Walls
Once they were back inside the palace and away from Haydn, Rory took Evelyn directly to her room. He waited with her until Damien arrived a few minutes later, then left.
“Are you okay?” Damien asked.
Evelyn paced across the rug. “I’m fine.”
“What did Ritter do?”
“Nothing.”
Damien gave up on sounding patient. “You were standing there like a statue with your eyes closed for two minutes and then you slapped him.What did he do?”
They heard footsteps just before Leo appeared in the open doorway.
“Evelyn? What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
Damien used magic to slam the door in Leo’s face and lock it.
Leo pounded on the door. “Damien!”
“We don’t need your help, Alexander!” Damien yelled.
“Evelyn!” Leo called. “Are you okay? Please let me in!”
Evelyn quit pacing and sat in a chair. She leaned forward and held her head in her hands, ignoring the sound of Leo’s supplication.
I can’t do this today. I know I need to talk to Leo at some point, but not while I can still feel Haydn touching me… even if it wasn’t real.
“Fontaine!” Leo yelled. “Open this door now!”
“Princess?” Damien asked. “What do you want to do?”
Damien could end up in real trouble if Leo decides to pull rank.
Evelyn shot a stream of fire through the keyhole and it grew into a wall of flames in the hallway. It wouldn’t burn the door, but it was an effective barrier to knocking. She heard Leo curse and then go quiet before finally leaving.
Damien let out a breath. He wasn’t beyond reproach, but no one could blame him for a curtain of fire. He leaned against the windowsill and crossed his arms over his chest. “What the hell happened?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Well, that’s too fucking bad, Princess.”
Evelyn’s head shot up. “Excuse me?”
“You asked for my help. You sent your guard to get me. I’ve sworn to protect you. So I need to know what’s going on.”
“I don’t have to tell you everything!”
“If you don’t want to talk to me, fine. I can bring Leo or your father or the damn general up here. But you are going to tell someone what happened with Ritter and you’re going to do it now.”
Damien and Haydn used to be friends, right? I don’t want to tell him that Haydn might be using me to gain magic or get between my legs. Unless it’s not a trick, and Haydn actually likes me. I’m pretty sure he’s powerful enough on his own, so why would he need Fire magic? And if marrying him wouldmean I give up my title as a princess, then it’s not about politics. I won’t really know what he wants until I go to Lochmatten and find out his secrets.
“Dammit, Evelyn?—”
“He wants to marry me!” she blurted.
Damien flinched. “Ritter? He said that?”
