Page 42 of A Thieving Curse

When she awoke, the fire had burned down to weak embers. Her upper arms felt tender.The bruises from the minotaur,she remembered with a wince.

After lying still for a few minutes, she felt her way to the table and found the flint and candle. Just as the wick caught, someone knocked. She snatched up the candle and rushed to answer the door.

The dragon prince looked down at her. The flame of the candle reflected in his red eyes, but they seemed less intimidating than before. “Your brother sustained a minor injury,” he said without preamble, “but your family is alive.”

She sagged against the edge of the door, relief flooding her. “You saw them? Where? Are they still on the pass?”

The prince frowned. He looked down at his boots, and she caught herself staring at his twisting black horns. His shoulders tensed. The muscles in his temple pulsed as he clenched and unclenched his jaw. He glanced at her, then quickly looked away. “They’re still in the mountains. Looking for you.”

They’re…still looking? They could find me?She stumbled away from the prince.What will he do if they locate us?

“They aren’t close,” he added quietly, as if reading her mind. “And there’s no trail for them to follow. I flew you here.”

Raelyn backed into the room, taking deep breaths. Her family was searching for her? Delaying their progress with the Carbreys waiting?

“How do you know my brother is hurt?” she asked, her throat tight.

He shuffled his feet. “Because I saw him having a heated argument with your father about whether to keep looking for you.”

She set down the candle and leaned against the table, emotion squeezing her lungs.Of course Gareth wouldn’t give up.“Who won?” She knew the answer in her heart.

His wings rustled. “Your father agreed to search for one more day. Then they will go to the Rethali palace to break the news that…you’re dead.”

A sob that sounded like a quaking whimper lodged in her throat. She had known if her family were alive, they would have to assume her dead and move on sooner or later. But it felt so final. Like nails driven into her own coffin, even though she was very much alive. She focused on forcing air in and out of her lungs.They’re alive. That’s what matters.

“Do you want your breakfast in your room?” His unwelcome voice faltered.

“I’m not hungry,” she muttered. She couldn’t think about eating. She could hardly think at all.

After a few moments, he murmured, “I’m sorry.” The door closed.

Raelyn fell into the chair and wrapped her arms around herself. She wanted to rejoice, but she just felt hollow and lonely.

The candle sputtered, throwing up soot. She blew it out and crawled back into bed, too numb to do anything else. Three days. They’d been looking for three days. She clenched the blanket in her fists.Because they want to find me? Or because they need to for the sake of the treaty?She knew her parents loved her, but they prioritized Eynlae and their duty over their children. That’s what rulers did.Not Gareth, though.Gareth would look for her because he loved her, treaty be damned.

She rolled over, careful of the bruises on her arms, and thought about the prince’s odd behavior when he told her what he’d found. How he wouldn’t look at her and was slow to answer.I think he wanted to lie.She wasn’t sure what it meant that he didn’t, when he had to realize she’d resent him for keeping her stranded while her family had been searching for her.

Raelyn understood the prince’s anger over what had happened to him. He had been terribly wronged. His cousin marrying the girl promised to him did seem perverse and unjust, and he certainly believed he was protecting her from a real monster. Maybe he was. But it was also unfair to her to keep her from her family. His life had been stolen by a curse. That didn’t give him the right to steal her life, too.

Was that the way the world worked? Righting one wrong created another? Or was it a cycle of injustice—the injustice done against Alexander created the injustice done against her?

Troubled and weary, she dozed off and on. Finally, hunger prompted her to brave the darkness of the rest of the cave. She wasn’t certain what time it was, or where she could find anyone, but she knew how to get to the dining room—or dining cavern. So she lifted her candle and headed that way.

Soon, a dim orange glow from the cavern’s archway confirmed her direction. As she got closer, voices echoed from inside. Perhaps it was mealtime. But breakfast or dinner? The dragon prince and his friends were talking and eating, their faces illuminated by the candles on the table. Raelyn paused in the entrance, unsure if she should walk in uninvited, but her hunger drove her forward.

The prince spotted her and stopped mid-sentence. He froze with his hand halfway to his goblet. The others looked at him, then turned toward her. Lucas stared for a moment, then turned back to his food. With a stab of guilt, Raelyn remembered that last time she’d seen him, she’d yelled at him. Jasper watched her with narrowed eyes, and the prince appeared halfway between shocked and panicked. Tension crackled in the air.

Maybe she should have stayed in her room.

15

RAELYN PUSHED DOWN her discomfort and walked toward the table. She needed to at least do one thing, even if she wasn’t welcome to dine with them.

“Lucas?” Her cheeks burned. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you. Actually… I should have listened to you.”

Lucas looked up. His lips pulled to the side, uncertainty on his face, but then he smiled, which Raelyn hadn’t expected. “I forgive you. At least you don’t make me smell like smoke when you lose your temper and shout at me.”

“Um. Thank you.” She turned to the empty chair on the end but hesitated, unsure how to ask if she could join them.

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