“The bride’s father is dying, correct?” All eyes swung to her. “That’s why Prince Nisien is traveling instead of them coming here? Plain clothes could be read as indifference. Or worse, pity. Wear your house colors, the crown, and a sword. A high lord wants to die with his pride intact, his family elevated. Seeing his monarch, resplendent in the regalia, inhishouse forhisdaughter’s wedding…that is a gesture of respect his family will boast of for a generation.”
Gods. She didn’t just understand strategy—she understood people. Protocol mattered in noble houses. Clothes spoke louder than half the decrees we issued.
The Assembly had sent an Empath to soothe the beast. And here she was, weaving her first spell over the entire council without a trace of magic. While every courtier in this hall had wielded power like a weapon, she’d treated it like a pair of shears, snipping away the scraps and leaving only the heart of the issue behind every time she spoke.
Fearless, I thought, my blood running cold.And doomed because of it, because I can’t seem to do what’s necessary to protect her from me.
The thought hit me like a sucker punch that made the last veil over my eyes fall away. I finally saw what she truly was, and it terrified me anew.
She wasbetterthan us. She was strength wielded with empathy, intelligence forged by a life we couldn’t imagine, and beauty made all the more devastating by her kind heart. I’d just watched her walk into a den of wolves and not just make them listen but respect her.
Too good. Too good for me by a mile. The realization only made me more determined to keep my distance. Without Nisien as a buffer between us in the coming weeks, I was at risk of completely falling apart.
When the meeting adjourned, I rose without a word.
A question shimmered in her eyes as they met mine.
But I was a coward.
I turned my back on the only light in the room and walked away with the sound of my crumbling resolve in my ears.
Chapter 20
Isca
My life settled into a slower rhythm in the castle. With Nisien’s departure and no more visiting lords to entertain, the formal pretense fell away. Meals were shared with the household guard in the great hall. Lunches were more subdued since the men were tired from training, but dinners were always a boisterous gathering with hearty laughter and the clinking of tankards. I never expected to, but I enjoyed those evenings immensely.
I took the opportunity to speak with the men those nights, to try to understand the political undercurrents in the castle. Nisien, before he left, had always watched with approval. While Emrys, on the rare occasions he appeared, looked at every interaction like we were plotting treason.
I discovered that the men loved both princes, but for different reasons. Nisien was the caring administrator who ensured they had warm cloaks and full bellies. Emrys was the battle-hardened leader they would follow into any fire. But I was still flabbergasted that the man who inspired such loyalty in his soldiers could be the same one who fled a council room to avoid a peasant mage.
The borrowed silks I wore still felt like a costume, yet unlike in Caervorn, everyone here (besides Emrys) made me feel like I belonged. It made me want to prolong my stay for my own sake, not just my family’s continued security.
But that way of thinking changed when I received my first letter from Chancellor Maeron. His reply about my late-night run in with Emrys hadbeen chilling in its simplicity:A good start. Your family’s allowance will not be cut.
Those two sentences implied that my family would suffer in short order if I didn’t do enough, fast enough. Maeron’s malicious interpretation of our agreement filled me with a simmering rage. But all the power was in his hands, so my feelings were insignificant.
I was trapped. Even if I could somehow make it back to Caervorn, I wouldn’t be able to save them from the Assembly if they decided I required punishment. I had to make tangible progress, and soon.
With Nisien gone, that was proving to be a challenge. I wasn’t purposefully avoiding my duty; I was being kept from it by one dark-haired, brooding escape artist. The throne wasn’t truly vacant with him in the castle. Practically speaking, however, it ended up being empty more often than not.
Emrys did everything he could to avoid me. He arrived either very early or incredibly late to meals, and he spent most of his time chatting with the men. The only other time he left his rooms was when he directed drills in the training yard. And it wasn’t like I could walk out there and yell at him to talk to me, even if I wanted to. The memory of his back as he walked away from me in the council chamber was a fresh wound.
For five days, I’d done nothing but bury myself in the library, reading everything I could about Darreth’s history and alliances. Hoping to find something in one of these tomes to help me satisfy the Assembly’s first demand—not because they wanted it, but because Darreth deserved stability. And because there was always the faintest possibility that I would read something that would allow me to hit back at them.
Nisien would be gone for four or five days more. I counted every hour until his return, hoping that his calm presence might anchor Emrys enough to come out of hiding. Until then, I was alone in a gilded cage, with only the ghost of a prince and the emptying hourglass of the Assembly’s patience for company.
I was used to working all day, talking with customers or preparing bundles of herbs and tinctures. This slower pace didn’t agree with me. I came from a large, boisterous family, so the quiet solitude of those long hours while Catrin did other things most certainly didn’t agree with me either.
I was just about to go back to my room for yet another nap when the thud of footsteps trailing in from down the corridor broke the silence. Catrin burst in like an autumn storm, breathless, her freckle-splashed face flushed, skirts clutched in her hands. Her slippers screeched on the stone as she came to a halt.
“Lady Isca!” she gasped, breathless. “There’s a nobleman at the gates. He—he just arrived—no warning. No one can find Prince Emrys.”
The tedium had reached such a peak that even the most mundane happenings sparked a flicker of excitement within me. Instantly, I started the process of returning my book to the shelf. “What?”
Catrin nodded frantically, her auburn braids bouncing with the movement. “His bannerman rode ahead, saying he wanted an audience. Business with the throne. We can’t leave him standing out there. It would be a scandal! Please. You have to receive him.”
“What? Why me?”
