The second he’s gone, Kaelis exhales sharply through his nose and mutters, “That idiot’s lucky you settled that and not me.”
I eye him sidelong as I begin walking again, determined to get off the crowded main square and into River Park proper.
The trees of River Park offer a nice covering of shade for the middle of summer. Sea breezes set them to swaying, dappled sunlight dancing across the well-manicured gravel path that snakes through the soft grass. “You were about two seconds away from breaking every bone in his arm, weren’t you?”
“Perhaps,” Kaelis says idly, pulling his hood back over his head. “Or his face. There are so many good options when it comes to maiming a man.”
I shake my head and fight a sigh. “You can’t do that.”
“Can’t do what?”
“Attack people on my behalf,” I say. He scoffs. I glance around, making sure no one else out for a stroll can overhear. “I’m serious. If you do, it defeats the entire point of me having a new face. Hard to explain why the infamous Prince Kaelis is suddenly going scorched earth for a random woman he’s only just met.”
The prince seems to consider this. “So you want me to sit idly by if I see you in trouble?”
“I want you to trust me to take care of myself.”
That gives him such pause he actually stops mid-step, forcing me to do the same. Our eyes meet and the wind runs invisible fingers through his midnight hair. “Do you think I don’t know you can take care of yourself?”
“Well, if you’re constantly running to my aid, it does beg the question,” I admit.
“You are the most capable, skilled, powerful person I have ever known. You can wield a blade as well as your guile, and both pale in comparison to the force of nature you are with magic.” He takes a step to close the gap that formed between us. I can see his hands twitch at his sides, nearly taking mine, but he refrains. That little motion somehow both makes my breath catch and makes me sigh with relief at the same time. “It is not that I think you need me. It is that I don’t know any other way. Every instinct, every beat of my heart, tells me to protect you, as if it was the true and singular purpose I was made for.”
The breeze picks up, carrying the sounds of children playing and the distant crash of whitecaps from the Farlum River onto the breaker walls. It somehow all emphasizes the silence between us. Every shallow breath.
Everything we left unfinished when he had me pressed against that mirror…
I glance away. “Well, as long as you think I’m competent.”
He merely smiles, as though he knows what I’m avoiding. We begin walking again. When he speaks next, his tone has shifted from annoyed to more curious. “I think you’re more than competent enough to be a professor at my academy.”
“Yes, put me under Vaduin as a professor of wielding.”
His expression falls. Then a low laugh under his breath. “Very amusing.”
“I’m serious.” My tone is almost sweet, and I give him a sly littlesmile in time with a look from the corners of my eyes, tossing my head slightly to the side, almost coquettishly.
“I thought you and him couldn’t stand each other? I still remember the rooftop and the bucket.”
“As do I.” With the mention, I’m back on the rooftop scrubbing Kel’s blood for hours after her card reversed. “But I think I’ll be able to manage him best. And we both know I’m most qualified to teach wielding. I’m terrible at reading and we don’t want me teaching inking—my style is too distinct; I’ll need to be careful just inking cards for myself. No need to draw further attention to it.”
“True. True.” Kaelis chews over his thoughts a moment, and it isn’t until we’re nearing the northern edge of River Park that he finally says, under his breath, “He’s a Worldkeeper, isn’t he?”
I’m not surprised that’s the conclusion Kaelis drew. I’m certain there were suspicions from the moment Vaduin entered the academy. Combine that with my disappearing, Kaelis already suspecting the Worldkeepers helped me, then my suddenly coming back confident in Vaduin and me getting along? It’s not too far of a logical leap.
“You know I can’t confirm that.” I give him a smile. “But I’m sure Vaduin will come to you asking for a personal favor about some young woman he met over the summer who shows great promise.” I can send Gregor to deliver the message while I see Arina…The next steps are forming in my head, and I fall silent as I run through everything that must be done before school begins to make my story believable to any who’d probe.
We walk in silence for a stretch as we pass the Fatefinders Club. It’s quiet at this time of day. Open for business, but very few patrons are there. Strange to think it’s already been over a month since everything happened. It looks so normal.
The neighborhood begins to thin. Gone are the compact townhomes and apartments, replaced with stately manors. Though they’re still built close to one another, there’s more room to breathe between them than the apartment buildings, giving this district a feeling of luxury that the muddled and chaotic city center can never quiteachieve. We climb the narrow stairs between buildings up the cliffs. There, the wind tastes more of mountain cold and a hint of salt than the bustling city.
And that’s when I finally see it.
The manor is slightly more modest than the rest, with gray stone and black trim around the windows. The shutters are latched with iron on the street-facing side. But I suspect the back of the house that overlooks the river is not so buttoned up.
The front doors gleam with wood polish. Through them I can smell the aroma of warm spices, slightly sweet with floral notes—Ren’s cooking something.The scent is familiar enough that I know what recipe of Jura’s he’s attempting to re-create. Yet I can also tell it’s not quite right: The spice blend is off. And that difference has my eyes pricking again.
I knock twice, pause, then once more, another pause, then three times. It’s an old knock Twino and I made up when we were younger. We’ve long since stopped using it, as it’s too easy to learn or re-create. But I hope it sounds like a friend coming to call anyway.
