But what if strength itself was weakness? What if the iron crown that had made the Three Isles mighty was really just a beautiful trap, transforming each new king into a monster worthy of its legacy?
I thought of my tutors, grave men who had trained me in the arts of war and governance with methodical precision. Master Ordin, who could calculate the exact number of lashes needed to break a man's spirit without killing him. Captain Phale, who had taught me seventeen different ways to execute a prisoner for maximum psychological impact on witnesses. Scholar Maethon, whose lessons in statecraft were really lessons in manipulation, extortion, and the fine art of turning allies against each other.
All of them servants of the crown. All of them eager to mold me into a worthy successor to my father's throne.
Had they succeeded? When the time came, would I find cruelty as natural as breathing? Would the weight of that iron circlet transform me as it had every king before me, until mercy became foreignand kindness felt like betrayal of everything I was born to be?
The youth's voice cut through my spiraling thoughts like a blade through silk. "You carry great burdens for one so young."
I opened my eyes to find him watching me with something approaching sympathy. The sun had dropped lower while I wrestled with my demons, painting his skin in shades of bronze and gold that made him seem more statue than man. Beautiful, impossibly beautiful, and utterly untouched by the darkness that clung to me like a second skin.
"Do I?" I managed a laugh that sounded hollow even to my own ears. "I suppose all men carry something."
"True enough." He stretched again, muscles flowing beneath sun-kissed skin with liquid grace. "But some burdens are heavier than others. Some require... creative solutions."
Before I could ask what he meant by that cryptic observation, footsteps sounded on the path behind us. I turned to see Rhazir approaching, his armor gleaming like burnished bronze in the dying light. Even from a distance, I could read the careful blankness of his expression, the look he wore when confronted with situations that tested his composure.
The naked youth followed my gaze andchuckled softly. "Your companion seems less comfortable with our customs than you are."
Rhazir drew closer, his dark eyes fixed firmly on my face while studiously avoiding the sight of sun-warmed flesh arranged so artlessly nearby. A flush had crept up his neck above the collar of his leather jerkin, and I watched with fascination as he struggled to maintain his professional demeanor.
Had he always been so beautiful? The question rose unbidden, bringing with it a flutter of sensation deep in my belly that I didn't dare examine too closely. Eight years of daily companionship had made me blind to details I was suddenly noticing with startling clarity: the way afternoon light caught the strong line of his jaw, the graceful economy of his movements, the subtle interplay of muscle and sinew beneath travel-stained fabric.
When had his shoulders grown so broad? When had his voice developed that rough quality that made something inside me tighten with unnamed longing?
"Your Highness," he said, voice carefully controlled. "I've secured rooms at an inn called the Golden Lily. The proprietor assures me it's suitable for... persons of quality."
"Excellent." I rose from the marble bench, surprised to find my legs slightly unsteady. Whether from the climb or from thoughts I had no businessthinking, I couldn't say. "Thank you for your efficiency, as always."
Something flickered in his dark eyes, pleasure at the praise, perhaps, or relief at my apparent cooperation. Then his gaze dropped to the pack at my feet, and I saw him take inventory of my belongings with the thoroughness of a professional soldier. Canvas satchel containing my travel clothes. Leather purse heavy with coin. The small wooden box that held my few pieces of jewelry.
My attention wandered to his own gear, the familiar sword at his hip, the leather armor that had seen him through countless training sessions, the travel pack that contained his sparse belongings. But there was something new, something that didn't fit his usual kit. A canvas sack, roughly the size of a man's head, tied to his belt with careful knots. It bulged with mysterious weight, and its presence struck me as oddly out of place.
The question nagged at me for all of a heartbeat before my own concerns reasserted themselves. Soon we would seek our lodgings, and I would have to decide what came next. How long could I linger in this paradise before duty called me home? How long before news arrived that would shatter this golden interlude forever? And how long before my loyal bodyguard tried to drag me back to my prison?
The naked youth rose from his bench with fluid grace, gathering his discarded scroll with casualefficiency. "Enjoy your stay on our island, Your Highness,” he said with that same warm smile. "May you find whatever it is you're seeking."
Rhazir's flush deepened at this display of unashamed nudity, and I bit back a smile at his obvious discomfort. My stalwart protector, who could face armed enemies without flinching, undone by the sight of human flesh as gods had shaped it.
"Come," I said, shouldering my pack with renewed energy. "Let's see what manner of hospitality the Golden Lily provides."
As we walked away from the grove, I found myself stealing glances at Rhazir's profile, noting details I'd somehow overlooked for years. The slight scar that bisected his left eyebrow was a souvenir from sparring practice when we were both fifteen. The way he unconsciously adjusted his stride to match mine, despite his longer legs. The protective vigilance that never left his posture, as if he expected danger to leap from every shadow.
He was here because of me. Had risked everything, his position, his reputation, possibly his life, to follow a prince who'd fled in the night like a common criminal. The thought should have filled me with gratitude.
Instead, I felt only a familiar surge of resentment, sharp as broken glass in my throat.
He was watching me. Always watching, always ready to remind me of duties I longed to forget,always prepared to drag me back to the iron crown that waited like a patient predator. Even here, in this place of beauty and freedom, I could not escape the weight of what I was born to become.
The inn materialized before us as we descended from the palace complex, a graceful building of white stone and red tile, its terraced gardens spilling down the hillside in cascades of color. Golden light spilled from its windows, and the sound of laughter and music drifted on the evening air.
Paradise, indeed. But even paradise had its serpents, and mine walked beside me with the face of the man I trusted most in all the world.
Chapter
Three
RHAZIR
