Page 79 of The Arrow and the Alder

“Basrain, Abecka, and Tyrin.”

His expression communicated what his words did not: they wanted to discuss the coat.

“Give me a moment,” she said, then added, “I just need to grab my boots.” She retreated into her room but left her door open.

To her surprise, Alder followed her inside.

Seph grabbed her boots and sat down on the end of her bed to put them on. All the while, she triednotto pay attention to how he moved through her room with the grace of a wildcat or how his fingertips lightly danced upon every surface, as though he needed to channel the overabundance of his power in this physical way. She tried not to let her gaze linger on the broad set of his shoulders as he stopped before her window and gazed out of it, and she definitely didnotlet her gaze follow the slope of his broad shoulders as it narrowed down his backside.

Alder whistled through his teeth, and for one split, mortifying second, Seph thought her own mouth had betrayed her.

“Someone wants to make a good impression,” Alder murmured, eyeing the courtyard beyond her window.

Seph cleared her throat. “Did you not get a view of the courtyard, Prince Alder?”

“I didn’t get a window.”

Seph laughed.

He set his eyes upon her, and one edge of his lips curled.

That winged creature took to wreaking havoc in her chest again, so she turned her attention back to her boot while he continued stalking about her room.

“Aren’t these the lock picks that were lying on the table with those rings you couldn’t keep your hands off of…?” Alder held up the lock picks like collateral.

“Perhaps,” Seph said noncommittally, and she resumed tying her boot.

The Weald Prince chuckled. “Why did you take them?” He sounded genuinely intrigued.

“Habit.”

“You are in the habit of breaking into other people’s rooms?”

“I am in the habit of not trusting other people, and I didn’t want to get locked inmine.”

“Fair enough.” He set down the lock picks with a decided and satisfyingclick. “Though I doubt these will do much against enchantments.”

“Yes, and I suppose you didn’t think a ladle would do very much against a prison.”

Her words were a slap to his face, but she did not apologize for them. Just because she’d agreed to set her feelings aside for a few days, it didn’t mean she also had to pretend he hadn’t used Rys abominably.

“Also fair,” Alder said after a moment, his voice quiet, then, “Was it Rys who taught you?”

Seph finished lacing up her first boot and moved to the second. “My nani,” she answered at last.

“I’m beginning to wonder if there’s anything your nani couldn’t do.”

Seph thought of her nani and she couldn’t stop the small grin that touched her lips. “She used to say that one should always have a way out, even if it included a locked door. She also said that while we mortals don’t haveeloitlike you kith, being underestimated is its own sort ofeloit. She might’ve been a little unconventional, but then I imagine you’d have to be in order to fall in love with a kith prince…”

Seph stood abruptly and caught Alder studying her with an expression she couldn’t read.

He promptly looked to the door. “Ready?”

Seph followed Alder through the labyrinthine halls, where they passed portraits and tapestries depicting the world before, where color reigned and light burned the shadows away.

“Was your kingdom truly like this?” Seph asked, slowing before one such tapestry. A brilliant sun hovered over a terrestrial paradise, its wide golden rays like ribbons, touching every mountain peak, spanning every plane, and reaching into the dark depths. It was a wonder, where all manner of creatures lived in harmony—many Seph had never seen before. Bears swam with the fish; a lion curled beside a doe. Tiny winged people slumbered within a rainbow of open blooms and gauzy greens, and waterfalls frothed over mountaintops.

Alder stopped beside her. She’d expected him to say something smart, but when she stole a glance at him, his expression was somber as he studied the tapestry. “Not in my lifetime,” he said after a moment. “I have heard of such an age of peace, but it was a distant memory by the time I entered this world.”

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