Chapter 3 A Bond He Never Wanted

The prince’s question seemed to steal the air from the courtyard. Garrick’s hand tightened on the carriage door, while the guards suddenly found the gravel beneath their boots fascinating. I stood between them with my wrists bound, trying to understand why Kyron Duskryn was looking at me as though I had committed a crime.

“Your Highness,” Garrick began, “there must be some mistake. She’s wolfless. The scent is probably from one of the servants.”

Kyron stepped out of the carriage. He was taller than I’d expected, with dark hair falling carelessly across his forehead and a face that would have looked kinder without its expression. He approached until I had to tilt my head to meet his eyes.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“You already know it,” I said before I could stop myself.

His brows rose. Behind me, Garrick made a strangled sound. I braced for a slap, but Kyron’s mouth curved in something that wasn’t quite a smile.

“Then tell me anyway.”

“Zivelle Roswyn.”

At my surname, his expression changed. It lasted only a moment, but I saw it: recognition followed by alarm. He turned sharply toward Garrick.

“Why wasn’t her name mentioned in your report?”

“I sent everything the council requested.”

“You sent a description of a girl without a wolf. You omitted the name that mattered.”

Garrick swallowed. “I was trying to protect the kingdom.”

“From her?” Kyron looked back at me, his gaze dropping to the iron around my wrists. “Take those off.”

Neither guard moved. Garrick cleared his throat and explained that the restraints were necessary because I’d injured Luna Mirabel. Kyron listened without interrupting, then held out his hand. One guard hurriedly surrendered the key.

When the shackles fell away, blood rushed painfully into my fingers. A strange warmth stirred beneath my ribs, as though something inside me had been waiting for permission to breathe. Kyron caught my hand before I could hide the angry marks on my skin.

“Who put these on you?”

“Your guards,” I answered.

“On whose orders?”

I glanced toward Garrick. “Does it matter?”

Kyron released me. “It will.”

For an instant, I thought he might actually help me. Then he turned toward the carriage and spoke as casually as if ordering a meal.

“She’s coming with me. The council can examine her at the palace.”

My hope dissolved. “Examine me? I’m not an animal.”

He looked over his shoulder. “Then stop behaving like one that’s about to bite.”

I hated how easily he dismissed me. I hated even more that I had nowhere to go. Garrick had locked me in a cellar, the king had apparently ordered my death before I could walk, and the academy was still a distant promise written on a damaged piece of paper.

“I have a scholarship,” I told him. “To Eclipsia. I’m supposed to be there tomorrow.”

Kyron paused. “Who approved it?”

“I don’t know. The academy.”

“Show me.”

I hesitated before retrieving the folded letter from my dress. He read it beside the carriage lamp. His jaw tightened when he reached the final paragraph, and he turned the page toward Garrick.

“The scholarship carries the queen’s seal. Why?”

Garrick looked genuinely bewildered. “The queen has been dead for eleven years.”

Kyron folded the letter with careful hands. “Exactly.”

He ordered the guards away, then opened the carriage door for me. I climbed inside because he was watching and because running into the forest barefoot would have been foolish. Kyron followed, shutting us into a compartment that smelled of leather and cedar. The carriage lurched forward before I could gather enough courage to speak.

“Are you taking me to your father?” I asked.

“Not yet.”

“But you said the palace.”

“I said the council could examine you. I didn’t say when.”

I stared at him. “Do you always answer questions without answering them?”

“Only when the questions are irritating.”

Outside, Thornveil’s gates groaned open. Beyond them lay the road I’d dreamed of traveling for years. I should have felt relieved to leave, but the prince kept studying my face, and every glance made the warmth beneath my ribs pulse harder.

“What did you mean back there?” I finally asked. “When you mentioned my scent?”

His gaze slid to the window. “Forget it.”

“You said I smelled like your mate.”

“And I said forget it.”

Something in his voice warned me to stop. Instead, I leaned forward. “If there’s a bond between us, I deserve to know.”

Kyron laughed once, without humor. “A bond? You think the Moon Goddess would tie the heir to Veyloria to a servant who cannot even shift?”

The cruelty of it should not have surprised me. Still, heat climbed my throat. “I didn’t ask her to.”

“Good. Because I have no intention of accepting you.”

I turned toward the window so he wouldn’t see my eyes fill. Trees swept past in silver moonlight, their branches reaching across the road like grasping fingers. I counted them until the sting behind my eyes faded.

I remembered Nessa kneeling beside the cellar wall, trusting me with bread. If I reached Eclipsia, I would find a way to send for her. Perhaps I could learn enough healing to return for the children who slept hungry in Thornveil. The thought steadied me. Whatever Kyron believed about my worth, I had survived nineteen years without his approval. I could survive a carriage ride. But when I glanced at him, I caught him watching my reflection in the glass, his expression troubled rather than disgusted. For some reason, that frightened me more.

Then the horses screamed.

The carriage swerved violently, throwing me against Kyron. He caught my shoulders as something struck the roof with a tremendous crack. The driver shouted, followed by a sound that ended too abruptly. Kyron pushed me behind him and drew a blade from beneath his coat.

A voice came through the darkness outside, low and unmistakably pleased.

“Your Highness, step away from the Roswyn girl. The king wants her head.”