Page 34 of Acedia

The king clearly didn’t appreciate just how much Damen was doing. I would have to find a discreet way of letting him know how amazing his brother had been when I next got the chance.

We left the eerie silence of the library, Tilly’s claws clicking on the stone ground as we headed back through the corridors. It was slightly cooler here, with a faint breeze on my skin. Perhaps we were near a window? My fingers flexed a little on Damen’s arm at the sudden realization of how much I must trust him already. It had just been the two of us as he guided me around the palace, and I’d felt completely safe in his company the entire time.

“I think we’ll leave the garden for another day,” he said, more to himself than anything.

“We should probably head back—I’m sure I’ve interrupted your routine enough for the day.”

He fidgeted slightly, his thick upper arm brushing my shoulder. “Not really.”

“Is this your day off?”

“The schedule of a prince is an ever-changing one. No two days are the same.”

That made sense.

“Well, I appreciate you taking yet more time out of your day today to show me around. It’s been so helpful to get a better idea of how the palace is laid out and how busy it is.”

Honestly, just getting the words out was more challenging than I expected. Whenever I thought about how generous Damen was being with his time and attention, it almost brought me to tears.

He gave my arm a gentle squeeze. “I really didn’t have any other plans. This has been far more enjoyable than spending the day alone, I promise.”

I clearly didn’t know anything about royalty. In my mind, there was nospending the day alonefor princes. But maybe entourages and such were only a movie invention? Nana did say I had an overactive imagination.

“We can probably skip the next room,” Damen said. “It’s the nursery. The courtiers usually leave their offspring here while they… you know. Socialize. Do court stuff. Whatever.”

“Are we not allowed to visit the nursery?”

“I mean, we can if you want. Infant Shades aren’t exactly great conversationalists.”

“I don’t mind that.” I’d never really spent any time around young children—with the exception of my brothers, and I was only seven years older than them, so it had been a while.

“Okay…” Damen said slowly. “Would Tilly be okay waiting out here by herself? It might be difficult to keep all the little claws from grabbing her, and I’m sure she wouldn’t enjoy that.”

“No, not at all,” I agreed, touched that he was thinking of Tilly’s welfare. “Stay, Tilly. She’ll wait here, she’s very good.”

Damen opened the door, guiding me inside. Whatever the door was made out of, it had done an impressive job at keeping sound out. Immediately, we were greeted by shouting and laughter, as well as a few infant cries.

It was slightly overwhelming since I wasn’t accustomed to so much noise. At the same time, there was something almost comforting about it. Bright and cheerful andlively. So different from my quiet attic.

“Yara,” Damen said, speaking to what I assumed was one of the caregivers. “This is Iris. She just moved here. Are we able to visit awhile?”

“Oh, of course. Please, come in. The children love to meet the ex-Hunters—the queen comes to visit when she has time.”

“Let’s sit,” Damen said decisively, his grip tightening a little on my arm. “There are tripping hazards everywhere. Children are so stressful.”

I laughed. “Do you want any of your own?”

“Yes,” he replied, his voice slightly strangled as he guided us to sit. We were immediately surrounded by a small crowd of excited children, though I couldn’t tell whether they were excited about him or me.

The fact that the prince was in their nursery was obviously a special occasion, but I was more of a novelty from what I gathered. They all spoke very fast—and not always in English.

“I’m going to distract them for a minute,” Damen said. “Hold on.”

“What are you going to do?”

“A little magic show, of course.” He sounded so cheeky when he said it. I wished I could see his face, just for a moment.

I felt him leave my side and then there was lots of ooh-ing and aah-ing from excited children, interspersed by bursts of laughter. At one point, one of his shadows tickled under my chin, and I led the giggles as I squirmed away.

---