Page 21 of The Curse of a Kingdom
He dropped her hand. “I don’t believe you, and I won’t let you out of my sight.”
“Good, I already said I like that.” She continued down the aisle with a smile. Even though she didn’t know where to go, she assumed he’d follow.
He reached her in a few strides. “How old are you? Usually the crown doesn’t match members of the Society so quickly.”
“Twenty-five.”
He turned to her, raising a brow. “Devon is too young to be matched, especially with someone older than him.”
“Well, aren’t you pleasant?” she said between her teeth. “He hasn’t complained to anyone. He actually seemed quite pleased by the match.”
She would own up to the fact that her words were a cheap attempt to hurt him like he’d hurt her. In reality, she doubted Devon would have been pleased to be matched with her at all; their disdain for one another was quite mutual.
Arkimedes’s brows dipped as he studied her features. It was hard not to get caught up by the intensity of his emotions. Mistrust and jealousy.
Nava wondered if this would’ve been how their interaction would’ve gone if her mother hadn’t taken her away when they met eleven years ago. She found herself rubbing at the spot where their mark lay. “When you look at yourself in the mirror, do you see anything new? Maybe a scar that wasn’t there before?” She remembered the old stab wound he had received last year. “Maybe something more . . . ?” Like their soulmate mark.
She could just reveal right now what they were to one another. Show him her mark and explain it all. But then, what if he didn’t want her? He had told her a year ago that at first, he hadn’t wanted the soulmate bond, either. And this version of Arkimedes was from a decade prior to that.
He wouldn’t want her. Her breath burst out in a whoosh, and she struggled to keep her steps steady.
She couldn’t tell him they were soulmates—yet.
A loud crash broke the surrounding silence, followed by the sound of splashes over stone. Arkimedes’s arms wrapped around her and brought her behind him before she could blink. Her nose itched with the scent of pepper as his aura expanded around him.
“I’msosorry, sir. I didn’t mean to startle you. It slipped my hand.” A youthful voice came from the open room to their side. A young maid exited, holding both her hands in front of her. She wore a dress the color of tangerines, the fabric darker in areas where it had gotten wet. Her shaky hands pushed back strands of bright red hair behind her pointy ears.
“Leela.” Arkimedes nodded and stepped away from Nava. His face grew darker. “Listening to other people’s conversations won’t be tolerated. You won’t speak a word of what you just heard to anyone.”
Her face lost all color and her wide eyes came to Nava as she nodded. “Yes, Your Highness.”
Arkimedes strode off, and Nava followed, shaking with pent-up adrenaline. He didn’t trust her yet, but she got the idea that he trusted this kingdom much less.
CHAPTEREIGHT
NAVA
They walked in silence past Devon’s gold room and down long corridors that led them to the dining area. The castle was breathtaking, with decorated arches that faced the expanse of royal gardens, where her eyes lingered.
Her steps were heavy over stone, and the closer she got to where he was taking her, the larger the pit in her stomach grew.
“Is there any way I can skip this dinner?” She turned to Arkimedes the moment she realized the words had actually left her lips.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
She shrugged. “I’ve been hungrier before.”
Arkimedes’s lips tightened. “The king requested for you to join us tonight, as my guests.”
“He wants to monitor us because he doesn’t trust us.” She wrung her hands together, the bangle on her wrist pulsing against her skin. Even though the damn thing didn’t cancel her magic, it zapped her like a current that didn’t fully die off.
Arkimedes’s eyes flashed to her and then toward the room in front of them. “Yes, and neither do I,” he said after a moment, the words slowing her steps down to a stop.
“Fine. Though not sure I have done anything to deserve your mistrust.”
“If you can put a spell on me from a continent away, who’s to say Devon is not under one as well? He looks . . . different.” He was saying he didn’t trust her, but Nava got the impression he was battling with himself on this.
She could feel his interest grow as his gaze met hers; this was so different from the first time they’d gotten to know each other. A year ago, he had held back his emotions because he’d known she meant more.
