She gave him an incredulous look.“It’s spelled weird, no one can pronounce it, and it means thornbush.”
“Sacred thornbush,” he corrected, surprising her, then giving her a mischievous look with a hint of a smile.“Seems apt to me, oh thorny one.”
She snorted, but couldn’t help being secretly amused—and definitely intrigued.Too bad the timing sucked.“Look who’s slinging stones, oh nameless one.”
“How long till we reach this pit stop?”He shook his head in disgust.“I can’t believe those words just came out of my mouth.”
Cha chuckled, gauged the ley line and the landmarks.“’Bout ten minutes and you’re rid of me.”
“How about ten minutes of quid pro quo, answer for answer?”he suggested silkily.
“Sounds like fun.Me first: who and what are you running from?”
~14~
Quid Pro Quo
“That’s two questions,”he retorted.
“One question mark,” she pointed out placidly.“Besides, I doubt you could fully answer the question with only half the information there.”
He grunted, which she assumed was him agreeing without being happy about it.“I thought you’d ask for my true name first.”
“First rule of negotiating: never lead with the offer they expect.”She pointed at the path-channel box.“Plus extenuating circumstances.”Names held power and if this cagey princeling was in real trouble, as he appeared to be if actual fell wolves were on his ass, then he’d want to avoid any long-distance scrying that used his name to triangulate on his location.She flashed a grin.“This is why we have handles, Prince Charming.”
“You gave your name.”
“Because everyone already knows who I am.The price of fame.”She added a sigh for dramatic effect.“Now, answer the question.”
He tipped back his head to rest against the seat while he stared blindly at the sky.“I suppose it wouldn’t do any good to answer that I’m running from fell wolves.”He held up a hand to flick off her indignant rebuttal, his mouth quirking in an almost whimsical smile.“Never mind—I’ll play fair, though the gambit was tempting.I’m running from my wedding.”
Not at all what Cha had expected.She raised a brow.“Explains the outfit, I suppose.”
“Nothing explains this outfit, believe me.At any rate, that is both the who and the what—my bride and my erstwhile wedding.”
“Some bride who sics fell wolves on her beloved.”
He huffed something that might have been a laugh.“I’m fairly certain it was her family, not her, who sicced the wolves on me.They don’t really care what condition I’m in, so long as I’m alive enough to marry their daughter.”
Cha turned that over in her head.The royals had all kinds of reasons to wed, and rarely did any of them have to do with affection between the bridal pair.Still, while the marital couple were often compelled by pressures they couldn’t refuse—usually having to do with wealth and power, the sort gotten legally, but no more ethically than her methods, in Cha’s opinion—seldom did they have to be dumped at the altar in a bloody heap.This only raised many more questions.
“Before you ask any of the questions obviously bubbling up in your pretty head,” the prince said, “it’s my turn to ask.What is BX code for?”
Cha bit back a sigh, wondering if she could convincingly lie about it.As a mostly full-blooded human, she was able to lie, and normally she was pretty good at it, but something told her the prince would see through most prevarications.
“I’ll know if you lie,” he cautioned her, proving her suspicion correct.
“Border crossing,” she answered tersely.
“Whichborder?”he demanded in a sharp tone.
“Ah ah.”She wagged a finger at him.“Tis my turn, Your Highness.”
“Then ask.”
“I’m constructing my question.Hush.”To her surprise, he did remain quiet, his gaze on the side of her face as she idly drummed her fingers on the console.In truth, his name wouldn’t do her much good.Not like she moved in those circles, so she’d be unlikely to glean anything useful from knowing it.She wasn’t sure what information about him would turn out to be useful, given that they’d part ways forever in…less than five minutes.So, she opted to satisfy her curiosity.“What did you find out right before the wedding ceremony that was so terrible you opted to face fell wolves instead?”
He was quiet a long moment.“I’m interested that you assume I discovered something immediately before the ceremony.”
