Noel was a heart-reader. In the palace, everyone of the Devaoile bloodline could use the node to channel that mage-power, but it took conscious effort. To read someone, I needed to be touching the node, which was located in the throne room, or touching the person and actively pulling on my node-tie. It was different for Noel. Hedidn’t have to concentrate. He was a mage in his own right, and the emotions washed over him whether he wanted them to or not.
He must have sensed something from me last night to make him worry, and now he wanted to be certain he wouldn’t miss anything. If he didn’t actively pull on the node to augment his power, his reach was limited. He needed to be close—not actually touching, but he said that helped—to sense people’s emotions.
“Tell me about the blacksmith,” my brother said, not bothering to beat around the bush.
I sucked in a breath. I had told my family about Powell the evening before, explaining how he had used a charm to influence the whole village and take advantage of his stepson. Father had agreed to send a royal magistrate out to Skorsa, equipped with a magic-breaking charm just in case, to oversee how everything was handled.
“What about Powell?”
Noel slowly shook his head. “Not Powell. The other blacksmith. The one you carefully referred to as Powell’s stepson, or the true village smith. The one whose name you avoided saying during the entire story last night.”
“I did?” It hadn’t been a conscious decision, but thinking back on the conversation, I realized Noel was correct. I had never called Alan by name, because saying his name would have been too hard—or given away too much.
I slid my hands out of Noel’s grasp and sat at the table. “His name is Alan,” I said softly. And there it was, all the heartache and uncertainty I was feeling, betrayed by two little syllables.
Noel sat across from me, cocking his head to the side. “Are you sending one of your personal invitations to the ball to him?”
“If I can ever figure out what to write. Though I’m not sure why I am spending so much time agonizing over the words. He’ll probably toss it in the fire when he gets it.”
“Last night, you said he was intelligent. Why would he burn your letter?”
“I didn’t tell him who I was until the day after midsummer. Despite having ample opportunity—and reason—to do so earlier, I waited until the worst possible moment to tell him I was using a charm to influence his thoughts.”
Noel’s eyes went wide. Unlike Sam and Gemma, he didn’t immediately leap to my defense, which I appreciated, even as my eyes burned. I would not cry again. I had made a mistake, and now I had to live with it.
“Was he mad to learn you are the princess, or only that you also used a charm against him?” Noel understood. He saw the heart of the problem after only a few words.
I blinked back the tears. “I don’t know. He was so upset about the charm, I’m not sure he even cared about my identity.”
“How close were you before that? I mean, obviously you had feelings for him, but how did he see you? As just the person who saw past Powell’s charm? Or more?” Noel asked the question gently, and I gave him a wan smile.
“More, though I’m not sure how much more.”
“Did you sleep with him?”
Trust Noel not to shy away from that question. I gave a tiny shake of my head. “No, but only because I always pulled back, knowing I couldn’t cross that line without telling him the truth.” And because we were meeting outside, though I probably would have considered the willow private enough if I hadn’t been lying. But that was more than my brother needed to know.
He nodded. “Alan wasn’t only interested in the physical either, then?”
“No. We spent most of our time talking. Then Alan asked to come to Haiwella with me. That’s when I had to tell him the truth.”
My brother winced. “You weren’t kidding about telling him at the worst possible moment.”
“I know. I should have done it much earlier, but I wanted...”
“To know how he felt about you, not your rank,” Noel finished for me. “On the bright side, you can be certain his interest in youwas genuine. If he was asking to come to Haiwella with you and then got upset that you actually have more influence and resources at your disposal than he expected, he wasn’t just trying to use you.”
“It isn’t very bright when those feelings might have also been shattered because of my deceit.”
“You said there were two charms, one affecting the villagers and one making Alan too pessimistic to challenge how things were, right?”
“We think so.”
“And the effects lingered, even after you broke the charms. If Alan has defaulted to expecting—and accepting—the worst for years, then maybe he just needs time. Affenala knows, even if he hadn’t been impacted by charms before, your secret would have been a lot to take in.” Noel drummed his fingers on the table. “I’ll deliver his invitation to the ball myself. I can judge his reaction that way.”
Noel would see Alan. He’d read his emotions. A tiny portion of the tension plaguing me eased. “Thank you. If you are riding to Skorsa, I’ll give you the invitation for Sam, too. He’ll be a good source of information on what has been going on in the village since I left.”
“Perfect. I am curious to meet him after your stories yesterday. Now, let’s finally eat and I’ll tell you what everyone at court has been up to in the past month.”
