Page 30 of Trick

“You were pawing at Eliot.”

“Out of compassion.”

“Even if I’m wrong about you, which I’m betting against, I will not apologize for assuming. Eliot is too important, and everyone says you either ruin people or steal their virtue. If you’re not busy being a trickster, you’re busy being a trinket.”

To that, I could have made a dozen naughty responses. “Do they, now?” I quirked an eyebrow. “As long as I shine, that is fine.”

She grunted. To her credit, I hadn’t foreseen the princess defending herself with such raw vulnerability. She and Eliot must know one another well, which made him a chink in her armor.

I had one of those, too. To that end, I wouldn’t react any differently than she, if I suspected a stranger of taking advantage. I’d rip them to pieces without a second thought.

“What do you even feel toward the people you target?” she asked.

“A multitude of things,” I replied. “I don’t target randomly.”

“I’m after specifics.”

“I’m aware of that.”

“You seemed invested last night—with me.”

Truer words couldn’t be spoken. Yet I wagered that feeling had been mutual. “You’re easy to invest in, Princess. Though in the great hall, the guests weren’t laughingatyou. If you had taken my performance lightly, you might have bested me and earned a few admirers in the process.”

“I have no time for admirers.”

“Coming from a future monarch, that doesn’t sound like a wise strategy. Seems you failed to inherit your mother’s charms there, not to mention her ambitions.”

“I don’t care what these people think!” she snapped, her voice shaking like a leaf. “And I don’t care whatyouthink. I have nothing to be ashamed of. I am who I am. If that’s not enough, too bad.”

“For someone who doesn’t care what Spring thinks of her, that’s a rather thunderous response. So eager to rage.” I cocked my head and studied her. “Your eyes, how they shout at me.”

“The opinions of a jester are irrelevant, since I carry few expectations of their kind as it is.”

I paused for effect. “My, my. You superior brat.”

Her brows knitted. “Tell me. Do you have family?”

That was unanticipated. And unwelcome.

“I have no relations in this court,” I drew out cautiously.

“Well, since I’ve been judicious in asking first, I shall proceed to deduce the situation. You know what your problem is?”

My lips slanted. This should be interesting.

“You have no one,” she said.

My smirk dropped like a drawbridge.

“The courtiers go on and on about you,” she said. “For all your notoriety, they tell me you’re alone in this court. You have fans galore but no relatives. No one who matters. No one who needs you. What’s more, you have no principles. That’s a sorry combination.”

“Careful, sweet thorn,” I murmured, my words as polished as a set of blades. “Now you’re being cruel. I have a low tolerance threshold for that.”

The princess had the decency to look ashamed. Nonetheless, her repentance came far too late to pacify my tongue. If she wanted a moral rival, so be it.

I stalked forward. My mouth crooked at how long Briar resisted backing away, standing her ground until that became impossible. At last, she broke from her stance. Her heels and my boots scraped the ground until her ass bumped into an ivy-encrusted stone wall.

To be blunt, I closed the last inch of space between us, uninterested in acting cocky on this tourney field. I’d much rather look as pissed off as I felt.

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