“I’ll do whatever you need.” I stab a piece of ham with my fork and smile. “I don’t mind. Truly.”
She’s quiet for a moment. “We ask too much of you,” she finally says. “This role leaves you no time for friendship, or courtship, or even—”
I almost choke on my food. “Youare my friends,” I say. “Andcourtship? Who would I court?”
“We certainly don’t leave you with time to meet anyone. I could see if there are any eligible suitors within the Royal Houses.”
“Like when I was sixteen and you encouraged me to pursue Nolla Verin? I tried to hold her hand and I thought she was going to cut my fingers off.” I grin. “You do realize there are rumors that she sleeps with her blades in hand.”
Lia Mara rolls her eyes. “My sister does no such thing.”
I imagine Nolla Verin and her vicious practicality. “Tonight, you should check. I think you’d be surprised.”
She doesn’t smile. “In truth, I hoped that part of the reason you were in Emberfall so long was because you might have met someone who”—she exchanges a glance with Noah—“encouraged you to linger.”
“Then I’m sorry to report it was just plots against the throne that took up all my time.” I push food around on my plate. I’m not sure howwe shifted from threats against the royal family to my romantic interests. A new tension has crawled across my shoulders. “When I wasn’t traveling with Rhen, I trained with the Royal Guard. Once we’d discovered all we could, I came home.”
“You spent a great deal of time with Rhen, did you?” A tightness enters her tone. She witnessed what Rhen did to me and Grey. It was years ago, and they’ve put aside their differences, but I don’t think she’ll ever forgive him for it.
“As much as was necessary.” I shove another bite of bread into my mouth. I wish I could shake off this sudden new attention. I should have followed the others to the training fields. Grey would stumble into his own sword before it would occur to him to interrogate me aboutcourtship.
Lia Mara and Noah are quiet for a moment, and I have no desire to fillthissilence, so I keep my eyes on my food.
“Since we’re talking about Emberfall,” Lia Mara eventually says, “I did have an idea.” Her tone has changed to lightly musing. Maybe she feels the need to change the subject. “It concerns me that the only people working together across the border are conspiringagainstus. There has been so much unrest, but our countries have been at peace for years now, and I would like to plan something bigger, something to show our people that they can beunitedin their love for both Emberfall and Syhl Shallow.”
“What did you have in mind?” I say.
“My mother used to hold a competition every year, called the Queen’s Challenge. It was quite a spectacle, and it would draw people from all over Syhl Shallow.”
I’ve heard of the Queen’s Challenge. Many of the soldiers have mentioned it with longing in their voices. “You want to bring it back?” I say. “I think that would be a popular decision.”
“I’d like to host it in Emberfall,” she says. “We could call it the RoyalChallenge.” She pauses. “The lands surrounding Ironrose Castle are even more vast than the training fields here. This would require a great deal of resources from both countries, as well as an opportunity for the people to mingle in a time of revelry.” She takes another tiny bite. “What do you think?”
She’s right about the lands surrounding Ironrose Castle, and they’d be perfect to host all kinds of competitions, both mounted and unmounted, from swordplay to archery to foot races—any challenge they could fathom. The idea lights a spark of eagerness inside me as well. “When Grey and I worked in the tourney, the stands were full nearly every night. And there are tourneys all over Emberfall. I think such a challenge would be equally popular there.”
“Do you think Prince Rhen would be agreeable?”
She says this more tentatively. Grey is the king, so his word is law, but Rhen grew up believing he was the crown prince. Despite their dark history, Grey is always careful not to force his will on his younger brother. Sometimes I’m not sure Rhen is aware of that.
“I think …” I begin thoughtfully, remembering the prince eagerly poring over the letters with coded messages of potential treason. “I think he’d be open to the idea. Prince Rhen loves a challenge.”
She smiles and pushes her plate away. She’s only eaten three bites, but I know better than to say anything. “Good. When you return, please tell him we hope to see him compete.”
Once Lia Mara is gone, I expect Noah to leave to attend to his own duties, too, but he pours himself another cup of tea, adding so much milk and honey that my eyebrows go up.
He sees me looking and smiles. “One day we’ll bring you back a caramel macchiato from the other side, and it will wreck you for tea forever.”
He and Jake came from somewhere called Washington, DC, just like Princess Harper. Noah wears two magic-infused rings like my own: one to assist in his healing arts, but the other allows him to cross over into his own world.
I don’t know how often they go, but I don’t think it’s often. I’ve heard Jake say that the longer they stay here, the more jarring it is to cross over. A few years ago, not long after Grey first forged the rings, Jake and Noah went to “Disi” for a visit. They returned two hours later, and Jake had a split lip and bloodied knuckles.
They didn’t tell me what happened, but I overheard them talking to Grey.
“In some ways, it’s harder here,” Jake said. “But in a lot of ways, it’s a hell of a lot easier.”
My plate is empty, and I can see soldiers taking to the training field outside the window, but I fill my own teacup and add an equivalent amount of milk and honey.
When I take a sip, I nearly choke, and Noah laughs.
