Page 12 of Joined By Magic

“His Highness has requested your presence.”

The title sent a shiver through me. It felt wrong, unnatural. But the king had confirmed Leo’s royal status, and now the title was his forever.

I followed the servant through the twisty network of corridors that made up the Ataran palace. Light streamed in without the inconvenience of heat. The ceiling appeared open to the sky but was covered by a magical barrier. Atalie was right. It was beautiful here, if a bit disconcerting.

We reached a set of unmarked doors, and the servant knocked. I caught his eye and smiled, but he didn’t return the gesture. Propriety, or a snub? I had so much to learn. The doors swung open, and a figure at the other end of the room turned.

I froze as panic seized my limbs and stopped my breath.

The tall man wore clothing that shone in the flickering light of a log fire. The finely woven trousers and tunic were covered with a swirling pattern of silver stitching. Blue serpents twined through it, their eyes set with individual jewels that looked like chips of sparkling diamonds. A glittering cloak completed the look.

Adante had returned. It was a trap. The servant must be in his pay. I stumbled back a step and drew in a panicked gasp, ready to run.

“Liv? What’s wrong?” The man rushed forward, his familiar face creased with concern. I stared.

Leo. Of course. It was Leo, dressed up for the fancy lunch. I dragged in another shaky breath and took him in properly. How had I been so jumpy?

“Sorry. I wasn’t expecting you in that getup. You could have warned me.”

His face split from worry into the heart-stopping grin that always set my insides churning. “I wanted to surprise you. I didn’t expect to scare you.” He waved a hand at the servant. “Leave us.”

The servant bowed and exited, closing the door behind him. I blinked at Leo’s autocratic tone. He was never so offhand with the palace staff in Dexia. Still settling into his role here, same as me.

“What do you think? I feel ridiculous.” He lifted the edge of the cloak out like a shimmering wing and let it fall back.

“You look—” I struggled for the right words. Regal? Terrifying? Eerily beautiful? No. His head was big enough already. “You look like you fell headfirst into a vat of glitter. But it suits you.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Thanks . . . I think. You look beautiful.” He held out his hand and led me to a low divan. A bottle of wine sat open, and he poured us each a glass. “What happened? You looked like you wanted to bolt.”

I swirled the white wine in my glass before taking a sip. It was sweet. The deceptive, light stuff that could get me drunk in an hour. “For a moment, you looked like Adante. I thought it was a trap.”

Leo’s face fell into hard, angry lines, and he slid his hand onto my knee. “I’ll never let him near you again. The king already has his spy network searching for him, and there’s no way he can hide forever. We’ll catch him before he can think of coming back.”

I nodded and took another sip of my drink. The previous night, I’d awoken screaming, clutching my throat. I’d dreamed of poison, blinding pain, and lungs that wouldn’t work. And of Adante’s cold eyes as he watched me die. Leo had held me until I stopped shaking and drifted into a fitful sleep.

“I mean it. He’s on the run with nothing at his disposal. You’re safe.”

I forced a smile, not wanting to dwell. “How long do we have before lunch starts?”

“Just a few minutes. Getting fitted for this took an hour.”

I smiled at the disgust in his voice. It was hard to imagine Leo standing still for an hour, for any reason at all.

“So, what’s going to happen? Will I be seated with you or somewhere else? What if the king talks to me? What does he think my role is now?”

Leo held up a hand. “Enough questions. You’ll be seated with me. I insisted. I don’t know what the king will do. He’s a wily old bastard, and I don’t trust him at all.” He frowned and took a sip of wine. “Be careful and very polite. Don’t let him goad you into saying anything you shouldn’t.”

I nodded. Leo and the king had so far approached each other with stilted politeness, and Leo had resisted bringing up his mother. We’d spoken with Andrew, Leo’s adoptive dad, the previous night. He’d seemed shell-shocked—horrified by our news, but resigned to Leo’s sudden royal status. I pictured him sitting alone in his friendly, cluttered old mansion drinking his tea, and a wave of homesickness threatened to drown me. I wanted to be there, not in this strange foreign court.

But it was what it was.

I squeezed Leo’s hand. “Let’s do this. It’ll be nice to sit on a seat and not the floor.”

He flashed another brilliant smile, this one with a sharp edge. “I’m the crown prince now. You can hang naked from the chandelier if I like. In fact, that might be fun.”

I punched him in the arm, and his wine sloshed out of his glass onto the table. He flicked a hand. The liquid collected into a large droplet which fell back into his glass.

“Show-off.”

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