YENA

The next few days flew by in a flurry of exercise and etiquette training. By the end of the week, I’d never been so exhausted in my life. I was on a diet, too, and just fatigued.

I was lying in bed staring up at the gold ceiling tiles, missing Tina’s house. It was always warm in there. The oven was always on, marking up something that filled the house with a smell of spice.

The palace was always cold. It was the marble floors and all the windows. And the elevation.

The deaconess knocked lightly and entered. I’d already been to dinner, but Rafaela was bringing in the fold-out table and a few dishes.

I opened a cloche and found a platter of chocolate covered strawberries.

Rafaela disappeared and then returned, this time carrying a stack of books that she set down on my bed.

They were design books. And a few fashion magazines.

“How did you know I’d like these?” I asked.

“Oh, Miss Yena,” she said. “These are not from me. They are gifts from the prince.”

She shook her head. “Oh Goddess,” she said, “I wasn’t supposed to come out and tell you that, I think.”

“The prince told you to bring me this, and keep it a secret?” I asked.

She nodded in the affirmative. Her lips were glued together though.

I thanked her and she left.

I closed the doors behind her. I got a strange feeling, sometimes, if I left them open.

I was alone in this area of the palace. It was closed off except for access by the prince himself, and our wait staff.

Nolan wasn’t around much. Seemed like his work kept him very busy.

But still, when the doors were open sometimes it felt like there might be someone out there lurking in the dark, shadowy halls, watching me.

I put a strawberry in my mouth and sucked on it, letting the chocolate soften and start to melt before I bit in.

So the prince was sending me secret presents.

I licked melted chocolate off my fingers.

I still had a lot of doubts about Nolan.

But this was sweet.

Evan and Tina came to visit me in the palace the next day.

I was so happy to see them. I ran into Tina’s arms right away. When I turned to Evan, though, he hugged me, but there was something awkward about it and he pulled away quickly.

Tina’s eyes flicked all around as we walked together to my dining roo. She was wide-eyed, taking in all the gold and sparkle with wonder.

I smiled, thinking I must have looked just like that the first time I walked through these halls, too.

We sat together at one end of a long dining table. I was at the head of the table, with Tina and Evan on either side of me.

Evan couldn’t take his eyes off me. I felt myself blushing a little.

His face was so serious. When I tried to make eye contact with him, he darted his gaze away.

My first thought was that my clothes made him uncomfortable.

My dress was cut lower in the front than anything Evan had ever seen me in. Maybe it was a protective older brother thing.

His little sister wasn’t so little anymore, and he didn’t like i

Tina seemed nervous. But her smile was genuine when she told me she thought I looked beautiful.

“You look so grown up,” she said. “I’m proud of you, sweetheart. You’re growing into a beautiful and elegant young woman.”

Evan then suddenly shoved his chair back and got up. He left the room in a hurry.

I stood for a moment, but wasn’t going to follow him. Tina put her hand on my arm.

“Don’t worry about him,” she said.

I sat back down.

“He’s just nervous about being here for the first time,” she said. “He probably just wants to get a little fresh air.”

But air in the palace always felt fresh, with that chill that floated in through all the glass and curled up in the corners of rooms and hallways.

Evan was just upset.

I looked down at my dress. It showed just a little cleavage.

I was looking just a little thinner. A little stronger.

Evan didn’t want me to grow up.

Or maybe he thought it was disgusting, that a fat girl could try to be sexy.

Nolan was a few minutes late for dinner. He arrived just in time to watch Evan storming out of the dining room and rushing out a side door to the courtyard.

Inside, Yena was trying to put both her own and her mother’s minds at ease. Both women were struggling to find something to say. Things had changed so much between them in a matter of only days.

Nolan joined them in the dining room and politely pretended not to have witnessed Evan’s abrupt departure.

The prince wanted to use this meeting to smooth things over with the mother. She had been in tears when he’d left her home, taking her daughter away.

Yena, anxious for many reasons, drummed her fingers on the table.

Nolan slipped her hand into his.

He lifted it to his mouth and kissed it gently.

Yena felt her worries begin to fade. She wasn’t sure if this was part of a show for Tina’s benefit. She played along anyway.

Nolan could be like two different people.

Sometimes kind. Sometimes cruel.

Putting his hands all over her. Then pushing her away.

He sat beside her, in the place where Evan had been before he inexplicably absented himself.

But really, the only person at that dinner who did not understand the explanation for Evan’s odd behavior, in fact, was Yena.

Nolan smelled Evan’s desire for Yena the second he saw him. His wolf registered him immediately as a rival.

And anyone with eyes could see, in the way the young man got flushed and fidgety in her presence, that he was tormented by his feelings for her.

Nolan was on his best behavior through dinner. They ate and drank, and an ease began to settle into the room as Tina relaxed and let her guard down. This let Yena do the same.

Tina poured herself another glass of what she had decided was the best wine she had ever tasted in her life.

Evan came back as dessert was being served.

“Lovely of you to join us,” Nolan said, his tone neutral.

Evan took a seat beside his mother and said, “My apologies, My Lord.”

Nolan called for another bottle of wine for Tina. He told her to take it home as a gift. She beamed at him with drunk kind of love in her eyes.

He felt fairly confident he had succeeded in winning over the mother.

Evan was a different story. He was like a ticking time bomb.

He kept trying to verbally spar with Nolan, thinking that since the prince had been drinking, he might be able to get him to say something stupid or offensive in front of Yena.

But no matter what Evan said, the prince was magnanimous. He did not act defensive. Every word out of his mouth was gracious.

Evan felt like he was going to lose his mind.

It had been two weeks since Yena moved into the palace, and she’d lost ten pounds. Luna wanted her to lose more weight before the wedding, but Nolan would not allow her to keep forcing Yena to diet.

Nolan’s comments about the girl continuously surprised the queen. He acted differently where Yena was concerned. If she didn’t know better, she might have suspected he was falling in love with the girl.

Yena counted the gold ceiling tiles over her bed at night when she couldn’t sleep. Like counting sheep. It helped her keep her mind off of Nolan.

Only a little.

Her thoughts lingered on his acts of kindness.

Especially the way he had defended her to his mother.

“She’s perfect,” the prince had said.

No one had ever called her that before — perfect.

Lily’s voice came to her any time Nolan was around.

I already told you a long time ago that he loves you, she would say.

Yena had to admit that it did appear that way at times. The gifts. The things he said when other people were around.

She had to keep reminding herself of a cold, hard fact though.

He was different when it was just the two of them.

And he had told her the romance was not real. That he did not, would not ever love her.

Both felt true. Like he loved her, and also did not.

It didn’t make any sense.

It felt like any moment now, the floor was about to fall out from under her.