly believe me the pinnacle of righteousness, you will invariably end up disappointed.”

The Prince smiled the whole time I spoke.

“Captain, I’ve been disappointed by the majority of people. I know you aren’t someone who is inclined to believe me, but I hope you will this once, when I tell you, that there is no future I can envisage where you will be added to that list.”

We stood in silence for a few seconds.

“You should wear white more. It suits you,” the Prince said, looking me up and down.

I looked at his attire in kind.

The Prince smiled and looked at his own clothing. “Mmmm. It’s rather revolting, isn’t it?”

“No,” I replied instantly.

Did he really believe that?

The Prince raised his brows and looked at me.

“It’s too your taste then? Should I lend it to you?” He stroked one of the transparent sleeves mockingly.

“No,” I said, only this time in a disgruntled manner.

He laughed, openly and lightly. “You can’t refuse. You like it, you just said so. I’ll give it to you.”

“Please do not,” I grumbled.

He laughed again and I found myself smiling slightly as I watched him appearing so genuinely delighted.

Our eyes met, and I shook my head, looking away, wiping the smile from my face.

“You need a reason, there you are, I wish for you to live, simply so I can see you in this.” He gestured to himself.

“Then you should kill me now, Your Highness,” I retorted dryly.

The Prince laughed again. His laugh rang across the space like chiming silver bells. He shook his head.

“No. I don’t think I will. In fact, I’m even more determined to ensure you live now.”

I let out a groan.

The Prince clearly enjoyed mocking me. He watched me react to every word with a glint in his eyes.

He held out his hand. “Give me the message, I’ll dispose of it.”

I took out the silk and handed it to him, placing it in his palm, quickly withdrawing my arm.

But the Prince grabbed my wrist before I could fully do so. His fingers were insistent but not painfully. They held my wrist like a bird perching quietly on a branch. Just with the time his fingers had met my leg, their touch was insistent, demanding, a focal point of gentle force. I furrowed my brow at his fingers, then at his face.

He placed something else inside my palm. It was a balm of some kind.

“For your wound,” he whispered.

My wound was much improved, but still not fully healed.

“Thank you, Your Highness.” I glanced down at him, this close together, I was taller than him, but only slightly.

His fingers brushed against mine rapidly as he nodded, took his hands away, and left.

In the moonlight, the balm, which was golden in colour, looked white. I opened its lid and smelt it.

It smelt…slightly sweet, woody, and musky.

It was a familiar scent, I realised, although I hadn’t known its true origins before.

It was the exact scent the Prince always carried.