Matthias moved slowly, placing himself between Adalia and the blond-haired male. “There will be no sharing of anyone here. She was just leaving, never to return.” He gave her a look that said,I mean it.
“Leaving so soon? Are you sure you don’t want to stay and play for a while? I promise it’ll be fun.” Snake took another step towards them.
Regret seeped into Adalia’s mind alongside the reality of their situation, and she reached for the dagger at her hip. If she needed to defend herself against the male, she wouldn’t back down, even if he was twice her size.
Matthias caught her movement and reached behind him, gesturing for her to stop. Adalia huffed softly under her breath. She didn’t need the prince to protect her—given her ranking in the army and how many years she’d spent training for situations just like this one.
Still, her heart fluttered in her chest, a contradiction she couldn’t ignore.
“Last time I’ll warn you, Snake. You’re not welcome here. So, leave before blood is spilt and I can guarantee it won’t be mine, or hers.” Matthias motioned towards Adalia with his head.
Adalia could have cut the tension with her knife. The standoff lasted only seconds, but to her it felt like hours. Snake slowly retreated, and Matthias’s shoulders dropped a fraction, some tension leaving his body.
“Your father is going to be so pleased to find out that you’ve been keeping her here this whole time, in this secret hideout of yours. I’ll leave, but you can be certain of my return . . . and theking will be with me.” Snake gave them a slimy smile as he took to the skies. They watched him fly away until he was a speck in the sky.
Matthias ran a hand over his face and the back of his neck as he paced the forest floor.
“Aren’t you going to go after him?” Adalia asked.
“And do what?”
“Stop him from speaking with your father?”
“There’s no stopping him, or my father. If I hurt my father’s beloved advisor, I wouldn’t live to tell the tale.” Matthias’s reply was filled with a touch of fear.
It was the first time Adalia had seen the prince on edge. It made her wonder if his intentions in the woods were innocent after all. Was it a possibility that he was hiding from the king?
Adalia sensed his frustration. “Do you care if your father finds you? Will you finally tell me why you’re here?”
Matthias sighed and turned to her. “Will you go home if I do?”
“Maybe.” Adalia shrugged her shoulders.
“This is the only place where I’m not surrounded by chaos. It’s quiet. I can hear myself think. There’s no one to bother me. If my father found out about this place, he would take so much pleasure in destroying it. There, are you happy? Will you leave now? Before that piece of filth returns? I’m not sure I’ll be able to save you from my father a second time.” His sharp tone was belied by the plea in his eyes.
Afraid.
When he looked at her, when he spoke of his father—he looked afraid.
“What happens to you if I leave and they find you here? Can you find sanctuary somewhere else?”
“There’s nowhere for me to go; it took me months to build this place. There’s no way I’m letting him take it from me.” Matthias’s voice filled with venom.
Adalia couldn’t stomach his fear and, before she could tell herself to shut up, she asked him a question that would make Nik’s eyes fall out of his head. “Do you want to come with me?”
Matthias’s brow furrowed. “Come with you? . . . to The Grey?”
“No, not to The Grey. To Lucius,” she answered, holding his gaze, watching as he digested her offer.
Her mind raced with a million thoughts. What had she just done? How would the Prince of Darkness find sanctuary in Lucius, the Kingdom of Light? As soon as he stepped through the Gates, he would be a fish out of water. Inky black wings as dark as night against the backdrop of brightly coloured cities. There was no way she could hide him, not that she feared for his life in Lucius, but her brother would certainly have something to say about it. And where would he even stay?
“What makes you think I’d want that?” Matthias threw at her.
“I don’t know if you would, but judging by the conversation that just happened, I’m presuming we don’t want to be here when your father arrives.” Adalia shrugged. “And I doubt we have much time to stand here talking about it, either. I’ll take you to my king. He’ll know what to do.”
Matthias glanced farther into Oscuro, to what she presumed was the location of the castle, and then back to his cabin. “Is this some ruse to trick me into your kingdom so you can get revenge?”
Adalia huffed and folded her arms over her chest. “If I wanted to get revenge, it would have happened by now. Instead of revealing myself, I would have gone home and returned to your little hiding spot with a battalion.”
