The Bronze Knight is going to kill me.
I should run.
But instead, I stand and grab the jug of wine. Maybe I’ll get drunk instead. What else would my realm expect of the drunken Prince of Summer?
CHAPTER 79
Caspian
So, Farron knows Rosalina is my mate. It was always going to be impossible to hide it from him forever. I stand, trying to conceal the stiffness of my movements.
“Does Rosalina know?”
“No,” I snap, whirling. “And you won’t tell her.”
Farron crosses to me, reaching for my arm, which I jerk away. “She deserves to know, Cas. I think a part of her already does.Ifelt you, I think. Your pain … And you’ve heard my thoughts, haven’t you?”
“Mate of my mate. Yes, it’s all very complicated.” I open my wardrobe and pull out two plain black cloaks. “Put this on. It doesn’t matter. If the Queen gives me what I want, there won’t be a bond to worry about.”
Farron slowly clasps the cloak around his shoulder, then puts his golden elk mask back on. “Caspian, for what it’s worth … I’m not worried. Not anymore.”
I still, concentrating on the feeling of the fabric in my hands so I don’t collapse. “You would be if you’d seen what I did under that hood.”
The Autumn Prince’s earnest face is scrunched up in determination. “That won’t happen. Rosalina won’t allow it. I won’t allow it.”
He’s so stupid.
“Besides, I’m not so sure turning human will break your mate bond,” Farron says. “It’s something I’ve been wondering about lately. The way George talked about Aurelia … they must be mates and George is most certainly human.”
Hope and fear mingle in my stomach. Could I become human and keep Rosalina? A short life with her would be worth a thousand years of living the future my mother has planned. A future of servitude to the Green Flame. A future of power.
A future without Rosalina is no future at all.
I throw my cloak over my shoulders. “We need to get going. We’re already behind.”
“What’s the new plan? The party is over.”
“My mother will assume I’ve already left for Summer. It’s the perfect alibi. We just have to remain unseen.”
We creep outside, following the halls until we get to the upper ring of the courtyard. Most of the party guests have left, though there are a dozen or so lingerers and a few soldiers attempting to round them up. More than half are engaged in sexual acts, too hopped up on the spiked wine to be afraid. Birdy’s potion does its job again.
“Still a little chaos going on,” Farron murmurs.
“This way.” I grab his arm and lead him across the courtyard, head down, avoiding the notice of the guards with more pressing issues. My palace is perched on top of one of the tallest mountains in the Below. My city of Cryptgarden lies beneath it. Being the ever-generous ruler that I am, there are stairs carved into the mountain leading to my not-so-humble abode.
Farron and I take that spiraling path now. Halfway down the mountain, a track leads off to a lookout point lined with torches. I pull us in that direction.
“The pool isinthe mountain that your castle is built on top of?” Farron hisses.
“Perhaps Mother thought it would help my magic,” I say back. “All I know is its presence is quite annoying when you’re trying to sleep. There’s a secret notch in the rock wall. Only Mother and I know of it. She can’t know I’m part of destroying the crystals.”
“I know,” Farron says. “Remember, she thinks you’re in Summer.”
“I know,” I snap back, heart racing.
“Hey! What are you two doing here?” a stern voice calls. “Sira told everyone to leave these premises and go back to the main city!”
I freeze, the voice of a guard carrying behind us.
