“Whenever we discuss my mother, you get that look on your face.”
Heat flushed my cheeks, and I hurriedly took a sip of water to cover it. Clearly, I hadn’t yet gained Caliza’s level of controlling my emotions in front of people.
“Yeah, well. I have a lot to think about.”
Ericen’s smile faded. “I know this must be hard for you. Being here with us. Constantly.”
I almost dropped my water glass. He looked so genuine, sounded so convincing, as if he might actually care how I felt. A laugh bubbled in my throat at the thought.
Hehadstepped in to fight Razel for me, and so far, he’d shown me every courtesy since arriving, but caring seemed more than a little unlikely.
“It doesn’t help that I never know which prince I’m talking to,” I replied. “You’ve been practically civil. You’re about due for a flippant comment.”
I expected sarcasm but instead found him weighing me with thoughtful eyes. “I don’t want to be your enemy, Anthia.”
I froze. Surely, I hadn’t heard him right. “What?”
He drew a finger along the intricate design in the tablecloth. “I meant what I said in the carriage. I’m not quite so bad as you think. The things I said to you in Rhodaire—” He stopped, jaw clenching as if to hold back the words. In the end, he simply said, “I regret them.”
I bit my lip. My instinct was to believe him. Kiva always said I was too quick to trust people. She was right, but sometimes I was too. Her mother had raised her to question everything and doubt everyone. I always told myself she was doing as she was trained, that she was being protective. But listening to myself talk with a boy who was supposed to be my enemy, feeling myself begin to trust him, I doubted myself.
“You don’t believe me,” Ericen said.
“I don’tunderstandyou. Your mother hates me. She hates Rhodaire. All Illucians do. How could you want to be friends?” Razel had organized Ronoch for revenge. The last war between our kingdoms before I was born had claimed my father’s life, but it had also resulted in the death of part of Razel’s family. Her father hadn’t lasted long after, and she’d been crowned queen as young as Caliza had been. Didn’t Ericen care about any of that?
As much as I hated Razel, hated Illucia, that much I understood. Her need for revenge was the same one that burned in my chest every time I looked at her.
Ericen held my gaze. “I’m a Vykryn, and I’ll be Valix after my mother. I serve Illucia, and I serve her.” He spoke slowly, as if choosing his words carefully. “But I don’t condone what she did to Rhodaire, or Jindae, or the Ambriels. I don’t believe the world is ours to take.”
He’s a loyal soldier.Ericen accepted his place and obeyed orders, and he cared about Illucia and its people, but I was starting to think he didn’t fit. Perhaps he wasn’t the man he’d been pretending to be when I first met him, at least not completely. Was that why his soldiers didn’t respect him? Why the people on the streets barely inclined their heads, if they noticed him at all? Because he wasn’t the Illucian prince they wanted.
My eyes flickered to his wound. “Is that why you don’t get along with her?” I asked.
He stiffened. “What makes you say that?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Everything.”
“Ah, yes, the expert on people is the girl who’s avoided them for half a year.”
“See?” I threw up my hands, and his fingers curled into fists, as if trying to draw back the words.
He was saved from answering by the arrival of our food. A platter of short ribs, a bowl of mashed potatoes and garlic, and a salad with tomatoes and goat cheese, along with the plate of thick bread that seemed to accompany every meal in the kingdom.
I picked up my fork and knife but quickly found the knife to be unnecessary. The beef was so tender, it practically fell apart. I was so focused on it and intent on ignoring Ericen that his next words were like a shock of ice.
“Tell me about the crows,” he said quietly.
I nearly dropped my fork, my answer leaping out reflexively. “No.”
He didn’t look surprised, but he did seem bothered by my answer, his brow furrowing. I didn’t care. No matter who he was, kind or cruel, I would not talk to an Illucian about the crows. I couldn’t.
We finished dinner, which Ericen paid for despite the cook’s protests, and stepped back out onto the bridge. Rather than return to the carriage, Ericen directed me to a shop across the street nearly shrouded in trees.
“I didn’t get dessert, because I figured you’d like this place.” He held the door open for me.
Bakery was too small a word for what surrounded me. Glass case after glass case filled with pastries of every kind, the air thick with the smell of sugar and freshly baked bread. Where a moment ago, my stomach had been achingly full, I now wanted to try everything I saw.
“We can get some to take back too.” Ericen smiled at my slack-jawed expression, and I faltered. That smile, thatrealsmile, was like a glimpse of gold veined in stone. It made me want to trust him.
