Page 36 of Ties of Dust

“That’s…”

Flora’s voice came out hoarse, and she had to clear herthroat before trying again. He was just sonear. That commanding presence of his was having a strangely befuddling effect on her senses.

“That’s not necessary, Your Highness. I can tolerate gossip. It’s nothing new for me.”

“That may be,” said the prince, unyielding. “But I don’t intend to tolerate it on your behalf.”

“Please.” Flora was beginning to feel distressed. She regretted her outburst. “You’re going to have plenty to contend with. You don’t need to worry about me. I don’t expect consideration from the king, or from anyone else. It only bothered me because it was you, and I…”

She trailed off, feeling a traitorous flush. She was letting herself get flustered and saying too much. The prince didn’t need to hear how comfortable she’d felt with him during their journey. He didn’t need to hear that she’d felt dangerously as though she could trust him. Lord Armand was right—she was becoming too informal.

“And you what?” Prince Cassius prompted.

Was it her imagination that he’d somehow shifted even closer?

“I value your good opinion,” Flora said, speaking more evenly. “A guard can’t fulfill his duty without the trust of his charge.”

“I think you meanherduty,” the prince said, with the hint of a smile.

It was an inconveniently appealing expression on him.

“If you value my opinion, I’m honored,” he went on. “It’s high praise from someone who claims that the opinions of others shouldn’t have the power to damage her pride in herself.”

Flora blinked at him, too astonished that he’d remembered and quoted her words to think of a response. Shedidn’t have time to respond anyway, as a sharp rap at the door caused her to jump backward, feeling guilty.

“Enter.”

Prince Cassius didn’t seem to be similarly discomposed. He raised an eyebrow, apparently amused at her momentary panic, before turning to face the man who was now framed in the doorway.

“Ah yes, thank you for attending,” he said, speaking more warmly to the physician than Flora had heard him speak to anyone else at the castle.

“What trouble have you gotten yourself into this time, Your Highness?” The man spoke with a fatherly air that set Flora at ease. “I thought you’d outgrown your tendency to mischief.”

The prince grinned boyishly. “Almost. I wasn’t doing anything reckless on this occasion. I was merely shot with an arrow.”

“Indeed?” the physician said politely. “Merely that, was it?”

Prince Cassius’s grin broadened as he allowed himself to be waved onto an armchair. The physician put down a bag on a nearby table and rummaged through it. He cast an eye in Flora’s direction, his gaze lingering on her bandage.

“And who is this young lady? Another patient for me?”

“I’m afraid so,” the prince said. “Flora is a temporary addition to my personal guard, and she also ran afoul of an arrow during the same incident.”

The physician clucked his tongue. “Ah well, you young people will be taking risks.”

Flora met Prince Cassius’s eyes, finding it suddenly difficult to keep a straight face. The prince wasn’teven trying.

“We can’t help ourselves, you know,” he told the physician. “We become too bored with the ways of our elders.”

The older man chuckled as he examined Prince Cassius’s wound. “This is nothing drastic,” he informed the prince. “I’ll just re-dress it, and as long as you keep it clean and rest it for the next week or two, I don’t anticipate any problems.”

“Thank you,” Prince Cassius told him. “Now I just need to prevent my mother from hearing about it, and all will be well.”

“Ah.” The physician paused in the act of winding a clean bandage around the wound. “Her Majesty is aware. I was on my way to attend her when I received your message. It was necessary for me to send an errand boy to inform her of the reason for my delay.”

Prince Cassius let out a low, pained groan. “That’s unfortunate. But I suppose she was bound to hear about it sooner or later.”

“You oughtn’t to keep secrets from your mother, Your Highness,” said the physician, the scolding tone just what he might use if the prince had been a young boy. “No good will come of it.”

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