Page 5 of A Witch and Her Dragon
The king gives her a small smile. “What’s that?”
Alina bites her lip. The small gesture makes heat curl through me, and I tear my eyes away, focusing my energy on anything else besides looking at her. Suddenly, the paintings hanging on the king’s walls areexcessivelyinteresting. I start counting the clouds in a brush-stroked sky, the fluffy white sheep dotting the pasture.
One, two, three . . .
“I applied for Coven Crest Academy,” she says slowly. “And I got in.”
“Coven Crest? Is that so?” King Jorvick hums and sips his tea.
And Alina must notice something is off, because in my periphery—I’m still trying to count sheep—she narrows her blue eyes at him. “You... You already knew, didn’t you?” She drops the innocent-granddaughter act and huffs out an annoyed puff of air. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I should ask you the same question,” he says. “I thought you knew you could always come to me.”
Alina settles herself into an ornate chair before the fire and crosses her legs, her long skirts rustling.
I notice now that she’s not wearing shoes, only stockings. My gaze makes it from her toes to her ankle before I pull myself together and resume staring at the pastoral painting hanging directly across the room from me.
I’ve lost count of the sheep, so I start again.
“Well, I wasn’t sure how you’d take it,” Alina says. “And I thought if I got accepted, I’d have more sway over your decision.”
King Jorvick huffs out a laugh. “You’ve been paying attention during your persuasion lessons, it would seem.”
Alina’s light brown cheeks grow round as she smiles. “Always.” She plates a slice of cake and takes a bite. “So,” she says after swallowing, “can I go?”
King Jorvick lets out a long sigh. Then he looks at me.
And Alina’s gaze follows, a furrow forming in her brow, like she’s only just noticed me standing beside the door.
I’m drawn to look at her. And when her eyes meet mine, heat rolls from the base of my neck all the way down my spine. I clench my fists harder, digging my nails into my palms, seeking some point of focus so as not to become lost in the blue of her gaze.
“You may,” the king says. “On one condition.”
Alina’s focus snaps to him, and the break in eye contact allows me to draw a breath.
One of her brows arches in the corner. “The condition being?”
King Jorvick gestures to me with his glistening teacup. “Sir Raelan Ashvale is to accompany you.”
Chapter 3
Alina
“WHAT?” I SNAP. I CAN’T believe the words that just came out of my grandfather’s mouth. He wants to send me to the academy with a guard. Ababysitter. “You cannot be serious.”
Grandfather sips his tea, not bothered in the slightest by my outburst. “On the contrary, I’m perfectly serious. Raelan will accompany you, or you won’t attend.”
“B-but,” I splutter, “what about the other students? They’ll treat me like an outsider.”
As the princess, I’ve beenotherall my life. And somehow, I convinced myself that this could be different, that I could get lost in the halls of Coven Crest, burdened with books and projects like all the other students, and I could become one of them, even if only for a few short years.
But if a knight is to follow me through the halls, I’ll never fit in, will never come to know what it’s like to justbe. I’ll still be Princess Alina Ravenscroft, the king’sgranddaughter, this fragile and untouchable woman that others have to be careful around at all times. Like I’m living in a bubble, or a glass cage.
“At first, they might,” Grandfather says. “But in time, they’ll come to know you for you.” He moves to take a seat in the big crimson armchair across from mine, his blue eyes softening. “I’ve already had Mayleen assess the other first-year witches, and she’s selected three who will be appropriate roommates for you.”
Mayleen is one of my grandfather’s witches, a powerful seeress. How many other people in the castle know I applied to the academy? I was certain it was a secret, but I see now I was mistaken. As usual, Grandfather was ten steps ahead of me. That’s part of what makes him a great king.
“Those are my terms,” Grandfather says simply.
