“How did you do that?” she whispers at Asher.
“Please. Men are easy.”
My pride sparks. “I am not—”
“Do you want me to do it again?”
That makes me flush, and I’m not ready for it. “No,” I grind out.
“Exactly.” He glances at the princess. “Jory has questions for you.”
I fold my arms. “Questions.”
“That’s why we came looking,” Jory says. “But you must have somewhere better for a conversation than a hallway.”
My brain can’t keep up. I can’t believe we’ve shifted from arguing to fighting to seduction to interrogation, all in the span of one minute.
Actually, consideringeverythingI know about the two of them, I should have expected nothing less.
I run a hand back through my hair. After what just happened, it would be torture to lock ourselves in a cold strategy room. I definitely don’t want to go back to my bedchambers.
But then I remember our conversation from the ride here, right before my people attacked us and everything unraveled.
“Come,” I say. “I have just the place.”
Chapter Thirty-One
The Princess
The king leads us toward the back of the palace. I’m so struck by howemptyit is. Even when Dane and my father aren’t in residence, the palace in Astranza is always bustling with people. Guards and servants and courtiers and noblemeneverywhere.It’s almost impossible to be alone.
Here, Ky’s palace seems...desolate.
He seemed so enraged to find us at the doorway to his sister’s room, but truly, the bigger shock is that he thought wewouldn’tfind him. The exterior of the palace appears suitably appointed, but inside, there are so few guards, so few servants. Asher and I thought for sure that we would be stopped or detained as we wandered through the halls, but the palace felt eerily quiet. If I’d come here alone, I would have thought it was haunted. The king claimed that he wasn’t expected for a matter of weeks, which...fair, but still. Certainly he must carry out kingly duties from here?
Or does he do everything from the battlefield?
I keep thinking of everything Asher said.He’s broken, too. Just in a different way.
When he told me about that, the explanation tore at my heart. I never considered. From the second Ky walked into Astranza, he carried himself as a fierce warrior—and then, over the next few days, he revealed the kindness beneath. I heard it today, in the low voice he used with his sister, or earlier, the way he took that little girl’s hand. But he clearly doesn’t see that kindness inhimself.Or...maybe he does. Maybe that kindness terrifies him. Maybe it doesn’t feel like kindness at all, and instead it feels like weakness.
When he confronted us in the hallway, I thought we were going to wage war right there. He was so angry, and it reminded me of the way he lost his temper when we confronted his people. I watched his handsflex, and even though I didn’t think he’d hit me, I did expect him to sketch a sigil and call fire.
But then Asher pushed him right up against the wall, and Ky seemed to...melt. I was surprised to find it lit a fire in my own belly, and it still hasn’t fully extinguished.
I glance at Asher. “Truly,” I murmur at him. “How did you do that?”
He shrugs. “It’s a skill like any other.”
“How is...thata skill?”
He looks at me like I’m insane. “Am I going to have to draw some pictures of what happens in a brothel, Jory?”
That makes me flush, which is ridiculous, because, aside from the obvious, I actually have no idea what happens in a brothel. “Maybe,” I snap.
“Oh.” He considers that. “People come for a lot of different reasons. Sometimes they come angry, and it’s better if they’re...not.” He shrugs. “Much like fighting in the arena, if you don’t want to end up with broken ribs, you pick up a little skill.”
Well, that’s sobering. His voice is so casual, but I glance over at him, and I can’t help the pity in my gaze. I realize the king is looking at him the same way.
