Page 39 of The Curse of a Kingdom
Her heart slowed down, and her body prickled all over.No.
Grabbing the silk cover of her bed, Nava pulled it harshly. The fabric tensed under her fingers as a profanity left her lips. She would not kidnap him liketheyhad done. Nava had to battle those dark thoughts every day.
Nava just needed a few minutes alone with Devon to figure out how the damn jewelry worked. She had been trying to remove it for days with magic and other small objects in the room, to no avail.
A knock on the door had her jolting in her spot. Leela came in, holding a tray with food. The scent of eggs and bread wafted through the air, along with black tea. The fae put the tray on the bed's foot and rushed to the doors of the terrace to open them wide, the way Nava liked to keep them.
“Good news today. His Royal Highness has requested for you to join him for lunch.” Leela was practically shaking with excitement, her face blushing as she walked back, filling the ornate porcelain cup with steaming tea.
“Really? No outing to the forest today?” Nava wrapped her silk robe around her body, hoping her question would get her more answers than she had gotten from Arkimedes yesterday. Her leaving him outside the afternoon before had struck a nerve, she was sure of it, and was likely the main reason he’d set this little lunch date. It might be the perfect time to try to get him to bring her along or maybe slip some information that he could use to help Ari.
“I guess not. Aren’t you excited?”
She was and wanted to wear something other than blue to celebrate the occasion. Didn’t these people like variety? Judging by the orange dress Leela wore every day, Nava got the impression they had designated colors.
“Would we be alone?” She tried to sound casual, but the shake in her voice gave away her nerves. She picked a light blue day dress with embroidered silver flowers down the bodice. It draped down wider than the ones she’d been wearing lately, in layers of distinct tones of blue.
“That one is gorgeous. He won’t be able to take his eyes off you,” the young fae gushed, rushing to take it out of Nava’s hands. “Neither of them will.”
Oh, so Devon was joining them as well. The pleasant warmth that had been running through her body dimmed. She had wanted to see Devon, to plot if he had any ideas on how to get out of this mess.
He couldn’t plot against her since Arkimedes’s life and hers were so intertwined. The life debt would demand he didn’t act in any way that would harm them while the bond was latent. That didn’t mean she trusted him one bit near her soulmate.
“Where are we eating?”
“Out in the garden—very romantic.”
Leela needed to find another hobby that wasn’t gushing about Nava’s love life, because whatever she was imagining was happening wasn’t the case.
By the time she was ready, Nava’s brown wavy hair lay past the middle of her back, not half as frizzy as it usually was.
“Leela, your matchmaking skills are really something to behold.” Nava shook her head with a smile.
“I apologize for my enthusiasm, my lady. I know they betrothed you to another, but my romantic heart is just— When you two were bickering in the hall that night . . .” She sighed, and Nava’s smile grew. “This is the most exciting thing I have seen in the last ten years. Other than this, I only get to clean cobwebs and dust curtains.”
“Oh, yes, that sounds dull. At least it’s a beautiful castle. Also, there must be gossip that doesn’t involve the royals.”
“Yes, my lady, but this is so much more exciting.” The fae’s fingers retreated from Nava’s hair with the soft knock on the door. She beamed down at Nava and scurried toward the door with light feet. “The guard is here to escort you to the garden, my lady.”
“I’m not your lady, it’s just Nava.”
Leela nodded and cracked open the door, revealing the looming shape of her mate. Arkimedes rested against the doorframe, his brow lifting as a rebellious strand of hair fell over his forehead. Nava heard a gasp to her left and could only imagine the young fae’s face right now.
With the silence that descended, she battled the need to fidget.
“Your Highness.” Leela bowed from inside the room, and Nava remembered where she was and who this was supposed to be. Not her rugged soulmate from the forest or the Crow chasing her across an ocean. This was a prince.
She curtsied. “Your Highness.”
“Orion,” he offered with a secret smile.
Her cheeks warmed at the sight of it. “I like your other name better.”
He shook his head and allowed her space to exit the room. Today it was warmer, and within the humidity in the air, Nava could still scent a trace of smoke.
“I didn’t expect you to escort me,” she said, bringing her hands down the skirt of her dress, straightening nonexisting wrinkles. “Sir,” she added for good measure.
“I was on my way there.” His eyes grew darker, and he pushed both hands inside the pockets of his ebony tunic. While the words said something, his inner emotions were a lot more complex. He was excited to see her. Waves of warmth and bubbling nerves pushed through their bond.
