He put his hands up in front of him. “Whoa. Point taken.”
“Are you going to explain yourself? Or keep messing with me? I want to know what you were doing in the king’s rooms. And what were you really doing outsidemyroom?”
Lucas took a deep breath. “Investigating.”
“Investigating? You expect me to believe that?”
“You can believe it or not believe it. It’s the only truth I have, however.”
“Investigating what, then?”
He hesitated, as if he was unsure of whether to trust me. The irony. At last, he said, “The beetles. I suspect your father was the victim of some long-forgotten curse.” He sighed, and for a moment I saw something in his face—something real, like grief and fear, behind his cocky façade. Something vulnerable. Lucas was scared.
A curse. It was the same thing I’d overheard the maids saying in the garden, that the king had been cursed by dark magic. But I wanted to know what he knew. “What kind of curse?”
Lucas shrugged. “I’m not sure. That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”
I didn’t want to believe him, yet I did. I felt he was being truthful. One thing still didn’t make sense to me, though. “Why were you creeping around outside my room, then?”
“Same reason. I had been trying to find the source of the bugs.That led me up to the queen’s wing. I had to get the guards away so they wouldn’t catch on to what I was doing. I didn’t want anyone to know, in case any one of them may be the culprit. I lured them away with a tray of treats from the Court of Sigbin. They absolutely love the coconut pandan cake our chef makes—”
“Okay, but what did you find?” I was anxious to get as much information as I could now that we were finally laying it all out on the table.
“Not much. I found the beetles, of course. But not their origin. It appears they’re not in your rooms—at least not yet. I’m glad we’re having this conversation, actually, even if it isn’t under ideal circumstances. I was trying to think of a way to let you know, but it’s kind of hard when...”
“When we hate each other?” I finished for him.
“Ouch. I didn’t know you had such strong feelings for me.” His face lit up with a rakish grin.
I couldn’t help but laugh once more, but I was also blushing. God, why did he have to be so attractive? Was I so basic I was falling for him, too, like every starry-eyed first-year at BANA?
Neither of us spoke for a minute after that. I was trying to process everything and figure out where to go from there. Lucas was just as lost in his thoughts as I was.
“Penny for your thoughts,” I offered.
This time it was his turn to blush. Huh. Was he thinking about me? And if he was, how would I feel about it? Somehow, I knew I wouldn’t be as dismissive of it as I had been just the other day. I think I would maybe even welcome it? It was strange to think that last night I still considered him my enemy, but by this morning we were almost friends.
The silence was getting awkward, so I thought it was a good time to ask him more questions. “By the way,” I said, “who were the two men you were talking to in town?”
That one genuinely surprised him. “How’d you know about that?”
“Let’s just say I have my sources. Aren’t they smugglers?”
He looked down at the ground and clasped his hands together. I knew I had him this time. “I didn’t realize I was being spied on,” he said, as if he had any right to be upset about that after the discussion we just had.
“Then we’re even,” I pointed out.
He raised an eyebrow. “Yes, they were smugglers,” he admitted.
“I knew it.” Vindication. “How can you work with them? They bring humans into Biringan to be enslaved!”
Lucas’s eyes blazed. “For your information, I have personally tracked down and imprisoned anyone who would hurt or harm humans.”
It was exactly as the shady man had said—Lucas cared about the humans in Biringan. He wasn’t involved in exploiting them. I was mollified and grateful for the confirmation. But I still needed to know his reasons.
“Why, then? Are you trying to make some extra money on the side? Or what?”
“No. Those guys I talked to don’t deal with human trafficking. They mostly run a black market of stolen goods from the human world—some encantos can’t live without their iPhones. You’d be surprised how many here love them. Oh, yes, I know all about ‘technology.’ Anyway, I was trying to get some information about the beetles. Smugglers tend to know about things that are illegal or illicitin the kingdom. But all they could tell me was that they originate in the Sombra Woods. Look, the fact is, we’re on the same side, Princess,” Lucas insisted. “Neither of us wants to see anyone else get hurt. Especially if we’re dealing with regicide here. The page’s murder was probably a threat. A warning to the future queen.” He looked straight at me.
