Almost safe enough to indulge him in the full truth of what she knew about his mother’s ring. It was clear he still tortured himself with his search for her. She could put his searching to an end if she simply told him she’d overheard the bandits say they stole it from a royal grave—no doubt his mother’s grave. Or she could spare him the pain by guarding that secret as fiercely as her own. After all, it was a weighty claim to make without being absolutely sure his mother was dead. And it would only raise more questions about her…questions she wasn’t ready to answer in case they cost her life.
A cool wind blew. The horse shook its mane. Light grey clouds shifted and blocked the sun’s warmth. Caramyn shudderedagainst the sudden chill, and Asterious reached a hand upward. “I can help you down if you’d like, and we can go inside.”
Just as Caramyn reached for his hand and leaned over to slide off the horse, another gust of wind burst through the air, carrying a torrent of crisp yellow leaves that whipped up near the stallion’s head. He snorted with a startle and side-stepped, sending Caramyn toppling down onto Asterious.
They tumbled to the ground together, the prince catching her on the way down and taking the brunt of the fall. She looked up, realizing she was nestled between his arms, her body on his, pressed against muscular chest, where she could feel the beating of his heart.
She failed to stifle an awkward laugh, trying not to acknowledge the way some part of her wanted to stay there forever, lying against him. But she noticed when he didn’t laugh back, and suddenly found herself caught in his gaze. He studied her, and she returned the favor, lingering on the subtle tiredness in those steel eyes and the alluring curve of his lips. She only then realized that she was clutching his shirt with one hand, the other pressed against his tan skin peeking through the unbuttoned collar.
She blinked in surprise when he reached up to sweep her hair back from her face and tucked it behind her ear. “It’s a pity you had to hide those eyes away all this time. They’re actually rather...beautiful. Like blazing amethysts, hiding the mystery you are.”
Beautiful.
She used to think they were beautiful, too, when she was a child. Before she learned to hate them. The prince breathed against her, and she felt herself melting into the feeling of her body against his as he stared at her with some kind of look in his eye she hadn’t seen before. For a moment, she almost felt free enough to tell him everything. To tell him she was a shadow-marked magicless witch bound to the Woods and a life among the Shadows. And she almost started to…but then a screeching call from Nocthar above reminded her to keep her head. So instead, she simply smiled as though it was all just a joke.
The sound of the arena gate opening startled her, and she scrambled to her feet at the thought of someone seeing her lying on the ground with the prince. She dusted herself off and Asterious did the same, a sly smirk briefly flickering across his face.
It was Wyran. He walked with purpose in his steps, tossing a glance at Caramyn that made her uneasy, and then refocused Asterious. Something was wrong.
“Your Highness, the scouts you sent to Felhold have returned. With urgent news.”
A moment of tension lingered in the air before Asterious responded, as if he feared saying too much. “Where are they?”
“In the meeting hall. They’ve brought something.”
Asterious exchanged a quick glance with Caramyn, before addressing Wryan. “I’ll have Terrin take care of Alofreise. Tell them we’ll be there as soon as we can.”
“We?” Wryan’s eyes shifted to Caramyn, thick copper brows raised over his hazel-green eyes.
“Yes, if she wants to come.” He turned to Caramyn. “You don’t have to. It’s up to you. But you are welcome if you decide to.”
Caramyn fiddled with her fingers at her side. Did she want to enter a meeting room full of former Blackwynd soldiers and spies? It was enough for her to be here with the prince, alone, but to face his inner court at his side...what would they think?
“All right.” A disgruntled Wryan shifted his shoulders and turned away. “I’ll tell them you’re on your way.”
As they watched him leave, Asterious turned to face Caramyn. “The choice is yours. That was our second lesson. If you want,you’ll never have to see my face again. But just as much, if you choose to accompany me, I’ll take it to mean the opposite.”
Caramyn drew in a shallow breath and bit her lip before looking up at the castle. She started walking.
“What does that mean? Are you leaving?” The prince called after her.
“You heard Wryan…it’s urgent!” She smiled just a tease over her shoulder and caught a glimpse of him shaking his head with a grin before striding off to catch up to her.
“Then I suppose this means I can officially welcome you to the Forbidden Court, little mystery.”
Caramyn cocked her head to the side at the sound of the nickname, doing her best to hide her blushing smirk. “Yes, but I’m only staying for the horses.”
“Can’t say I blame you. Though I hear the prince is rather charming, too.” Asterious chuckled. Their laughter subsided as they neared the great doors at the castle’s entrance. Caramyn followed him through and up of one of the many staircases in the castle, until finally they stood before a large room lit by simple chandeliers and a vast table where Asterious’ four head soldiers sat, along with who Caramyn presumed were the scouts. And in the middle of the table, a covered, unmoving figure—the shape of a body.
There were three scouts, one female, to Caramyn’s surprise. Women weren’t permitted to be warriors in Daemar’s army. But this fierce, blonde woman in her thirties, perhaps, seemed to be the leader of this unit, for she spoke more than the two men with a commanding voice that could cut through bone. “We got as close as we could to Blackwynd, but Felhold is a hostile place to outsiders right now. Anyone and everything is met with suspicion. And no one can leave without permission. It’s madness.”
Asterious sighed, nodding towards the body. “I’d expect nothing less. And what’s the story with that?”
“This is what we are most concerned about. She deployed a warband to the southern towns to demand allegiance from their leaders. But the soldiers…they’re…they’re not all human.”
The woman lifted the cover to reveal a creature, it’s body like that of a human, but it’s skin ashen and pale grey, the color of death, scarred and marked by deep cut markings that resembled patterns and illegible writing. Instead of hands and feet it had unnervingly long claws of bone protruding from rotting sinew. Where eyes should’ve been, there were only two deep empty hollows, and its mouth was forced shut with a few jagged stitches. Caramyn nearly gasped but managed to conceal her horror for the time being.
“What the hell is this, Leejia?” Asterious stared down at the dead creature in disgust or concern, or perhaps a mix of both.
