Her face turned as she caught sight of a young girl jumping up and down at the side of the road. She waved back. It was cold enough that I’d persuaded her to wear a knitted scarf, wrapping it gently around her sore throat, the bruises completely hidden. The only sign of her discomfort was in the hesitancy with which she turned her head. She smiled widely at the small girl, her eyes crinkling, cheeks lifted, but the light didn’t fully evolve in her face, sparking but not catching.
Good. She wasn’t sure either.
The prince turned back to see that I followed. I dipped my head, willing him to focus elsewhere, my skin crawling.
My magic chose that moment to stir.
“A word, Your Highness.” A wizened man stepped forward, his back bowed, hand clamped around a cane. A hunk of crystalized diamond made up the tip, its multiple facets glittering in the sickly sunshine. “Your imposed clamp down on magic use has been highly successful.” He tapped the cane on the ground at the end of every sentence. “The people are also very grateful for your tolerance. Your ability to forgive and send those who are guilty out of the walls for a second chance has not gone unnoticed.
“That murder,” he shuddered, the cane vibrating against the ground, “was one of the worst these townsfolk have ever seen, that I have ever seen. And to befall my very own inn! Generations. It has been in my family for generations, and nothing of the sort has happened like that before.”
The Sheriff forced his way back to the forefront of my mind. Splayed on the bed, body painted in red and black slashes.
“Yes,” the prince said, “it was by far the worst crime we’ve ever had. I pride myself on keeping this town safe. Two of the men rounded up for magic use were not involved, so they were released, but you can inform the townspeople and visitors to your establishment they are quite safe. Nothing of the sort shall happen again. My investigators are close to capturing the culprit.”
The innkeeper nodded. “It was more than fair, Your Highness, and far more lenient than the queens would have been.”
The prince chuckled. “Don’t let them hear you say that. We all have our spies and theirs are everywhere, even this far north.”
The man ducked his head again and returned to the crowd. The prince tightened his grip on Lilyanna’s arm, and she flashed him a small smile. He turned from the main street down one of the alleyways. The crowd dispersed, doors closing, windows snicking shut as life resumed its efficient bustle behind us.
He recounted the town’s history as we walked, from the very first stone placed in the wall to the expansion of the maze of alleyways. I closed in, waiting for a natural pause so I could tug Lilyanna aside to discuss what I needed to say to her, before we returned to the listening walls of the castle.
Every time I opened my mouth, the prince would steer the conversation again, or head down an intersecting street. He knew I wanted her alone, and I knew he was playing with me. My hands balled into fists.
He chose that moment to round another corner, his face angling briefly to mine. The smirk on his lips made me want to punch him. Was he trying to get back at me for favoring Clement? We’d come so close to kissing at the moon festival, but there was an edge to him. The Sheriff tried to warn me, my magic had tried to warn me, even Siobhan may have been telling the truth.
I stomped after them, boring holes into his back with my glare.
Finally, a lull in conversation. I sped up to force myself between them so I could tug her back to walk with me when Bryn stepped across my path scanning the street around us, completely severing my momentum. She didn’t even look at me, whipping her head back around so fast, I was surprised her immaculately coiled bun didn’t unravel. She set off again, forcing me behind as the alleyway narrowed.
I groaned and kicked at a loose stone.
“Why are you sulking?” Clement fell into step beside me.
“I’m not sulking.” I glared at him, unable to fix my face in time. “I’m trying to talk to Lilyanna.”
“You talk to her all day, every day.” His hand fell to the small of my back and he leaned in closer, a wicked grin curling his lips. “Talk to me.”
I should have ignored him, should have pushed past the guards and grabbed Lilyanna. He was such a distraction. My body was hyper-aware of his every move, his warm breath, his featherlight touch against my back. My mind emptied.
He nudged me. “Tam?”
“Are you going to have another evening off before the wedding?” My skin flushed as I imagined sitting with him in the Diamond Nightingale, squashed into the corner with our knees touching, sipping ale while we both tried not to focus on the lure of the rooms upstairs. “I’d like to go with...spend time...you know, just us.” I kept focused on the cobblestones, willing myself not to trip as my legs threatened to collapse. What was he doing to me?
“Not before the wedding, no.” He watched my face fall. “I’ll make it up to you, though.” He hesitated, focused on the others rounding the corner ahead. The instant they disappeared, he grabbed my elbow and flattened me against the hard wall. He lunged, taking my mouth in a fierce, claiming kiss.
He pulled back, breath mingling with mine, his body still poised against me. “Do you feel better, now?”
Air rushed out of me in an incoherent mumble.
He grinned. “Good, let’s go.”
He pushed off and strode away quickly.
“What? That’s it?” I tripped over my own feet in a hurry to catch up, stumbling after him.
His eyes flashed; his voice low. “That is nowhere near it.” He winked and rounded the bend.
