Page 36 of A Wayward Movement

“To you,” he repeated. “Not to every skirt that swished past me, which is how you’re making it sound.”

Alina knew she should just shrug off his unfair overreaction to her words. But the conversation was rapidly deteriorating to a place she hadn’t expected, and she wasn’t prepared, either for the prince’s emotions or her own.

“Not in front of me,” she said tartly. “But didn’t you, within days of me leaving the capital, create some huge scandal when you were caught kissing the daughter of Baron Runsky? That fair-haired girl from the south-west. As I recall, all the boys our age in your father’s court were vowing they’d compete in her honor as soon as they were allowed to enter the tournaments. But she was famously difficult to impress. You found a way, it seems.”

Xavier was silent for a long moment. “How do you know what I did or didn’t do after you left?”

It wasn’t exactly a denial.

“I didn’t go from the capital straight to being a tavern wench,” Alina said with a bite. “When we first set up our new home on the far side of the forest, we were still moving in the same circles. Another wealthy family from my father’s merchant guild passed through not long after we arrived, and the daughter of the family was very eager to tell me all the gossip from the capital.”

The prince’s brow was stormy, and Alina regretted bringing any of it up. She’d assumed he’d boast in the conquest, or maybe just laugh it off. His surliness was unexpected and, as always, much more unsettling than his studied charm.

“I’m not scolding you,” she assured him. “I have no reason to, and I’m sure you get plenty of that from other quarters.”

“You’re very high and mighty,” he said, ignoring her attempts to soften her words. “But I’m sure this other girl went away with plenty of gossip of her own.”

“Not from me,” Alina said, unable to keep the hurt out of her denial. “I never said a word about…well, anything. Not to a soul.”

She found Xavier’s eyes on her, dark and compelling. She had the sense that she was being searched, then his features softened just slightly. He turned his gaze forward.

“I haven’t been back to that waterfall for many years,” he said. “And when I did go, it was alone.”

Startled, Alina snuck a look at his profile. Was he telling the truth? It had been a very romantic spot, there was no doubt about it. She would have assumed he’d swept many a girl off her feet there.

Captain Mitchell rode up on the prince’s other flank, and Alina was happy to rein her horse in and drop back a little. She felt eyes on her, and turned her head to see Charles, the prince’s personal servant, giving her a very thoughtful look. He looked discomposed to be caught watching, lowering his head in a respectful gesture. The only reassurance she could manage was a faint smile. She needed time to regroup before she could be friendly again.

They reached Alton in the mid-morning, and set up camp at the inn there. It was larger than the one in Alina’s town, and she wondered if the team would decide to relocate there for the rest of the investigation. She might have to take what pay she’d earned so far and go home, if so. She didn’t like the thought of leaving the twins on their own for more than a couple of days.

It took her very little time to deposit her few belongings in the room assigned to her at the inn. Pausing only to neaten her hair and dress, she made her way back downstairs, entering the group’s private parlor in time to hear a stranger speaking to the prince and the captain.

“—nothing concrete,” the man was saying. “I’ve observed the same reluctance to talk about magic craft here as you’ve described, Captain, and people are certainly on edge. But I can’t say I’ve seen suspicious behavior.”

“I’m not surprised,” the captain said. “Even without the team here, everyone must know we’re nearby. Any perpetrator with any sense would be lying low for a while.”

“Have you identified the ones who made the report?” Xavier asked.

The man nodded. “Aye, Your Highness, the friends of the missing girl live not far from here. I haven’t approached them yet, though, given my orders were to remain undercover until you arrived.”

“Good man,” Xavier said. “We’ll meet with them first, don’t you think, Mitchell?”

The captain nodded his agreement, his eyes darting to Alina as she moved forward. His forehead creased slightly, and she could tell he suspected that she’d been listening for a while before announcing her presence. But she hadn’t been trying to be secretive. She just hadn’t liked to interrupt.

Xavier followed the captain’s eyes, an appreciative grin pulling up one corner of his lips as he took in the effect of her hasty attempts to neaten herself up after the ride.

“Alina,” he greeted her. “A vision, even after a morning of travel. If only you could bottle up that unruffled poise of yours and sell it amongst the women of the court, you’d make a fortune.”

Alina smiled, trying to assure herself that the other men present would know Xavier’s reputation well enough not to blame her for any lack of discretion on his part.

“How pleasant that would be,” she said lightly. “I’d retire to the coast, I think.”

“Leaving us without our guide,” Xavier said in mock dismay. “Not something to wish for, then.”

The captain didn’t look very pleased with the turn of the conversation, and Alina hastened to change the topic.

“Did I hear you say you’re going to meet with the ones who made the latest report?” she asked. “Do you want me to attend, or is that unnecessary?”

“We were expecting you to come with us,” the prince said, raising an eyebrow. “Do you have somewhere more pressing to be?”