A gust surged down the path, whipping my loose hair across my face. Dust spun in small, angry eddies at my feet.
I froze. Not again.
Around me, a few people glanced up uneasily, muttering.
And the man… He stared at the way the wind curled only around me like a beast defending its young.
I clenched my jaw and shoved the wild magic down deep, where it wouldn’t betray me again.
My voice broke. “I wasn’t?—”
“Oh, I think you were. Better luck next time, minxpip.” He stiffened to his full height, towering over me. Pivoting on his heel, he shouldered his way through the crowd and strode toward the castle, leaving me stranded among strangers who whispered and stared.
I’d come here to destroy a king, and instead I’d let one of his rebels put his hands all over me. Even worse, I’d liked it. Either I was the worst assassin in history, or I was attracted to an enemy.
Both options were going to get me killed.
“When you start your battles, you go right to the top,” someone said from close by. “I admire that in a person.”
I turned to find a woman about my age watching me with dark eyes that held amusement and sympathy. She’d crafted tiny braids with her black hair all over her head, and when she squinted, her warmbrown skin a few shades darker than my own crinkled around her eyes. Like those who’d started to move on now that the show was over, she wore a simple tunic and pants—ones that fit her properly.
“Who’s he?” I jerked my thumb toward his departing figure. Damn swaggering ass. It was an accident. I hadn’t meant to stab him. And now I was not only unarmed, but it appeared Ihadn’teven nicked him. After his sneer, I almost wished I had.
The woman paused, studying my face. “That’s…Trew. Trewyn Valdris Nyx Syllavar if you want to be particular.”
The name meant nothing to me.
She must’ve noticed my blank look. I really needed to practice hiding my expression or I’d be dead before the day was through. “King of Syllavar Court.”
It was all I could do not to stagger.Hewas the king of this place?
She thrust out her hand for a surprisingly strong shake. “I’m Lexie.”
“Isi.”
“I’m going to befriend you.” Her grin revealed straight, even white teeth.
“Why?”
“Anyone who accidentally stabs our king and lives to tell about it?” Her grin widened. “They’re either the luckiest person alive or someone worth knowing. Either way, I want you on my side when the tough part starts.”
“It was an accident.”
“Sure, sure.” She put her arm around my shoulders and urged me to get walking, both of us quickly catching up to the back of a group making their way up the narrowed stone passage leading to the castle.
“He used a term I’m unfamiliar with. Minxpip.”
She laughed and explained as if filling in a piece I’d missed. “If he called you that, you really don’t want to know what it is.”
“Lexie.”
She sighed. “Fine. A minxpip is this…ridiculous little teal and silver bird that lives around here. It looks like fluff with legs, and it’s barely bigger than a child’s fist. Timid as anything. They live in hedges. Feign death if something so much as snorts near it.”
I folded my arms across my chest. “He called me that. He thinks I’m pathetic.”
Lexie winced. “It chirps when it’s scared. Constantly. Like it can’t help itself.” Her voice lowered. “Some say they only come out when no one’s watching. Others say they follow the biggest creature around, hoping for scraps, usually whatever a minx might drop, which is where it got its name.”
No. Just…no.
