Page 33 of The Crownless Prince

Her smile almost wavered atmy wife, but somehow, she kept her composure. “Excellent! Why don’t we fetch some warmer attire and then meet near the stables?”

Father glared at her, but she ignored him as she left the table, already headed to her room. She took her time putting on a warm pair of long woolen stockings, thick boots, mittens, and a fur-lined cloak with a hood, and dallied on the stairs. No reason to spend one moment more with her unwanted betrothed than necessary.

Unfortunately, Lucien had insisted on waiting for her, so Jairus, Lucien, and several servants were standing in the great hall when she arrived. She plastered on a smile, but when her gaze fell on Marcus, standing off to the side behind Lucien and holding a bow and quiver, her smile became real. She quickly snapped her attention back to Lucien before anyone could catch her looking at the wrong man.

“Shall we?” Lucien offered her his arm.

Clenching her teeth, Adriana wrapped her mittened hand around the crook of his elbow.

Jairus led the way as they crunched through the snow. Thankfully, the entrance to the castle was on the opposite side from her bedroom, so they went around the nearer end of the castle and didn’t pass by the trellis. They wound around the stone building that housed the stables, chicken coop, and goat pen. Other servants were already setting up two large targets made of straw-stuffed squares of hemp fabric painted with red circles.

While Jairus and Lucien debated distances and angles on the slight incline of the hill, Adriana fought to keep from glancing at Marcus. He stood with a middle-aged man she didn’t recognize, likely another of Lucien’s servants. But Marcus looked so handsome, it was difficult not to watch him from the corner of her eye.

He wore a simple, red tunic that didn’t reach his knees over woolen trousers. The tunic must have been borrowed, because the length seemed short even for a servant, and it pulled a little across his chest. His shoulders looked broad and strong beneath his gray cloak, and the belt only emphasized his lean but athletic build. He’d certainly kept up his physique despite being locked in a tower. Or perhaps keeping up his training was one of the few things he could do while incarcerated.

Although Marcus had done the top half of his hair with only one simple braid on each side of his head, they were still perfectly neat. A light breeze tousled the ends of his black hair, and she turned away before she got distracted by thoughts of running her fingers through that hair.

No, she needed to ignore him. If she were caught mooning over Marcus before they had a plan in place, any chance they had of being together would be lost.

“Acceptable?” Jairus said, finishing some discussion she hadn’t been listening to.

Lucien nodded. “After you, Your Highness.”

Jairus’s personal servant, Felix, rushed to hand Jairus his bow and an arrow. Then Felix stepped back, holding the quiver for her brother.

Jairus nocked his arrow and moved into position, adjusting hisfooting in the snow. In one swift motion, he raised and drew the bow, and in the space of a breath, loosed the arrow. The shaft arced through the air before landing in the center red circle, almost in the dead center of his target. Adriana grinned and clapped her hands, although it didn’t make much sound through her mittens.

“Outstanding, Prince Jairus.” Had she imagined a sharp edge to Lucien’s tone?

Felix offered another arrow. Soon, three arrows were clustered near the center of Jairus’s target.

“It’s truly a shame you couldn’t have joined us on the battlefield.” That time Adriana was certain she hadn’t imagined the mocking, irritated note to her betrothed’s words. “I suppose not all of us are fortunate enough to prove our worth and claim glory in battle.” The close-lipped smile he gave her brother had a condescending twist to it.

Adriana stifled a frown. A memory came back to her, of a warm spring day as she gleefully stroked a fluffy calf that was only twelve days old while the cowherd checked on its mother. The visit to the cattle had partly been a cover to see Marcus, and he’d been sitting beside her.

As Marcus had watched the cattle, he’d leaned back on his hands and said, “Isn’t life far more valuable than death? Those who quietly and passionately care for life, like that cowherd, have done something important. Aren’t they at least as worthy of praise as a knight whose claim to glory is how many lives he’s ended? If it is done in defense, to protect lives, I understand. It’s why I learned to fight at all. But why can’t my father see the value in nurturing life and peace instead ofcraving more power at the cost of bloodshed?”

Adriana didn’t think Marcus had any idea how attractive he was when he showed his soft heart.

She was certain that Lucien was oblivious to how completely unattractive she found his boasts of battle and death.

Marcus silently slipped forward and held forth the bow and an arrow. Lucien accepted them with scarcely a glance at Marcus, who bowed his head and shifted out of his lord’s way. It was unsettling to watch a man she had known as a prince be so subservient, but she didn’t see a hint of resentment or discomfort on his face. Marcus had never held his crown or his pride that dear—other than having a burden of caring for his subjects.

Lucien took a moment longer to aim than Jairus had, but his less flashy style had its merits. His arrow buried itself in the exact center of his target. A satisfied smirk flitted across his face before his features smoothed. Adriana forced herself to applaud.

“Your abilities truly weren’t exaggerated,” Jairus noted, his tone friendly.

As Lucien took another arrow from Marcus, he looked over at Adriana. “I assure you, my performance is always exemplary.” He winked at her before turning back to his target.

Was that meant to be flirting? It wasn’t particularly effective flirting. She wasn’t certain if he was boasting about his archery or his strength in general, or if it was supposed to be an innuendo. Her stomach churned. Hopefully he simply believed she’d swoon over his archery prowess.

Admittedly, his archery skills were impressive. Lucien’s arrows were grouped together more tightly than Jairus’s and closer to the center. Felix and Marcus jogged across the distance to retrieve the arrows. As they returned, Marcus’s gaze darted over to her for a moment, but his expression betrayed nothing.

Two more rounds of archery had much the same results—Jairus released quickly and landed his arrows in the center of the target, but Lucien’s arrows buried deeper and with even greater accuracy. Once he split the edge of one of his previous arrows, and his smug countenance made her want to roll her eyes, but she refrained.

After that, another servant brought out spears. Adriana pulled her hood tighter about her head and wrapped her arms around her middle, but she didn’t say that she was cold. As soon as they went inside, entertaining Lucien would fall on her, and she wanted to avoid that for as long as possible.

Both men threw the spears, landing equally accurate strikes. Marcus and Felix ran to collect the spears, Marcus moving quicker and yanking out the spear with ease.

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