Page 4 of Bride of the Midnight Prince

“I told you I’d beat you,” she croons at Caspar.

I nod. “Time to go.”

She sighs as though I am asking a great deal to remove her from her kidnapper. She pops one more little cake into her mouth before I can stop her and hops to her feet. “Thank you, Caspar, for the lovely afternoon.”

He smiles, not moving because I keep my sword at his throat. “I’d offer again, but your brother might not approve.”

“You are not going near her,” I say coolly.

“Then don’t touch my city.” Caspar’s teeth flash in a smile. “I know the Nothril Court has been sending spies. I know you want to claim it as part of your Court.”

Thereis the reason for this kidnapping then. He’s making a statement to Lord and Lady Nothril—and the rulers of any other Court that tries to annex his city—that he isn’t to be trifled with.

I ease my sword away from Caspar. “I do not care who rules your city. You leave Pavi out of your threats, or I will personally ensure there is no city for anyone to rule.”

His eyes flash with anger, but beneath it is a tinge of fear he tries to bury. His posture may be casual, but the salty drift of his sweaty hands gave him away from the beginning. He wonders if he has miscalculated in the statement he made by stealing Pavi.

If he had laid a hand on her, that would have been a grave miscalculation. As it stands, he might just get away with his city’s continued independence.

It’ll all depend on Lord and Lady Nothril’s moods when I return home.

“Come, Pavi.” I sheathe one sword and place my empty hand between her shoulder blades, keeping my other armed and ready.

She gives one last wave at Caspar, and then surrenders to being rescued. Her wings are not deep blue like mine, but gleam like the moon in the last light of day as we leave the cliff and the Star City behind us, flying toward the Path that will take us home.

“How did he capture you?” I ask, once we’re on the Path. I’ll need to inspect our fortifications when we arrive back at the Nothril Court.

“He just knocked on my door and asked me if I wanted to visit the Star City and play Fool’s Circle with him. Of course, I said yes. You cannot imagine that I would turn down such an opportunity when Mama and Father keep us so confined at home!”Us—even though Pelarusa and I are hardly confined anywhere. Our third sister, recently bonded with another Court’s heir, almost never returns to Nothril these days. Only Pavi isconfined at home, and for good reason.

I restrain my groan. She justwentwith him? I’ve always known Pavi’s personality is not suited to the Nothril Court, but the older she gets and the more she refuses to conform to the expectations placed on her, the more certain I become that she will get herself killed.

Not by outside forces—but by Lord and Lady Nothril.

“If you must temporarily escape the Nothril Court, then do so with me or Pelarusa, not strangers.” I try to keep my irritation and fear out of my voice, but I don’t fully succeed. “We will ensure you won’t get caught.”

She isn’t satisfied, her little brow puckered, and her chin lifted in that characteristic stubbornness that always makes me anxious for her. Very early on, I ascertained what was expected of me, observed the consequences of failing to meet those expectations, and arranged my life accordingly. Pavi has no interest in doing the same.

“You wouldn’t want Caspar’s entrails to decorate the throne room, would you?” I ask darkly.

She turns such a look of disgusted horror up at me. “Why must you be somorbid?”

“That is what will happen,” I say, forcing home my point. “You know it as well as I do. If he had hurt you, every single Nothril warrior would have been sent to rip apart the Star City. All because you didn’t slam your door in his face and scream for your guards. Would your few hours of fun be worth it then?”

“I hate you,” she growls, and then spits as iron fills her mouth and my nose.

I wince, the stench so strong it pulses through my brain, almost blinding me with its intensity. “You are cruel to speak lies in my presence.”

“It’s the only vengeance I can have for you ruining my conscience and making me now feel guilty for enjoying even the smallest moment of fun.”

The smell of her lie fades from the air, and I take a deep inhale. I look down grimly at the top of her white head. There is only so much Pelarusa and I can do to protect her.

In the darkest, quietest parts of my heart, sometimes I wish I didn’t care about her so much. I wish her goodness and innocence were blackened like mine and Pelarusa’s. Maybe, if she was hardened like us, I wouldn’t feel the need to protect her. Maybe then, I wouldn’t feel this creeping sense of vulnerability that always follows me when she enters the picture.

An army of guards meets us at the grand iron gates leading into the palace set into the side of Nothril’s great cave. I hold up a hand and nod toward Pavi beside me. “She’s unharmed. Stay at your posts.” We pass them, the air turning damp the deeper we take the hallways into the cavern, and I say to Pavi, “Don’t say a word. I will speak for you.”

“You never let me talk,” she grumbles.

If she learned the art of politics and placation, I would. “Do you want Caspar to stay alive and keep his city?”

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