“Or maybe…” His breath tickled my ear. “I just wanted you in my arms without an audience.”
Heat pooled in my stomach even as I wanted to screamwhat the hell?Was he just constantly changing his mind on me? Was I a friend or not? I was getting very tired of this uncertainty but had no ideahow to resolve it. I was nowhere near confident enough to simply ask him, “Do you like me?”
These thoughts churned through my mind as he spun us through the ether.
When we landed, I looked up at him. His arms were still holding me tightly but gone was the easiness of the holiday, his carefree expression. The princess’s Champion had returned.
“Mask back in place?”
He looked at me, questioning.
“You were more relaxed at your home. More than I’ve seen here.”
He released me and took a step back. “I have a job to do here. There, I could just be… me.”
My heart sank.Iwas the job.
As we turned to go through the gates, he added quietly, “I’ve never taken anyone else home.”
What the fuck, Griff? What the fuck?
Chapter
Twenty-One
Father has started having both Thom and I sit in on council sessions. What a waste of time. All they do is talk. No action. And then they look at me expectedly. Thanks for the support.
—From the journal of Violet Andrever
There was, in fact, a shitstorm waiting for us when we appeared. Apparently, people really didn’t like it when their princess went missing. Maybe I should have left a note or something.
Zachariah was in Finn’s face, and Finn was defending me.
“She was left all alone on Ignistar. You didn’t even know she was missing until this morning, and she’s been gone for two days.”
I winced as Zachariah’s face first went pale and then bright red. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see smoke come out of his ears.
Stepping up next to Finn, I waded in. “I wasn’t warded. I’m sure your farsight wielders knew exactly where I was. If it was such an issue, you could have come and gotten me.”
He whirled on me. “You had taken my teleporter too.”
Griff stepped in front of me. “I took her to my family’s home to celebrate Ignistar. And there is no such thing asyourteleporter. I am theprincess’sChampion, not the regent’s Champion. If I’m anyone’s teleporter, it’s hers.”
I elbowed him. I didn’t need either of them fighting my battles for me. “I’ve told you before, I refuse to be kept in this castle like a prisoner. I will go out and see my kingdom and protect my people. And if your issue is that I wasn’t protected, well, I was with my Champion and the most powerful mind reader in Serentyn. Besides, you had given me permission to tour the kingdom with Griff.” I decided against adding my thoughts about needing said permission. “If you needed me here, how about next time, you tell me. Because I guarantee I will fend for myself and it seems like you do not like the results when I do.”
He looked like he had no idea what to do with me. “You’re late for the council meeting, Princess. We’ve delayed long enough trying to find you. And you, Master of Histories”—he spat at Finn—“there is a mountain of paperwork on your desk that I expect sorted before our next session.” With that unceremonious exclusion of Finn from the council session, he turned on his heel and strode away.
My holiday was certainly over.
I sighed, already exhausted. The peace from the past few days had fallen away.
Freya edged closer from where she had been standing on the sidelines, reaching a hand in my direction. My headache started to ease.
“Do you want us to come with you?” Concern etched Finn’s face. “I can do the paperwork later?—”
“No, that will just piss him off more. I’ll be fine.” I met all three of their stares and plastered a smile on my face. “How much trouble can I get into in a room full of councilors?”
I was glad none of them answered that.
