I released his hand so it swung between us. “Don’t say that.”
He moved to stop. My eyes darted between his face and the princes playing behind him.
“Dearest, what has gotten into you?”
I crossed my arms. “Nothing.”
He levelled me with a solemn look.
“You might be right about them,” I said, tilting my head toward the rambunctious princes. “But that doesn’t make you kind.”
His face contorted. “I’m a lot kinder than Prince Thomas and Stephen. I heard what you did in the corridor, calming his mania. That child is unstable.”
“Prince Stephen is fine.” I hesitated. “How did you hear about my actions in the hallway?”
A beat of silence passed between us.
He shrugged. “News gets around.”
A spike of panic pierced my chest.
People knew what happened. Prince Thomas would think I’d spread the rumors.
What if he stopped our lessons because of this?
David stepped forward, placing a gentle hand on my arm. “Maybe you should consider taking a break from the palace.”
“What do you mean?”
He paused in thought. “I just mean many women, when they marry… they stay home and care for their children. And I’m excited to have those children. To watch you step into motherhood.”
I furrowed my brow. “I don’t think…”
He hushed me with a kiss planted directly on my mouth. I stood frozen as he pulled away, pressing his forehead to mine.
“You don’t need to resign right now,” he murmured. “It’s a big decision. And we’re making so many big decisions already.” He pressed his lips to my cheek. When he pulled away, a breeze blew between us, chilling the skin where his saliva stayed behind.
Words clutched at my throat, but I couldn’t force a single one out.
He smiled. “Speaking of which, I’ll walk you home this Sunday. I want to be there when you tell Kelara and your mom about us. If that’s alright,” he added.
I nodded. “Of course.” I managed a faint smile.
“Great.” He released me. My shoulders sagged as he walked back toward the palace.
I turned away and rubbed the kiss’s remains from my cheek, shivering from the cold.
And stopped in my tracks.
Across the garden, Prince Thomas stood with a hand above his eyes to shield them from the sun.
Staring directly at me.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
I groaned as I hoisted a pile of books onto the desk in the servants’ study. The small, cramped space was no bigger than a closet. But for the next hour, it was mine.
Thomas had begun sending Caleb down regularly with piles of books and documents for me to sift through, all to log plague victims’ backgrounds: class, ethnicity, location, skillsets. He’d asked me to search for anything that could possibly link the fatalities together. In return, I would hand Caleb my findings, all pulled from copies of physician notes, letters from healing mages, and more.
