Cadhla beamed. “You won’t be sorry, my lady. With her body channel, she ensures everything fits to perfection. And her soul channel helps her know exactly what makes everyone feel confident.”
“Now that the dress is covered, you just need to decide who you want to dance with,” Mona said, a teasing gleam in her eye. “Maybe someone who’s tall, handsome, brooding, and joins you every morning for breakfast?”
I hid my grin as Cadhla smacked her. “You can’t tease theprincess about the Champion, even if—” She cut herself off, her eyes going wide as she stammered something and hurriedly turned to the stove.
My neck prickled and I didn’t have to turn to know that the subject of their conversation had just entered. I always knew when he was near.
Since our fight a few days ago, he had appeared in the kitchen every morning like clockwork, a few minutes after I arrived. He also showed up in the library in the afternoon while I was training with Finn, then accompanied us to dinner. He had taken my complaints to heart, and the fact that he made himself available made butterflies flutter in my stomach whenever I thought about it.
Mona giggled and hurried to join Cadhla. Granya just rolled her eyes and placed another plate next to mine as Griff slid into a chair next to me. His shoulder brushed mine, but he didn’t move away.
Hyperaware of where we were touching, I smiled up at him. “Good morning.”
“Good morning, Princess.” His voice was gravelly, as though it was the first time he’d spoken this morning. His hair was tousled as if he’d forgotten to comb it when he’d dressed in his typical black, but he gave me that private smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes.
“You’re late,” I said, although he wasn’t. “I was starting to think you’d forgotten about me.”
“Impossible.” He reached for his coffee, his arm brushing against my chest and those butterflies in my stomach went absolutely wild.
Somehow, I finished my food, passing my plate to the maid who came to collect it.
“Thank you, your highness.” She bobbed a quick curtsy.
I swallowed my groan of frustration as I started to stand. “Please, just Lexa.” I didn’t know how many times I would have to tell them to call me by my name, but I really hoped someday it would stick.
“Princess.” Griff had stood immediately when I did and now held my chair for me.
“Not helping,” I hissed at him.
The maid looked at Griff through lowered eyes before addressing me. “The Champion calls you ‘Princess.’”
I thought I caught a glint of amusement in his face and I rolled my eyes at him. “The Champion is special.”
As I passed him and he fell in step next to me, he murmured, “Glad you finally noticed.” I shivered involuntarily as his breath whispered against my ear, that comment just for me.
“You know you can stop calling me Princess at any time, right? I don’t need you reminding me who I am.”
“Maybe it’s not to remind you. Maybe it’s to remind myself.Princess.”
I let out a groan. “I’m going to hit you.”
“You’ll only hurt yourself again.”
I exhaled sharply through my nose. I hated that he was right.
We walked along in silence, but a comfortable one, until we stepped out into the bright sunlight at the training yard.
“This is where I leave you.”
I shaded my eyes to look up at him, the sunlight glinting on his hair. “You’re not coming to training?”
“I’ll let Kaia torture you solo today. But I’ll find you later.” His voice dropped, and my skin tingled as his words swept over me, the promise clear in his eyes. With a slight incline of his head, he took his leave.
I watched him walk away, his broad form striding off into the distance before I made my way down the stone steps. I may have skipped a little as I entered the training yard, but my demeanor abruptly changed when I saw Kaia waiting for me. It appeared Griff was right—torture it was this morning.
I joined her in the sparring ring, practice sword in my hands.
“Attack.”
