“Why don’t you go find the other dragon while we get situated? When did you last talk to another of your kind?”
He growled at that.“Don’t tell me how to spend my time, Champion. I am precisely where I am required?—”
“I’ll protect her,” Hart said to Charon. Then his pine green eyes met mine. “I will be her guard no matter what happens.”
A chill snaked down my spine. He couldn’t know I was thinking about that declaration only moments ago.
I turned to Charon to break the intimacy of Hart’s intense focus. He’d convinced me of too many lies already with that fierce determination. I wouldn’t allow myself to succumb to more. “Meet us on the balcony. We shouldn’t be long.”
Charon’s teeth flashed before he turned away and launched himself into the air.“I’ll never forgive you if you die, Champion. The Cursed knows this, too.”
Hart had said that dragons were pure chaos. I didn’t know what that meant, but it made sense that something made of chaos would support Eris’s Champion. But I couldn’t ignore that his words felt more … personal?
The brush of Hart’s hand on my lower back sent a flare of heat rushing through me, andI stiffened.
“They’re watching.” His words were quiet, but enough to ensure I didn’t immediately wiggle away.
I had no time to deal with the emotions that Hart surfaced. Even now, the awareness of his touch on my blouse threatened to shatter the walls I had erected between us.
The box inside my chest could only hold so much before it burst.
We followed the queen and her guards through a main street leading to the castle. Bookshops, bakeries, taverns, and inns stole my attention as we walked. On my right, a large white building with stone columns out front could only be the famed library. The doors were flung open, and the shelves of books inside were visible from the street. I paused to stare.
Hart waited behind me. He didn’t speak and didn’t give me space, assessing every person in Ciril as if they were a threat. I guessed they could be. The citizens might be peaceful, but Charon’s movements were easy to track, and Rodric wouldn’t let the way we left go unchallenged.
“We should keep moving,” Hart said. “We’ll return first thing in the morning.”
New scents filled my nose, sweet and savory and everything in between. I’d only ever known the food of Kavios. Tomorrow, I’d insist we try something from one of the shops. Maybe Hart could recommend one from his last visit.
No. I shook my head as if to free myself from some delusion. This wasn’t a trip for pleasure. I didn’t care about Hart’s previous visits to Linia. If he’d also been the guest of the queen then, I could only guess at his activities. Lavish balls, drunken revelries, freedom to do whatever he wanted with whomever he wanted.
My stomach soured as we approached the castle. Hart straightened beside me, his cheeks hollowed as if he’d just sucked a citrus fruit. A beautiful woman stood at the foot ofthe steps, greeting the queen. She had long brown hair that fell in waves to her hips. Her white skin was unmarred, like she’d never worked a day in her life. I glanced down at my own hands—calloused from one too many days shaping gemstones.
She raised her head to us, and a smile crossed her face when she glimpsed Hart. “I see we have guests.”
While Hart didn’t seem to acknowledge the woman’s perusal, every second I noticed it felt like insects crawled across my skin. This had to be the princess. Hart might be a liar, but he was also a prince—he should be a king.Shewas who he ended up with. Not a jeweler.
I don’t want him.I’d repeat the refrain to myself as many times as necessary. Eventually, my stubborn mind would comprehend.
Hart’s brow arched as he stared only at me. I wasn’t even sure he’d glanced at the princess yet. His jaw worked, like I’d asked him a riddle to which he didn’t know the answer, but he intended to solve it with his next guess.
The awkward silence as the princess waited for Hart’s acknowledgment was too much for me. I elbowed him.
He shook his head and finally noticed the woman with the queen. “Ah, Blair, my apologies. Nice to see you.”
His response was perfectly polite. Still, for some inexplicable reason, I hated it.
“This is Emberline Arkova.” He touched my lower back again, and that infernal flare of heat shot up my spine. “Emberline, this is Blair Hawthorn, Princess of Linia.”
The queen patted the woman’s hand, then commented dryly, “I’m glad to see he hasn’t lost his manners in all his time ignoring his responsibility to his kingdom.”
As I caught Lucinda’s profile beside Blair’s, the family resemblance was unmistakable. They both had the same blueeyes, the same aquiline nose, the same hint of a dimple that said they were up to something.
With little fanfare, the queen led us through the double doors of the castle. She turned again to the princess. “Darling, could you see them to the guest suite with the balcony?”
Blair dipped her chin as Lucinda disappeared down another hallway. An attendant rushed forward to offer her aid. I guessed seeing travelers to a suite wasn’t precisely the job of a princess, but Blair didn’t appear to mind. She waved away the attendant and led us through the castle’s otherwise empty corridors.
Glanmore Castle had felt large and imposing during my short stay. It had brimmed with Blessed when I’d been there. This castle felt the opposite. The hallways were open and airy; the light stone made it feel like a spacious home in the country rather than the kingdom’s seat of power.
