Crown of Coral and Pearl

I wanted to tell him that his emotions were what made him human, so unlike Ceren and his cool calculations about everything. But I was having trouble formulating coherent thoughts, let alone compliments, so I squeezed his hands instead.

When we emerged from the tent, the larger of Ceren’s two guards stepped forward. “We’re under strict orders to keep the lady in our sights at all times,” the lead guard said. “If you keep this up, we’ll be forced to tell Prince Ceren.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Talin said as he led me back through the market. He kept close to me on the ride back to the inn, and though Ebb looked at me questioningly that night when I went immediately to bed without telling her anything about our trip, she didn’t pry.

I rode beside Talin throughout the next two days, but Ceren’s guards kept closer to me than they had before the market. Talin told them I’d only run because I was afraid of the soldier who accosted me, and they seemed to accept his explanation, but we kept our conversations light. It was nice to hear more about his childhood, and telling him about mine helped take my mind off what we were returning to in New Castle.

The road was just up the bank from the river here, though we hadn’t crossed onto Ilarean soil yet. We stopped to water the horses, and when Ebb, Grig, and the guards disappeared to relieve themselves, I found myself briefly alone with Talin.

“What’s going to happen when we get back?” I asked as he helped me dismount. “Can Ceren marry me whenever he chooses?” I knew now that I would never stop comparing him to Talin, never stop wondering what might have been.

“There are no laws preventing him.”

“Why does he have to be so cruel? The way he treats his servants, how he does everything he can to make people as uncomfortable as possible, what he tried to do to the page...” I caught my lip in my teeth, unsure if I should continue. “What he did to your mother.”

He tensed at my words. “Who told you?”

“Lady Melina. Although I should have figured it out on my own. I just didn’t think anyone could be capable of doing something so horrible.”

“Neither did I,” he said, the pain of the memory etched in his features.

“Why didn’t you do something, if you knew?”

“I was fifteen and terrified. I suspected Ceren, but like you, I didn’t want to believe it. And he gave me the chance to leave New Castle by taking over command of the king’s guard, so I left. I figured it would be easier to plot my revenge from afar.”

I sucked in a breath. “Your revenge?”

He sighed. “How did you put it the other day? It’s complicated?”

I couldn’t deny that. But Talin’s chance at the throne could be slipping through his fingers this very moment, and he didn’t seem very anxious about it. Maybe he really was plotting something against his brother. “Did you—did you know what was going to happen, that day at the lake?”

“I didn’t, but I wasn’t surprised someone would try to kill my brother.”

“You asked me to save him that day,” I said slowly. “Ever since, I’ve wondered—why?”

He ran his fingers through his hair. “Ceren is not a good person. I know that. But he’s still my brother.”

“But you may have to fight him for the crown.”

“That’s different than letting him drown. I don’t know why, it just is.”

I smiled gently. “You’re more Varenian than you know.” I followed him up the bank to a clearing where the horses could graze while we waited. “What is your relationship with Lady Melina? Were she and your mother close?”

He thought for a moment. “Yes, at first. Lady Melina was very kind to my mother when she first came. Xyrus was already as good as married to Ceren’s mother, and Melina believed Mother would become a mistress, like she was. She wanted to show my mother the ways of the castle, to be her mentor. Of course, what she knew of the castle was as someone less than a lady. She had never been treated as an equal by my grandfather while he was alive, and she was bitter and jaded even then. But my mother was still being treated as you are now, like a lady of the court, when Ceren’s mother died. And the next thing my mother knew, she was marrying my father.

“Lady Melina’s jealousy of my mother was so blatant that my father had to send her away from court. She was still permitted to attend major events, but she couldn’t be trusted to behave during meals and gatherings. She called my mother terrible names and even did things to sabotage her, like putting nails inside her shoes.”

“No,” I breathed, horrified.

“Oh, yes. She was ruthless.”

“But you’re friends now?”

He quirked his lips to the side. “Melina doesn’t have friends. But we’re allies, in a sense. We seek a common goal.”

“For you to be king?”

“I—”

Without warning, a man burst out of the bushes behind me. He had his knife to my throat before I realized what was happening.

“Scream, and I’ll kill you,” he hissed in my ear. Talin’s sword was already drawn, but when the man motioned for him to put it down, Talin warily complied.

“You might wish to be more careful with the future queen of Ilara,” Talin said.

I couldn’t see the man’s face, but the hand that held the knife to my throat was filthy, and his sleeve was torn and stained. He pressed the blade into my flesh, just far enough to draw blood, and I could feel the warm liquid beginning to drip down my neck. “I don’t answer to any queen. I was sent by the woman king.”

“What do you want?” Talin asked, shifting on his feet. “We’re not carrying any money, and we have two Ilarean guards nearby.”

I screamed as another man ran out from behind a tree and lunged for Talin. I elbowed the man holding me in the ribs and wriggled from his grasp, ignoring the searing pain in my neck as his blade sliced farther into my skin.

Talin was wrestling with the second man while the other came after me again. I reached into my boot and withdrew the coral knife, slashing at the man who’d tried to capture me. He held his ground, but we both turned our heads at the sound of a strangled scream. Talin lay next to his attacker, gasping for breath. The stranger’s knife protruded from a bloody wound in his own chest.

I gasped, afraid Talin was hurt, but he rose to his feet quickly. I turned to see the man who had attacked me disappearing into the trees.

“Should we go after him?” I asked, but Talin was looking at my neck.

“I’m not worried about him right now. You’re injured.”

I winced as I touched the wound. “It’s nothing. Are you hurt?”

“Nothing? You’re bleeding, Nor.”

The guards stumbled into the clearing just as Ebb and Grig arrived from the other side. “We heard screams,” Grig said, hurrying toward us. “I was afraid for Mistress Ebb’s safety, or we would have come faster.”

“And where were you?” Talin shouted at the guards. “It’s your job to protect Zadie.”

“Apologies, Your Highness,” one of them said. “We got lost trying to find you.”

“Lost? How far could you possibly have gone?”

I shared his incredulity. Normally Ceren’s guards were so close I couldn’t move without stepping on their toes.

“Is that blood?” the other asked, pointing to my neck.

“Of course it’s blood, you imbecile,” Talin growled. “Bring me my water skin and a bandage from my saddlebag.”

When the guard handed the items to Talin, he brushed my hair away from my neck gently. “I’m sorry. This is going to sting.”

I smiled and placed my hand on his. “I’m fine. Really.”

“You don’t have to be brave all the time. Please, hold still.”

I knew what he would see when he rinsed the blood off my neck, but he was already tipping the water skin. I watched his expression shift like sand under water, from concern, to surprise, to confusion.

“There’s no wound,” he said, running his fingers over the smooth skin.

“I told you it was nothing. It must have been the attacker’s blood,” I said, my eyes darting to Ceren’s guards.

“On your neck?”

I stepped away from him, dabbing my neck with my sleeve. “Varenians heal quickly,” I murmured. “You must have known that from your mother.”

“She healed quickly, yes, but not within a few minutes,” he insisted quietly. “I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

I could feel the guards pressing in behind us.

“It was just a nick.”

Talin waved the guards back. “Get on your horses and patrol the area. We’ll leave in a minute.”

“We take orders from Prince Ceren,” one of the guards said gruffly.

Talin’s eyebrows shot up. “You mean your orders to keep Zadie safe? Should I tell my brother how well you followed that command?” Talin crossed his arms and the guards finally turned away, grumbling to each other as they went. “Grig, take Ebb to the road,” Talin said gently. “We’ll be right there.”

“Don’t be angry,” I said to Talin when the others were gone. I shivered as his fingers brushed the sensitive skin of my neck.

“I’m not angry. I’m astonished.”

“I wish I could explain it. It’s just the way I am.”