Honestly, they were used to the pursuit by now.
Halfway toward the throne room, I realized I didn’t know where to find Taelon. Where would he be waiting? Where would he go if he’d been told he couldn’t see me?
There was an antechamber to the throne room where Tyrn’s secretary had a desk. Maybe he would know. Or at least send a servant to track him down.
Castles were weird things in light of my childhood at the monastery. I was used to wandering the grounds unchaperoned. Save for my studies with Father Garius and chores, I was given free rein to go where I pleased, when I pleased.
But at the castle, there were procedures and restrictions for everything. I was only allowed in certain corridors. I was only allowed out of my rooms during daylight hours. I was only allowed to eat supper in the dining room with Tyrn. All other meals were to be taken in my bedroom or the library they’d given to my continuing education. The castle gardens were only accessible if I took a contingent of bodyguards. If Oliver and I wanted to practice with swords, we had to gain permission from my uncle first and then wait until the swordmaster was available to observe. Which was rare.Of course.
When the weather had first shown signs of summer, Oliver and I had tried to swim in the clear pond toward the back of one of the gardens and were called lunatics by the guards, my uncle, and anyone who happened to hear of the failed attempt.
The freedom and autonomy I had once enjoyed had been choked into a set of rules and royal expectations I loathed. When I was queen...
If I was ever queen...
Some of the brightness in my quest faded. There was a lot to get used to as I stepped back into my position in the Allisand line. But this would have been my life even if my parents were still alive. A princess with a crown in her future could not run off feral and unsupervised. The Nine Kingdoms were at stake. My life had value I couldn’t fully understand yet.
Although I had been giving it a valiant effort.
Taelon wasn’t in Master Fen’s office. Nor was Master Fen. I glanced around the corridor, searching for clues on what to do next. The guards who had followed me from my rooms took a step back and moved to attention against the nearest wall. For their part, they largely tried to stay out of my way and remain invisible. But it was hard not to find their obvious attempts at blending in totally ridiculous.
“Curtis,” I began, hoping the closest guard might have some clue as to where to look next. “Do you know where I could find...?”
“Looking for someone? I might be able to help.” The disembodied voice came from around the corner, or from the shadows behind me, or from maybe the air itself. I blinked, and a man appeared in front of me. It wasn’t magic. I was just... expecting someone else. The man offered a low, regal bow.
He was royal. I knew it immediately. There was self-importance about him that screamed power and prestige. From the top of his head, where a thin band of black circled his head announcing his position, to his immaculate tunic that wasn’t like any style I was used to, to his pointed black boots that were much shorter than the styles in Elysia and Soravale. More like slippers really. How odd.
But I didn’t recognize him. Had never seen him before. Yet somehow, he seemed to know exactly who I was.
Flustered, I bit out a terse, “I am.”
“The Lost Princess,” he murmured. “A true miracle.” He bent into a low, flourished bow, proving he did know who I was. Although there was a tension to his movement that made it seem... forced. When he stood straight again, he took my hand, which happened to be dangling uselessly at my side, and brought it to his lips. “My lady,” he murmured, his mouth brushing my knuckles.
I stared agape, trying to make sense of what had just happened. Another man wasn’t allowed to touch me without my permission. That wasn’t just my personal rule but the general tenet of propriety.
“Someone was looking for me...” I began.
“Good news then, Your Highness, you’ve found him.”
I stared at this man. Boy? Something in between. Older than I was, for sure. But younger than Taelon, also for sure. He had hair so dark it seemed to repel light, glimmering as the morning light tried to penetrate it but failed. His eyes were a mercurial shade of the lightest gray, as shimmering as his hair but in a different way entirely. Where his hair seemed too dark to tolerate light so it bounced off his black strands, his eyes seemed to absorb it entirely. They were so bright as he stood bathed in the morning rays stretching in through tall windows lining the far wall that they seemed to almost glow.
He was dressed in something akin to a morning suit with the style of a different realm than Elysia, gray like his eyes,like my dress, with a crisp white tunic beneath. He was all lithe muscle and the kind of grace that belonged only to elite breeding and a lifetime of training with masters but no actual hard work.
He was a prince. I would bet my life on it.
Had Clesta said Taelon specifically? Or had she only said a prince was asking for me?
“What is this?” I asked, retracting my hand. His boldness unnerved and irritated me. Who was this man who demanded an audience with a princess he had never been formally introduced to? I glanced around the open corridor, wondering why it was so empty. My guards moved in, their armor clanking as they closed the distance between us. But still they were slow, hesitant. “Are you unaware of kingdom customs? You cannot simply walk up to the future queen of the realm and take her hand. If we were friends or had even met before, that would be one thing. But I don’t know you.”
I heard how condescending I sounded and wanted to scream. Or apologize. Or bury my head in a hole in the ground. But honestly, I had never. The audacity of this man.
My interactions since I’d been here had been painfully restricted. Servants never even looked me in the eye, save for Clesta. Oliver was the only guest who was open and honest with me. The rest of the courtiers hardly spoke to me. And Tyrn simply tolerated my existence.
The daring stranger swept into another bow. “But we have met before, Your Highness. Years ago, I grant you that. But neither of us had worn more than a nappy, so surely we are as acquainted as two people can be.”
“I’m sorry?” I snarled in my snottiest voice ever. “Who do you think you are talking to—”
“Caspian Bayani. Second son of King Akio Bayani. Our mothers were friends once upon a time. You visited my kingdom when you were little. Our nursemaids let us strip down to nearly nothing and climb the dunes. You were... unstoppable in the sand.”
