“Trouble of the best kind,” Dominic chuckles.
“True enough if it brought you here,” Billy adds.
“You two better keep him safe,” I say, waving. “Now go before I start crying again!”
“Goodbye, Rosalina!” Papa calls. “I love you!”
“I love you too.” I wipe a tear from my face and step inside.
A part of me understands his love and devotion in a way I hadn’t before. I would never stop trying to get back to my princes, and he’ll never stop searching for my mother.
I return to my packing, placing another sweater in my bag. The corner of a book peeks out. My heart shudders, as it always does, when I see it. Carefully, I pull away the clothes hiding it and run my fingers over the cover.
It’s the grimoire Caspian stole from the alder tree. It hadn’t been hard at all to control the thorns he gave me, to reach into his armor and switch my book with this. He’d been so focused on completing our bargain… Onkissingme.
The material is weathered and rough. Intricate symbols etched across the cover writhe before my eyes. Each time I look, they’re in a different place, like the book is alive.
The thorns encircling my wrist, shrunken down to only delicate bracelets, weigh heavily as I look upon the book. The pages are yellowed and brittle, their edges frayed with age. They feel fragile, as if they might crumble at any moment.
I’ve only had a chance to briefly flip through it. The words are written in a flowing script that twists across the page, defying the rigid lines. It’s a book about humans. This passage speaks of the Queen’s fondness for people, of their curiosity and ingenuity.
It’s strange. I’d been in the alder tree with Farron, and there had been many books that seemed more dangerous. No world-ending spells or dastardly secrets here. In fact, the whole thing seems purely scientific and observational.
But he went to so much trouble for this one book. Why? I have no doubt he’ll return for it. I’ll have to hide it well and be ready with my own bargain if he wants it back.
A light tap sounds at my door, and I quickly tuck the book deep within my bag. “Come in!”
Keldarion steps into my room, raising a dark brow, the look he always gives me when he thinks I’m up to something. “Rosalina.”
I haven’t told any of them yet about seeing Caspian on the battlefield or the bargain I made. They haven’t questioned the thin thorns around my wrists. Perhaps they think I summoned them myself.
“Almost ready to go?” The Winter Prince strides before me. He’s dressed in that simple elegance he excels at, a laced black shirt with tight pants and boots.
“Almost.”
He tucks a piece of hair behind my ear, fingers delicately stroking the point.
“If I’ve always been half-fae, why did I look human?” I ask softly.
“I’m uncertain.” He shakes his head. “There are illusion spells, but to physically change your appearance for so long requires a magic beyond what I understand. But we’ll find the answer, I promise.”
I place my hand over his.
“Oh! Ah!” An awkward sound comes from my doorway: Farron, eyes wide and hands jittery. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“Come here, Farron,” Keldarion says.
Farron grits his teeth, looking like he really regrets entering my room at this moment. But I hold out my hand to him and relish the feeling as his fingers weave into mine. He might still be awkward around Keldarion but having both my mates close settles an ache in my chest.
Keldarion places a large hand on my shoulder, and the other on Farron’s, then holds both our gazes. “There is a tether between the three of us now. Do you feel it?”
Farron swallows, throat bobbing. “Yes.”
“I feel it,” I say.
“High Prince of Autumn,” Keldarion lowers his forehead to Farron in a sort of surrender, “you are mate of my mate, and I swear I will protect you from this moment to my dying breath.”
Farron flushes deeply. “Uh, yeah. Same, Kel.”
