‘Are you … all right?’ Ezer asked.
‘I’m the prince of Lordach. I’m always all right,’ Kinlear said as he settled his breathing. ‘The dust inside these stalls. It gets to me.’ And then his eyebrows raised, and his gaze slid past her to the aisles beyond. ‘I’m afraid our conversation here must come to an end. I’ve somewhere else to be.Anywhereelse.’
‘Why?’ she asked.
But then she heard Arawn’s voice out in the aisles.
Her blood went cold.
‘Gods be with you, when faced with my brother’s wrath.’ Kinlear quickly bowed his head in dismissal. ‘I’ll be seeing you, Ravenminder. I do hope you enjoyed your little private tour of the Eagles’ Nest. In the future … be careful where you step. And where you hide, for you never know who might be watching.’
With that, he winked at her again.
Then he spun on his heel and slipped past her, smelling strangely of black licorice, sickly sweet.
She had one second to breathe before she stepped out of the storage space.
And came face to face with Arawn.
‘Ezer.’
Oh, gods above.
He lookedfurious, like he had when she’d called him out on his fizzling magic.
‘I just wanted to see them,’ Ezer tried. ‘Just one look, before going to my tower. I swear, that’s all I did.’
‘You disobeyed a direct order,’ Arawn said.
And for some reason, that sparked a fire in her belly.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said sweetly. ‘Are you supposed to be my superior?’
‘You havemuchto learn about rank,’ he growled. ‘I am yourCrown Prince.’
‘Prince,’ she said, because there was her reckless fury again. She wouldnotbe made to feel small. ‘Not quite King.’
He looked like he’d been slapped.
And before she could stop him, he reached out to grab her hand.
She gasped at how sudden his touch was, how steady his grip. It was not painful by any means, but she certainly couldn’t shake him off. He was the size of a war bear compared to her, all muscle and no give, and before she knew it, he’d whirled her around and was practically dragging her down the aisle of stalls.
Past eagle after eagle, all of which seemed to perk their heads up at the sight of the commotion. One of them released a throatysquawk,as if to protest.
Another rammed at the stall door with an enormous beak, but not even the eagles could help her now.
‘I told you,’ Arawn snarled, his voice low and menacing as he pulled her from the barn, ‘that this space is only for the chosen. The ones who have worked to earn their place among the gods’ mounts. You had no right.’
‘Technically, you didn’t apply that tome,’ Ezer said.
There was no direct command.
‘You don’t listen,’ he said. He was walking so fast she couldbarely keep her own legs under her. ‘You are not from here, and yet you question the gods, question our laws, and break the rules laid out before you. We need to leave this space before anyone else finds out. They’ll blame me, as they rightfully should, and I’ve no room for error on the day of my return. My father will have myhead.’
‘And what will he do to his Crown Prince?’ Ezer ground out. ‘Punish him?’
She barked out a laugh, but suddenly he whirled to face her.
