“Cyrus Evergreen,”I said.
He rested against a beam beneath the stands and audience. He rose from his perch at my voice. He was, without a doubt, a little shocked, but didn’t say anything. No hi, no goodbye, no weird confusion. Cyrus just looked at me like I was a stranger, like someone he’d never seen before.
“Svana,”I frowned. “Asinglefortnight to forget my name?”
“I didn’t forgetyour name, Svana,” he said, annoyed.He ran a hand over the back of his head, then grabbed me with the same, pulling me deeper, below the structure and into privacy.“What are you doing here?”he asked.
“The Derby? It is a public event, is it not?”
His eyes were serious. “Where is your knight? I know he doesn’t know you’re here with me.”
“Do you?” I asked. “Do you want me here with you?”
“Where is he?”
“I’m so sorry,”I promised. “I never wanted-!”
He sighed, ruffling his wild hair a little more, and whispering back. “There’s nothing for you to be sorry for, Princess.Itook advantage ofyou.Now go. You should not be found with me. Go before-”
“Do you not wish to see me?” I cut him off.
Mr. Evergreen’s deflated. “…Don’t ask me that,” he said. “You’re not an idiot, remember? Youknowbetter.”
My eyes closed, half in the weight of hearinghis voice after so long, and half indreadof what his answer meant. “Then you feel it, too? The spark between us?”
“The spark?”
“Ourspark,” I said.
He let go of me to cross his arms. “You’re young, Svana. You’re uneducated insparks.”
I scoffed. “How dare you?”
“Yes, how dare I?” he muttered. “How dare I trap you beneath the seats to taunt you about things I know nothing about?”
“Oh! Forgive me, sir. I had not realizedan educationwas required to feel whateverthisis between us. Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds? If that were the case, the world would consist of nothingbutvirgins, for nobody woulddetect their attraction between themselves and others in the first place!”
“What?” he asked.
Cyrus threw his eyes over my shoulder at someone passing, scrambling to offer a convincing wave. When the pedestrian had left, he locked onto the belt of my dress and dragged me off my center, replacing me behind one of the other pillars, further concealing us from the path. He loomed over me like a furious storm.
“I must ask, Your Highness, is it a personal vendetta of yours to get me murdered?” His hand hovered near my face. “We cannot be caug?—”
“I missed you,” I told him.
Cyrus came to a halt. His expression darkened, as if it injured him to hear me speak.
“That is not something you should say to me,”he said.
“Why?” I asked. “Because you could not care less?”
“Because, Princess…” he started. “Because Sameer is my friend. Mygreatestfriend. Never mind your fiancé.”
“Yes, Sameer. All hail Sameer and his goodness,” I said.
“You may not see the man I do, but heisthere.” He took a measured pause. “I don’t want to hurt him like this. I do not want you here.”
“Do not,”I whispered.
