“What’s a healthy way to stay alive?” says Princess Harper, as she comes through the doorway. She’s in high laced boots and calfskin riding breeches, her long curly hair pinned at the back of her neck. Shewalks with a limp, and I know she struggles with strength and balance on her left side. Some malady from her world that’s plagued her since birth. There’s a scar across her cheek, too, though nothing as severe as Rhen’s. Another reminder that none of us survived the past battles unscathed.
I rise when she enters, but Harper doesn’t stand on ceremony, so she waves me back into my chair.
“Seeing everyone with suspicion,” I say, in answer to her question.
She drops into the chair beside Rhen, then leans in to give him a kiss on the cheek. He murmurs to her, something too soft to hear, but he lets go of a paper to give her hand a gentle squeeze, then brushes a kiss across her knuckles.
It’s interesting to see the way they treat each other, compared to how open Grey’s affection is for Lia Mara. Rhen and Harper’s love always seems very gentle, very quiet, trapped in little moments between the two of them. I glance away, because something about it is potent, as if I’m witnessing something intimate and private.
At the same time, I wonder what it would be like to trust someone that much, to allow myself to be that vulnerable. I remember my conversation with Noah, and memories of my childhood begin to surface. That old, familiar tension begins to crawl across my shoulders again.
“I didn’t expect you to return so soon,” says Harper, drawing my gaze back.
“I didn’t either.” I shrug. “I don’t mind the ride. I like the queen’s idea of a competition.”
“I do too,” says Rhen. “It’s good to give the people an event to rally around.” He pulls several sheets of paper together. “But one big competition here might favor Emberfall too strongly. She should have preliminary competitions to narrow the field of victors—”
“Like semifinals,” says Harper.
“Indeed.” He looks at the maps again. “I believe there should be onein Syhl Shallow and another in Emberfall. Competitors can enter both. That would encourage travelers to cross the border and spend coins in both countries, which I presume is her intent.” He points at the map. “Here. This is farmland, yes?”
I peer at the map. The area he’s indicating is an hour’s ride north of Briarlock. “Yes.”
“The Crown could rent the land during the summer months, and host a competition.” He points to an area near the castle. “We can host one here, too. It would be widely accessible, especially with our proximity to the harbor. I’ll include this in my return letter to Grey.” He makes a note. “And the final competition could be held here in late autumn, well before the snows block the mountain pass.”
I wonder if Lia Mara will want to travel in late autumn, but I nod. “I will let them know as soon as I return.”
Maybe Rhen hears something in my tone, because he glances up. “Has Grey asked you to return quickly?”
I shake my head. “No. But I spent so much time here that Lia Mara began to assume I was having a clandestine romance. I’d like to avoid that if possible.”
Harper snorts. “Really? With who? The Royal Guard?”
I smile. “Well, Noah is just the opposite. He thinks I—”
I break off as I rememberexactlywhat Noah said, the way he compared me to the prince.
Rhen looks up, of course. “Noah thinks what?”
I lose the smile. “He thinks I use this role as a means to keep people at arm’s length.” I pause. “He implied you do the same.”
“Noah thinks I keep people at arm’s length?” Rhen straightens. “Harper, do you believe that to be true?”
“Well. You spent like a million years trapped by a curse, during which you stayed in this castle with no one but Grey for company. Gee, let me think—”
“That’s quite enough.”
“Hmm.” Harper smiles and taps a finger to her lips. “Truly, it is a mystery.”
He sighs—but he picks up her hand and kisses her knuckles again.
“I will finish my message this evening,” Rhen says to me. “And you are free to return tomorrow, if you like.” He pauses. “But here is what you should do.” He pulls the map closer, indicating towns that lie near my path back to Syhl Shallow. “There are tourneys in Kalmery, Blind Hollow, Wildthorne Valley, and Gaulter. Stay an evening in each. Attend the tourney. Spend some silver. Spread word of what is being planned. See how this is received among the people so you can share what you find with Lia Mara and Grey.”
I nod, eager to have a task. Eager to have aplan.
Maybe I’m more like Rhen than I think.
“Yes, Your Highness,” I say. “As you wish.”
