Chapter 27

YENA

I woke to my phone chiming and turned it over to see a reply from Susan.

Fine. Meet me in the library at 730.

That was it.

I blinked and rubbed my eyes. Nolan was already up, talking quietly on the phone and pacing in his walk-in closet.

I was wrapping myself in a towel after taking a hot shower, when he knocked softly on the door. I told him to come in.

The door swung open gently and Nolan stepped just over the threshold. He glanced at me and then looked down at the floor for a moment. When he looked up at me again, it seemed like he was making an extra effort to focus on my eyes.

“Hey,” he said. “Would you like to come have some breakfast with me?”

I said, “Oh,” and stalled, fumbling for a lie that would explain why I was suddenly busy at six in the morning.

“It’s okay,” he said, taking a half step back out the door. “Just thought I’d ask, since you were up early.”

“I’m just not hungry right now,” I said. It wasn’t a lie. My stomach had been twisting in knots since I saw Susan’s text.

He nodded and backed out the door, closing it softly behind him.

I probably could have refused him a little more nicely. But my mind was elsewhere.

It did, of course, occur to me that this could be a trap.

Susan could be baiting me to meet her at school where she’d be lying in wait with the girl gang, ready to stir the pot again.

But I had a feeling it was going to be okay. Just a gut instinct.

And I had to give this a try. If I didn’t, I’d always wonder whether we could have made peace between us, if only I had put in some effort.

It was still only a quarter to seven when we arrived in the parking lot. I sent the driver away and walked from campus back up the hill to a little bakery nearby.

Susan and I used to go there, back when we were friends. They had all kinds of pastries and treats, but we always went for their chocolate cupcakes. We’d pick them up on the way to the studio when we planned on working there all day together.

I got a single chocolate cupcake for Susan as a peace offering, and a hot cup of tea for myself. I watched the sun start to rise from the bakery window, bleeding orange up from the horizon, then started walking back down to campus when the bells in the clock tower started chiming, ringing out seven times to announce the hour.

NOLAN

The sun was rising, spilling orange and yellow light in from the high palace windows, as the prince started his morning fencing practice.

He was practicing with Leo, his friend’s son and talented athlete, who was the best opponent that Nolan had yet been able to find.

The prince was very skilled. He started taking fencing lessons at age six, and throughout his adolescence, engaged in various professional competitions. As with anything the prince set his mind to mastering, he put in countless hours of focused practice over the years. By the time he was fifteen, he became known as somewhat of a prodigy.

And though Nolan’s large frame made this seem unlikely, he was flexible and quick on his feet. He was smart, too, always able to manipulate his opponents with convincing second intentions, setting them up for well-planned attacks.

After ranking first in the highest national fencing competition for three years in a row, though, Nolan retired from the contests, finding them a boring waste of time.

Now he practiced just for the love of the sport. And for stress release. It was not easy to find someone to fence with, though, who could keep up with his pace, challenge him, and keep it interesting.

Leo was advancing as Nolan heard movement from the back of the room. Someone entered and politely waited beside the door.

Leo attacked and Nolan parried in defense. Then he lunged forward and began a counterattack, quickly besting Leo and scoring a point.

He turned around and pulled off his fencing mask. It was his secretary waiting at the door.

Behind the secretary, a maid rushed into the room with a glass of water. She handed it to him and then scurried away.

The man waited until the maid was out of sight again before he spoke.

“You had a call, My Lord, from the Secretary of State,” he reported.

That was odd.

Nolan kept his face neutral though and simply said, “Oh?”

His secretary continued. “Yes, it appears he would like to meet with you at your earliest convenience. I did ask what the meeting would be regarding, but the receptionist with whom I spoke was unable to provide that information.”

Nolan nodded. He drank his water down and handed the glass to the secretary, who took it and left the room.

Kerr. That was the Secretary of State’s name. Harlan Kerr.

Nolan had only met him in person once at a Parliamentary event. But he knew plenty about the man by reputation.

Kerr was a dissenter. In his youth he was known as an activist for fringe political causes. That was over a decade ago, though, and apparently all it took was one oath of fealty to the King to convince a majority of the population to vote him into an elected office.

But Nolan knew better than to trust a politician who had ever wavered in his loyalties.

He returned to his fencing practice and put Kerr out of his mind for the time being. He would deal with that invitation later.

For now he focused on fencing. It felt good to do something physical. He had to release some of the energy he had pent up inside.

His wolf had been raging against him lately.

Nolan could control it. He could keep it inside.

But it was painful and infuriating. This business with Adan had him on alert at all times. His instincts were always telling him he was in danger.

Nolan launched an aggressive attack on Leo and bested him again, this time causing his opponent to stumble backward and hit the floor.

He walked over to Leo and extended his arm to help him up.

“Nice move,” Leo said, pulling off his mask and smiling. “Great form, as always.”

The two men shook hands and said a brief goodbye, then Leo took his leave and Nolan headed back upstairs to ready himself for the day’s agenda.

YENA

As I entered the Arts Building, I noticed that they’d replaced my studio locker.

It stuck out from the others, brand new with a bright and shiny blue door that was clearly years younger than the other dull ones on either side of it.

I shook my head at it as I passed.

The smell of the dead rats came flooding back, vivid in my memory.

I still couldn’t believe even Caryn would stoop that low. I wondered if she made Susan catch and kill the rats herself.

I shuddered and tried to put that scene out of mind.

Stepping into the first-floor library, I glanced over at the reading room where Susan and I used to study. Those days were over.

It seemed surreal, remembering what my life used to be like before I met Nolan. Everything was so completely different now than just a month ago.

I caught my reflection in a window. The sunlight was hitting it just right, making it into a mirror.

I hardly recognized myself.

I’d lost some weight, and of course I’d also started dressing differently. I felt like I looked older, too. More mature.

It sort of felt like I was finally seeing my true self. The person I’d always been inside, but was afraid, before, to let shine through.

I sat and waited for Susan near the door, anxiously drumming my fingers on the tabletop.

It was 7:45 when I started wondering if I’d been stood up.

Just a minute later, though, I heard the door swing open and turned to see her walking in.