Page 15 of Falling Princess

“It’s good to see the little princesses again,” he boomed. Bash’s baritone voice echoed off the walls and ceiling. I smiled. By comparison, we are, indeed, little. Raina’s head barely reached the center of Bashir’s chest. “Raina. How have you been since last we met?”

“Very well, thank you.” I did not miss the way Lorcan moved to follow her as Raina and Bashir fell into step, then hesitated, glanced at me, and waited. I lifted my chin and swept past him, my boots scuffing softly on the stone floors. Some guard, following his girlfriend on instinct like that.

Our belongings were loaded into small wagons on metal rails, like trains, only smaller. They were pulled by Folk I didn’t recognize, hulking shadows in the darkness ahead. We walked two abreast or single-file, with Keryn and Cata in the front, me behind, then Lorcan and Raina, with Bashir and Kenton bringing up the rear.

Sunlight at the end of the tunnel was accompanied by a salt-scented, cool breeze and the cries of gulls. We halted at the opening and took our leave of Keryn and her tribe, then picked our way down the narrow, steep pathway. The sun listed westward; we missed the noonday meal during our journey beneath the mountain. My stomach growled, audibly.

The plane held nine seats for six people, plus one flight attendant. I chose one next to the window and placed my bag on the seat beside me. Cata took the one in the very front.

Lorcan was next to board, followed by Raina. I frowned slightly at him as he came up the narrow aisle. He dropped his gaze, and then his butt, into the first chair available, on the opposite side of the aircraft. Good.

I still don’t like him, even if we are yoked together.

Raina’s violet eyes meet mine. I saw the beat of hesitation. We haven’t corresponded since Beijing. Either of us could have written a letter, but neither of us did, which left the tensions around our abortive clubbing mission unresolved.

I moved my bag into my lap and patted the cream leather next to me. Raina glanced uncertainly at Lorcan, then me. She chose me.

I felt a certain satisfaction. Raina ismyfriend. I’m keeping her.

“Are you excited for this year?” I asked Raina neutrally.

“Yes. Royals U has a good pre-med program. Many of its graduates go on to prestigious medical schools.” Raina’s cautious optimism is an opening bid for friendliness, the same way my unspoken offer to sit next to me was.

“I almost didn’t get to go. My father has decided on my classes for me. Your boyfriend’s too, as he will be attending with me.” I kept my tone carefully neutral, trying to convey information without sounding as though I blamed her for what happened in Beijing. I didn’t bomb that club, and neither did she—not that you’d know it from the way Cata and my father have treated me lately.

“I’m sorry I told Lorcan where we were going. I didn’t think it was safe, and I ended up being right.”

“Do you really think the Skía followed us all the way to China?” I watched the landscape drop out from beneath us as we took flight. Pontoon boats are frighteningly small in the face of an active volcano and vast sea. This is hardly my first journey, but it still reminded me of how fragile humans are, for all our technology. “It seems so unlikely to me. We’re a small country. They’re a tiny fraction of our population. Even if they were well-funded, which we know they aren’t, otherwise they wouldn’t be conspiring with destitute pirates, would they?”

A reprisal of my conversation with Kenton.

Raina shrugged. “I don’t know what to think. It could be a coincidence. But Lorcan got us out of harm’s way, didn’t he? That’s what matters.”

So eager to defend her one true love.

A memory of the man’s body falling through the window backward, onto the sidewalk, flashed through my mind. The dark, slick pool of blood on the pavement beside his ear, reflecting streetlights from above.

It could’ve been me. Or Raina. Or Lorcan, if I’d kept stubbornly resisting his efforts to get me out of the club. I’ve thought about that person falling more often than I like to admit.

To his credit, Lorcan was calm and collected, even when Raina broke down in the car back to the hotel. She cries easily. Iwasunnerved, but I’ve been trained not to display emotion.

So has Lorcan, apparently. Either that, or he’s as stone-hearted as he is stone-faced.

I lifted one shoulder and let it fall. “I suppose he did,” I replied, grudgingly.

“All right, listen up.” Cata clapped her hands twice. All eyes turned to her where she stood at the front of the plane, facing the rear, tall, athletically built, stern and strong. Tendrils of silver hair escaped from the knot she had corralled it in, to dangle around her ears. The soft curls were at odds with the severity of the rest of her appearance. “Here’s how things are going to work once we get to Scotland. Your dormitory has six bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, and a living area. If you’re imagining it will look like the royal apartments at Castle Auralia or River Bend, you need to temper your expectations. The rooms are small.”

Raina’s pale brow pleated. “Are there decent closets?” She’s a bit of a clotheshorse. She brought twice as many bags as I did.

“The entire room is about the size of a guard’s chamber back home.” Cata fought a smile. It’s subtle, but I’ve spent most of my life watching her expressions, and I know when she’s amused.

Kenton groaned. “Damn. That’s pathetic.”

“You can always turn around and go back to Nansier,” she reminded him.

“I’ll deal.” He slouched in his seat, sullenly pretty in his pout.

“Am I going to fit?” Bashir piped up. We all laughed.

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