Whatever secrets the princess harbored, she didn’t stash them here.
“Val—”
A hand clamped over my mouth, arms pinning me back against a broad chest and dragging me into the dark of a closet.I moved to disengage my attacker, acting on instinct, but froze when Valeris’s hot breath hit my ear.
“Shh.”The hush was barely audible.
His heartbeat hammered at my back, his presence overwhelming with nothing but him and the clothes and the darkness pressing in on me.I tried to quiet my own heart and breathing as I heard a pair of footsteps enter the main room, the door clicking closed behind them.Valeris slowly lowered his hand from my mouth to my shoulder, his other still firmly clasped around my waist, holding me to him, his head tucked against mine.Memories from being trapped in the tunnel with him came flooding back.
Something heavy dropped onto the floor, then the sound of shoes kicked across the room.
“Have a tray of tea brought up.”
The princess’s voice rang with authority, devoid of any polite request.Dread choked me.She hadn’t returned just to get something and leave again.I shifted to gauge Valeris’s reaction but it was too dark.He let out a quiet, shuddering breath as if acknowledging the situation.We couldn’t stay here all night, and she would hear us if we tried to escape after she fell asleep.Not to mention if she needed something from this closet.It was too risky.Valeris might be able to find a way around it, but I was a foreigner.She could prosecute me for this.Our entire cover would be blown.
Valeris leaned closer, a shiver running through me as his lips brushed the shell of my ear, his words barely audible.“I can get out the main door.When she turns her back, leave through the balcony.You’ll have to watch, but wait until I engage her.”
He released me and slipped out of the closet.I followed a few steps behind, venturing as close to the doorway of the main room as I dared.My gaze locked on the doors leading to the balcony.They were closed.Sweat coated my palms.They could creak when I opened them and give me away.
“Back so soon?”All hint of fear was gone from Valeris’s voice as he stepped into the main room.
He ducked, and a knife embedded itself in the wall behind him.
I bit my cheek to hold in my gasp, eyes widening as I calculated how close he’d brushed hands with death.
“You’re lucky I missed.How did you get in here?”Ezrielle demanded.
His throat bobbed, the only indicator almost getting impaled had affected him.“If you didn’t know, there’s this cool invention called a door, which also has a handle, and you—”
“Shut up, Valeris, and get out before I call the guards on you,” she snapped.
“Fine by me.”Valeris walked out of sight, his shadow moving across the floor until he reached the balcony, opening one of the doors.
“Youidiot, not that way.Why are you in here?”
I let out a ragged breath, staring at the knife stuck in the wall, replaying it flying over Valeris’s head.If he hadn’t been paying attention—
“I came to ask you a question.You weren’t here, so I thought I’d wait until you got back.”
Her shadow stepped in front of his, a beat of silence before her response.“You were hiding.”
“You really think I would risk being caught in here by someone other than you?”Words and explanations rolled off Valeris’s tongue without any hesitation.
“What was your question?”
I peeked around the corner, finding that the princess’s back was to me and the balcony.I eased out, creeping to the door, heart pounding within my chest as I widened the gap and slipped through the opening.
“What are you planning with the chancellor?”Valeris asked.
The door squeaked as it swung back into place.
“What was that?”
I scrambled over the railing, seeking out handholds and footholds in the stone, climbing without thinking.
“The wind,” Valeris said.
“Someone slipped through the door, Valeris.Who are you hiding?”
