I lifted my chin. “I can run away.”
“You think you can run away from me?”
I took a step back, suddenly wary of this boy I had known all of my life. He didn’t seem like a boy anymore though. He seemed like some other creature entirely. “Yes. I do.”
He followed my retreating steps. “I’ll chase you.”
“Then I’ll hide.”
He leaned forward, capturing my wrist with his bigger, stronger hand. “Then I’ll find you.”
My heart pounded. I decided to switch tactics. “Boys hate getting married. Alesk won’t stop complaining about his betrothal. He says he’s going to put toads in her shoes and paste on her hairbrush.”
He let out a rumble of laughter. “Alesk won’t feel that way when it’s time for him to get married. I’m sure he’ll leave the Princess of Kasha’s hairbrush very much alone.”
“How would you know? He’s an entire year older than you.”
“Yes, but he has annoying little sisters that make him afraid of all females. I have none. So I have nothing to fear.” I opened my mouth to argue with him but he cut me off with a flippant, “Besides, I’ve seen the Princess of Kasha. He will not complain once he’s seen her.”
Now I felt hot with anger for an entirely different reason. “You don’t know anything.”
He took another step toward me. “I know you’re even prettier than the Princess of Kasha. I know I’m to marry you. I know I have a present for you if you would stop arguing with me.”
“You may give me your present,” I told him with all the air of a woman already queen. “I’ll decide if I want to marry you later.”
He smiled warmly at me and held up the necklace. The two gems danced together on the gentle breeze, clinking against the silver teardrop background. “Do you like it?”
“It’s beautiful,” I whispered.
He slipped it over my head. It was too big. It hung down to the belt on my velvet gown. “I want you to always wear it. Even when we’re older.”
I touched the pretty stones, one that represented my kingdom and one that represented his. “What if I decide not to marry you?”
His finger brushed the underside of my jaw and I looked up at him once more. “Then you can keep the necklace as a symbol of my broken heart.”
I smiled, despite the instinct to run away. “You could always marry the Princess of Kasha.”
His laughter filled the cool air with warmth and the darkness with unexpected light. “Tessa, I cannot wait for you to be queen.”
I slipped the necklace over my head and let the pendant and gems dangle against my breastplate. But I would not be queen of his kingdom.
I would be queen of mine.
4
“It’s too early to start a quest!” Oliver whined next to me.
As reluctant as I was to admit that he was right, the morning chill leached beneath my cloak, through my muslin traveling dress, and straight to my bones. I stumbled over rocks and wayward branches.
The Brotherhood did not have a horse to spare for our journey, so Oliver and I had been forced to set off across the nine kingdoms on foot. We carried with us only a few loaves of bread, six apples, some salted meat, and just enough coin to see that we didn’t starve should we survive the Tenovian forests.
To be fair, we didn’t have to cross the entirety of the nine kingdoms. Only three stood between the Temple of Eternal Light and the center of the realm, where Elysia sat as the crown jewel and Seat of Power.
Oliver’s voice cut through my mental calculations. “Are you listening to me?”
“Yes,” I answered. “It’s early. You’re cold. You’re tired. You’re all things cranky.”
He elbowed me in the arm and I almost tripped over my own feet. “I’ve been talking about the merits of caravan travel for at least seven minutes. I brought up several good points! Now I’ll have to begin again. Did you not hearanythingI said?”
