Chapter 22

We went back to our dining room together. My half-eaten meal had been cleared from the table and replaced with a fresh spread of food.

If Nolan wanted to talk, he wasn’t in a hurry. Or he wanted to be sure all the servants, now rushing around to pour us steaming cups of coffee and fill our plates with offerings, were out of the room before he reprimanded me.

Finally we were alone in the room and he said, “That was impressive back there.”

I relaxed immediately. “Really? You think I did the right thing?”

He took a big drink of his coffee, put the cup down then turned his body toward me. I put the forkful of pancake that I’d been about to eat back down on the plate.

He took my hand in his and gave me a little smile. “Really. It was brave and took a lot of character, and confidence.”

“I didn’t embarrass you?” I had an edge in my voice, like the question was sarcastic. But I realized I was actually starting to feel a little embarrassed about the outburst and hoping I hadn’t offended him.

“Not at all,” he said. “You were great. That was the most I’ve ever seen you act like royalty.”

Then he broke out into a full smile. It might’ve been the first time I’d seen that on him. It softened his whole face and made him so handsome, I felt a sudden rush of attraction to him.

I felt myself blushing and let go of his hand.

“Alright,” I said. “I’m glad you’re not mad.”

His smile faded a little and he turned back toward the table. “You shouldn’t be worried about making me mad,” he said, his voice falling back into its regular, more serious tone.

I went back to my pancakes.

The approval he was offering me felt better than I could have imagined it would. That, and the big, beautiful smile. Affection for him was rushing through me like a wave of heat.

I felt myself getting teary and tried to think of something to say to change the subject. I knew he didn’t like to see me cry.

“What are you up to today?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Parliamentary hearing. It will probably go on all day.”

I nodded.

“How is your project coming along?”

“It’s good,” I said. I tried to think of what else to tell him on this topic but wasn’t sure how much he was really interested.

I was also starting to realize, now that I wasn’t worried about Prince Nolan needing to admonish me for misbehaving, that my visitors had stirred up some unpleasant thoughts. I hated to admit it, but they’d struck a nerve.

The nobles weren’t the only ones with questions about my family. I had questions myself.

And most of the time I felt hopeless about ever finding any answers.

Nolan and I chatted a little about my classes and finished our coffee. Then I told him I actually wanted to go and do some work on the project. He gave me a quick nod and stood to leave with me.

Before we parted ways, he touched my hand again and gave me another smile. It was smaller but reminded me of the other one. Genuine.

I felt myself hoping he would kiss me, but he just squeezed my hand and winked at me before pacing off in the other direction.

I went to my studio and turned on all the lights. Pulled a few fabrics off my dummies and sat down at my sewing table.

I wasn’t making anything in particular. I just wanted to work.

My fingers crowded the throat plate under the needle, and one got nicked. It started to bleed. I sucked it clean then pinched it till the bleeding stopped, wrapped it in a little makeshift fabric bandage, and went back to work.

I didn’t let my mind wander after that. I just focused on guiding the fabric back and forth under the needle in the straightest line possible and zoned out to the tinker-tape rhythm of the machine.

NOLAN

Nolan returned to the palace late at night, exhausted. The moon had already risen in the sky. Just a sliver more and it would be full.

His mind was busy, and he went on autopilot as he walked his regular route through the big palace halls. A cold wind was howling outside. His hot breath fogged and trailed behind him as he walked at his usual quick pace.

Nolan was only eleven years old the last time he saw Adan.

Then, his half-brother was nineteen, rebellious, and resentful. Toward the end, it seemed like he found Nolan annoying on a good day, and intolerable otherwise.

After the death of Adan’s mother, the former Luna Queen, the King had of course remarried Nolan’s mother.

Adan was born the eldest prince.

And for many years, Nolan looked up to his big brother.

Adan was the one who showed him how to get into the secret passageways in the palace. He taught Nolan how to bow hunt. And he promised, once, that he would always take care of his little brother.

But then Adan started dating a human girl, of course to the great disappointment of their father, the King.

And then, one day, he was just gone. It all happened so fast.

At least, that is how it seemed to a little boy who was suddenly being told that he was now next in line to be King.

Ten years had passed since then.

Never once in those ten years did Adan send word back home. Let alone explain himself, apologize, or try to make amends for the mess he left behind when he abdicated the throne and abandoned his duty to his family.

And now, after a decade of misbegotten adventure, the abdicator wanted to come back and tear everything away from Nolan. After he gave up his own childhood to take Adan’s place as successor to the throne.

Nolan never asked for any of this. But he rose to the occasion.

His thoughts flickered to the photograph of Adan in the human tavern.

Both of them, murdered… That is what the tavern owner said.

The woman in the photo must have been Adan’s long-time girlfriend, the one he ran away with all those years ago.

There was no question Adan was alive and well now, here on Lycan soil.

But the woman. She could very well be dead. Murdered.

And if her loved ones believed Adan was killed alongside her… that meant there had been another body found with hers.

And if the humans thought that other body was Adan’s… that had to be a reason for that.

Adan was extremely intelligent.

Genius might have even been a better word. He was cunning and clever, even back when they were kids. It seemed like he could outsmart just about anyone.

If Adan had been identified as a murder victim in another country, it was not by mistake. Someone set it up to look that way.

Nolan reached the bedroom and flicked on a dim light.

Their bed was empty. He realized he had been looking forward to seeing Yena and was disappointed that she was not here, happening to step out of the shower as he arrived.

The princess had been staying up late working on her project most nights recently. Nolan headed down the hall toward her studio, hoping to convince her to come to bed.

They had not had sex since the last night of their honeymoon.

He let out a deep, involuntary sigh thinking about that night.

Every day, Yena was growing more beautiful. More confident. Sexier and more difficult to resist.

He thought about the feeling of grabbing a fistful of her thick hips.

Yellow light flooded out into the hall from the open parlor doors.

He walked into the bright room and found the princess asleep at her desk, with her head cradled in her arms. Drawings and scraps of fabric were scattered all over the desktop under her.

A partly constructed gown was hanging on one of the dressmaker’s dummies. It was sage green, soft to the touch, and hemmed with golden thread.

He stroked Yena’s hair and tucked a loose blonde curl behind her ear.

She snored lightly.

The drawings on the desk looked like a bunch of different versions of the green and gold dress. There were dozens of pages, all with multiple sketches and tons of notes. It looked like she thought up about a hundred different ways she could possibly finish this design.

Nolan swooped Yena up out of her chair and hooked one of her arms around his neck, cradling her. She did not wake up.

He hugged her close to his body. Her head rested comfortably against his chest.

He pulled a little chain to turn off a stained-glass lamp beside her desk and carried her down the palace hallway toward their bedroom.