Page 53 of A Thieving Curse

“It’s unlikely, but if your brother found us…would you let him kill me? Maybe worse?” His irises glowed and his tail coiled tighter around his boot. “It sounded like he would rip my wings off my back if he knew I had you and was given the chance.”

Her heart twisted inside her chest. “Stop.”

“I don’t know if I blame him.” Alexander’s voice was so quiet, like he was talking more to himself than to her. “Should I have let you go? Should I have left you with them?” He clutched the sides of his head. “You would have married my cousin if that manticore hadn’t attacked. I never would have known. But Idoknow I can’t send you into what might be a trap, Ican’t…” He roared in frustration, but it was sad and lonely sounding. The pain in his voice echoed the pain she felt in her own heart after seeing Gareth.

“Alexander?”

He looked up, his eyes as wide as a frightened child’s.

“I don’t want to marry Tristan.” Even as she said it, it felt wrong. Like a betrayal of her family, her kingdom. But it was also the truth. “Not if everything you said is true.”

Varying emotions warred in his eyes, his expression unreadable.

“I don’t want to stay here, either,” she confessed. “But if I go back to my family, I’ll have to marry him. I’d have to call your uncle king and father while knowing what he did to you. I’d be required to give a murderer grandchildren while fearing he could turn on me any moment.”

Alexander’s eyes sparked like embers.

“If I stay here, the Carbreys will believe I’m dead. Hopefully you’re right, and they can’t break a treaty over a dead princess. It’s not my parents’ fault if I’m dead.” She hugged herself. “My father is smart and a good negotiator. He’ll convince K—” She stopped herself from calling him king. “Henry to keep the treaty, even without the marriage.”And I suppose I’ll have to figure out who I am without being a princess. Without the weight of an entire kingdom on my shoulders.

“What will you do if you stay?” His tail flicked behind him, no longer gripping his ankle. “I haven’t given this any long-term thought.”

Raelyn frowned. She hadn’t thought that far ahead, either. “I don’t know. Wait until Tristan is married to someone else and then go home? I guess I don’t need to decide tonight.” She shivered in the chilly air. “Can we go inside?”

“Oh, right, sorry. Dragon blood. I rarely get cold.”

“Then why the blazing fire in the dining cavern?”

He quirked a smile. “Dining cavern?”

“Well, it’s not exactly a traditional hall or room.”

“I like that. Dining cavern.” He nodded. “And I might not get cold, but I like the heat.” He headed toward the cave, and she walked beside him. “Raelyn.”

“Yes?” She looked at him sidelong, surprised he hadn’t called her Princess.

“Nothing. I just wanted to say your name. I like it. Raelyn.” He said it softly, as if savoring the sound. His tail swished behind him. “You said my name.”

She shrugged, trying to be nonchalant. “How else am I supposed to address you? You there? You said you wanted to be on a first-name basis, Alexander.”

He made an odd, low rumbling sound that wasn’t a growl. It was far too pleased. It sounded like…

She squinted, fighting a grin. “Did you just…purr?”

“What?” He stopped in the entrance of the cave, right at the edge of the moonlight. Even in the dim light, she could see his cheeks redden. “I’m not a puppy, and I’m not a cat, either.”

“You’re blushing.”

“I didn’t purr.”

“If you say so.”

“I do.” He growled slightly, but she laughed.

He turned and marched over to the side of the cave. His tail flicked as he reached down into the shadows and straightened with a torch in his hand, which he lit with his breath. “I donotpurr. That’s ridiculous.”

Raelyn pressed her lips together to keep from laughing again. “Of course.”

His irritation dissipated as he led her to her room. She pushed the door open to darkness. “I can get the fire going,” he said as he handed her the torch, leaving her standing by the doorway.

---