As usual, her face was stunningly made up in golden-brown tones, but for some reason, there was worry behind her rosy cheeks. “Are you alright?” She rushed towards me, clasping myhands. “When you didn’t come back to your chambers last night, I went looking for you. Erik told me something bad happened in the palace grounds and that the prince brought you here. What was it? What happened?”
I sniffed with laughter, shaking my head. “Oh, Raena, you mustn’t worry, everything is fine. I had a scare in the garden with the Prince of Hallshire, but then Lukas found me and, well…” Imaginary roses bloomed in my chest. “Everything is fine now.”
For a moment, Raena’s lips thinned as she studied me. Then her gaze flew over my shoulder to the unmade bed in the centre of the room. As her mouth formed a small ‘o’, I could almost hear the gears turning in her mind.
“Did you?” Heat flooded to her cheeks. “Naria, tell me you didn’t… last night?” Her eyes darted around the room. “Or this morning?”
I gasped at her bizarre conclusion. The surprise sent me into a coughing fit as I struggled to catch my breath. “No!” I blurted out between gasps. “No, we didn’t. He slept somewhere else!”
Raena cocked an eyebrow, a devious smirk landing on her smug face. “That never stopped anyone.”
“I promise, nothing like that happened!” My hands flapped wildly. “We just shared a nice moment in the gardens, and then he carried me up here. That’s all!”
Raena’s whole body shook with laughter. “Oh, sweet innocent Naria.” She patted my arm in a jokingly condescending way. “I’m glad you enjoyed yourmoment, and I’m really happy you’re making progress with the prince.” A sincere smile warmed her face. “Does this mean you’re not going back to the fae? You seem so happy this morning. Has Prince Lukas finally agreed to help with your kingdom?”
All the golden light vanished from the room, my body stiffened, and suddenly his bedchamber felt ice cold. With a shiver, goosebumps covered my tense arms. Where had all thewarmth gone?
Raena chewed her lower lip, as if sensing the change in the air, too. “I see.” Reassuringly, she squeezed my arm. “If you feel like you’re growing closer, then perhaps he will change his mind about your kingdom?” Hope, or something equally as foolish, danced in her brown eyes. “Confess to visiting the faeries. Tell him that they are offering to help your people. Maybe then he’ll understand the importance of this situation.” She drew closer, lowering her voice. “I saw you dancing together last night. The way he looked at you… Naria, I know that look. He won’t want to let you go.”
I wanted to believe her, but deep down, I knew this was all so silly. Love, or whatever this strange thing between us might be, shouldn’t be affecting my decision. I was a princess. It was my duty to marry for the good of my own kingdom. Lukas was offering nothing, so no matter how I felt during the ball when he spun me in the air in that enchanting way, I couldn’t marry him. Not when I had faeries offering me – offering Corlixir – so much more.
“You might be right,” I finally answered. “He may have feelings for me, but,” I paused, my heart aching, “that doesn’t change the fact that he doesn’t care for my kingdom.”
“You don’t know that!” she protested. “Please, just try one more time to get through to him.”
I’d tried so many times to extinguish the small flame of hope that flickered away in my chest, but there Raena was, reigniting it while my foolish heart only stoked the flames.
“Fine,” I decided gruffly, mentally preparing myself for the inevitable hurt and rejection. “I don’t even know where he is though. He must’ve left long before I woke up.”
A glimmer of excitement flashed across Raena’s smile. “I think I know where he might be. Come on, Princess.” She took my hand. “Let’s go and save Corlixir.”
The sun was high in the sky by the time we’d tracked down the location of this week’s duelling club. Due to the warm weather, the nobles had commandeered a small stage nestled in a far corner of the palace grounds. Surrounding the cobblestone stage were dense clusters of royal blue and ivory hydrangeas, while the thick canopies of oak trees provided shade. The audience was smaller this time too, and a fair number of the people watching were seated on the lush grass, fanning their pert highborn faces and gasping every time a sword came close to hitting someone’s tunic.
“There he is,” I whispered to Raena, pointing towards one of the masked duellers who was sitting on a patch of grass off to the side.
From our spot near the back of the small crowd, she squinted at the gaggle of duellers. “How can you tell? They all look the same to me.”
Before I had a chance to gush about his unmistakable broad shoulders or the cascade of dark brown waves that sat atop his head, Raena cut me off.
“Actually, don’t answer that. I believe you.” She laughed knowingly. “Let’s wait here until they’re finished, then you can catch him before he leaves.” Flicking open her hand fan, she fluttered it against her face in a mockingly seductive way. “Try not to blush too hard when he wins.”
“Stop it!” I swatted her playfully.
A few metres ahead, wooden swords clashed away as the duel continued on the stage. The nearest dueller, a taller man with a thickset build, swung his sword with a deliberate force, while his opponent, a much smaller, more nimble boy, parried eachblow with graceful finesse. Every time the broader man swung, the boy darted to the side, and as the duel progressed, it became clear that the smaller one was the crowd favourite. Another lightning-fast dodge, another cheer from the crowd. Though, this only seemed to anger the larger man, as each attack became more and more fuelled by the raging fire within him.
Eventually, after avoiding another lumbering blow, the smaller dueller bolted forward and sliced his wooden sword against the man’s tunic. Had that been a real sword, the larger man would be in two pieces.
“We have a winner!” the announcer cried as the crowd erupted into cheers. The smaller dueller grinned triumphantly and took a sweeping bow. Then, he slipped off the thin black mask to reveal a familiar youthful face. There was no hiding the joy that overcame my cheeks when I realised who he was.
“Bravo, Nathan! Winning again!” a young woman called from the crowd. Glancing over, I caught sight of Giselle’s copper hair as she squealed with happiness. The victor was her younger brother, the boy who, just a few days ago, had been brought back from the dead with heartflow restoration performed by myself in the palace grounds. It was so relieving to see him well again, and despite our past differences, I couldn’t help but cheer along with his sister.
“Bravo!” I clapped my hands together delightedly.
Noticing our cheers, the taller opponent whipped off his mask and huffed as he slapped dust from his tunic. He was red-faced, likely both from the humiliation of losing and the intense exercise. After a few ragged breaths, he glared in my direction, his brow furrowing as he spotted me.
“Well, well,” he sneered, loud enough for the rest of the audience to hear, “if it isn’t Princess Naria.” My name and title slid off his tongue laced with disgust. “Coming to check on your little patient, are we? Why don’t you come up here and kiss himagain? Certainly got his heart pumping last time.”
My jaw tightened as I felt Raena’s hand rest on my shoulder. I knew she wanted me to leave it, but I couldn’t help myself. Squaring my shoulders, I met his taunt with my own fiery gaze. “You know nothing, sir. I did what I had to do to save a life.”
