“Yes, that is right.Unlessyou keep kissing servant girls and not me,” I spat.
As I bit my lip, his eyes found it.
“Princess,”he whispered.
“All this time, we’ve been alone,” I reminded him. “Is it not obvious that’s what I want from you? DoIhave to beg? I’m certainly not above it.”
“I thought maybe…” He took a shallow breath. “You want… You’dallowme to kiss you?”
“Yes. For a price,” I said.
“Ah.” His wonder broke. “See? There’salways a catch with you.” He shook his head. “Like when we went swimming, you–”
“No, I–”
“You dropped this,” Will said. He picked up the plume and returned its ivory to my hand.
I hurried. “No, sir,” I said. “You mistake my words.”
He paused. I hesitated.
“Princess…You should–”
“Kiss me,” I said.
“We shouldn?—”
“Kiss me and kiss no other girls,” I told him. “That’s the cost. That’s all I want. Bemine.”
Willem stewed in the request. After a moment, he looked down at me with pain.
“I cannot.”
“Cannot or do not wish to?” I asked.
“There is no difference, really,” he said.
“Tell that to my heart.”
“I’m trying to be honorable, Your Highness. I cannot promise you what you ask. I am the son of an ostler, an Ólason, a meaningless house. And you–” He swallowed. “You are an Eisson. An Eisson princess.TheEisson Princess. You’re madeof iron, a royal mare, and I–I’m nothing. You shouldn’t even be here with me. We shouldn’t be friends. You must–”
My fingers slid into his hair, cinching his lips to mine. Possessed by a sensation I had never felt before, I sunk into the kiss. I gathered his shirt into my trembling hands. Willem let out a long breath as we parted, and he rested his forehead to mine.
“Ah, Svana. You wound me.”
“How?”I whispered. I kissed him again. He wrapped his arms around my waist.“Declare yourself to me,”I begged. “Let me accept. I promise that I will.”
“And what is this!?”Miss Hellveig screeched. She grabbed my Knight by his arm.
I leaped to his defense but she was too fast to compete with, even in her frail age. She smacked my arm with her cane, and I reeled back.
“Tell me my eyes have discovered a lie,” she hissed. “That you were notkissingthe Princess, boy.”
“He did nothing!” I cried.
“You! You brat! You will be silent.” She snapped a finger at me. “Get to the librarynow,you insolent thing or His Majesty will hear of your role in this!”
“Iaskedhim to do it!” I told her. “He was only following my order!”
