Page 13 of Tears of Gold

This festival is a big deal, judging by the smells coming from the cafeteria all day which set my tummy gurgling. The counselors dismiss classes at midday, so Rita and I relax on the green between the building wings for the afternoon.

At least I remember Rita.

“This is pretty much the exact place you became my bodyguard,” I remark, throwing a grass stalk at her.

She leans back on her hands, eyes closed as she soaks in the warm sunshine. “Ha! That seems like an eternity ago. It was such a shock for us to see a human at our school.”

It does feel like a lifetime ago, yet it’s only been a few months since I stumbled into the portal back on Earth and arrived on the hilltop nearby. “Yeah. You came to beat me up. Said elementals were the fated leaders of the universe or some crap. Have you repented from your evil ways?”

Rita scoffs. “Fuck no! I still detest you, human. Look at you, weak as whales’ milk.” She reaches over and tickles me.

I squirm away from her. “Aww, come on. I know you had a change of heart. Isn’t that why you became my bodyguard?”

She rolls over to chase me. “What? You must have spider vomit for brains. His Highness forced me to become your bodyguard.”

“Huh?” I trap her hands. “Prince Erritt?”

“Yeah.” She rolls her eyes. “You both ruined my semester. Another two months, and I’m off duty, baby!” She kicks me playfully, dislodging my grip.

I laugh, feeling better than I have in days. “Face it; you’ll miss me.”

“And if I don’t, you gonna cry about it?” She wrestles me down. Despite her mean words, she’s grinning. “You know how close I’ve come to losing my head thanks to you and that arrogant bastard?”

A shadow falls on us. Looking over her head, I find myself trapped by a familiar hypnotic blue gaze. Prince Erritt’s lips twitch with the faintest trace of a smirk as he asks, “Which arrogant bastard . . . are we talking about?”

Rita pales instantly at the sound of Prince Erritt’s slow drawl. She rolls clear and jumps to her feet in order to bow. “The, ah, the rogue, my lord. He makes us get up at the crack of dawn to go running.”

I sit up slowly and tuck my skirt back to presentability, wondering what the prince thinks of our roughhousing.

Prince Erritt winks at me over the top of her bowed head, telling me he knows the truth and my belly flip-flops. Belatedly I follow Rita’s example and bow my head briefly. Two steps behind the prince, Vanrey types into a tablet, but the tilt of his head tells me he hears every word.

“Ah, early mornings? That is the . . . sign of a true bastard.” He shakes his head sadly. “But the way I hear it, you sleep . . . through the running . . . Rita.”

Rita laughs nervously. “We have an arrangement as Ava’s bodyguards.”

“A task which you surely . . . enjoy?”

Now she fidgets with nerves. “Of course, my lord!”

A tiny smile curls his lips. “I’m teasing you, Rita. May . . . we join you, ladies?”

Rita agrees immediately, and I shift to a corner of our blanket. Who says no to a prince, right? He sits cross-legged across from me, easing down slowly with one hand on his chest. His knee hovers only a handspan away from mine, and I hold myself stiffly, careful not to bump him. Heat burns in my ears as I recall that the last time I saw Prince Erritt, I yelled at him.

Vanrey remains a few paces away, half turned away from us, typing studiously into his device. Despite appearing absorbed in his work, I get the feeling from the way he turns toward every little noise that he could stop a meteor from landing on us without blinking. He probably wouldn’t even stop typing.

Erritt stares at me with those swimming cobalt eyes again. “How are you today?” His speech seems a little clearer today. “I heard you had a m-migraine.”

I tuck hair behind my ear and steel my nerves. No time like the present to deal with the lingering awkwardness. “I’m fine. About the other day, I’m sorry I yelled.”

Rita gasps, and her eyes widen. “You yelled at him? Haven’t I taught you any manners yet? I’m sorry, Your Highness, she’s as stubborn as she is dumb.”

Prince Erritt silences her with one hand. “Thank you, Ava. But we were . . . at fault too. I . . . did not mean to cause you distress, and I was incon . . . siderate of your trauma.”

Looking down, I trace the weave pattern on the rug. “Thank you.” It must be a pretty big deal, a royal apologizing, especially in front of witnesses. Still, he’s so stiff and his aura so intense, I don’t know what I’m supposed to say. Thankfully he isn’t finished talking.

“I would like you to know Vanrey’s report is sufficient for the Royal Guard. No one else will be required to testify.”

My gaze flits to the royal aide, and he meets my eye, nodding once in agreement. A warm, airy sensation spreads through my chest, and I relax with a smile. It’s a relief to hear Harper won’t be in danger. Maybe I misjudged these elementals and Skye, after all.