Felix offered Amara a slight shrug and another small grin as he accompanied the king out of the room.

“Father?” Dastan said quietly when all had fallen silent in the hall.

“It seems I have a great deal to think about,” the emperor replied.

Yes, Amara thought. You certainly do.

• • •

Later that evening, Amara wandered the hallways, feeling too energetic to retire to her chambers for the night. She couldn’t stop thinking about the way the king had taken full command of that meeting. She’d wondered why he’d been so foolish to come here, thinking it was a mistake for anyone to try to confront her father.

She’d forgotten King Gaius’s reputation.

He was ruthless, power hungry, and now claimed his mother had been a witch.

Fascinating.

Her reverie was broken when she bumped into Felix.

“Stop,” she said.

“Stopping,” he replied, then gestured at the doorway beside him. “Luckily, this is my room anyway.”

“I know you didn’t grow up in a palace, but you should at least know that it’s not very smart or polite to wink at a princess, especially during a formal event,” she said.

“Well, I’ve never been accused of being smart or polite before.”

She regarded him for a silent moment. He was tall, and she liked the broadness of his shoulders. And despite the fact that he kept tugging at his collar, she also liked the way he filled out his fine tailored clothing.

“Your nose is crooked,” she said.

He touched it, then frowned. “It’s been broken a few times. Frankly, I’m lucky to still have a nose.”

“It’s quite ugly.”

“Um . . .”

“I like it.”

“Thanks?” He cleared his throat. “Is there something I can do for you, princess?”

“Actually, yes.”

“And what’s that?”

“You can take me to your bed.”

Felix blinked. “I’m not sure I heard you correctly.”

“You heard me just fine. After a day of being ignored while two powerful, ruthless men discuss politics and magic, I’m in need of a little attention.” She slid her hands up his chest and to the nape of his neck, then pulled him closer and kissed him.

He didn’t resist.

She smiled against his lips. “One night. That’s all I want from you.”

He pushed open the door to his room with his elbow and gave her a wicked grin. “It would be my pleasure, princess.”

CHAPTER 16

CLEO

LIMEROS

Let me try to understand this,” Nic said to Cleo. He was with her in her chambers while Nerissa helped her with her hair. “Jonas Agallon storms into the palace grounds, holds a sword to the prince’s throat, at which time Magnus learns you’ve been lying about working with Jonas for months, and, instead of killing you both, he’s decided to give you your kingdom back?”

Cleo looked up at Nic’s reflection in her mirror. “It does sound rather difficult to believe when the story’s put like that. Do you think he’s lying?”

“Apologies, but did you just ask me if I think Prince Magnus, the King of Blood’s son and the brother of a power-crazed sorceress, would lie to the former princess of Auranos? Are you being serious right now?”

Nic’s smugness had a way of annoying Cleo to no end—especially because he was often right to be smug and suspicious. And right now, she wanted to hold on to the belief that Magnus was being sincere. After all, if Magnus did want his father dead, he’d need Jonas’s help to carry that through. And if he cared only for Limeros, and didn’t want the trouble that came with controlling all three kingdoms, then all of this really did make sense.

Luckily, Nic wasn’t the only person whose opinion she trusted.

It was so wonderful to have Nerissa, the pretty girl with short dark hair and more wisdom in her eyes than any eighteen-year-old she’d ever seen, back with her. For the seemingly small favor of bringing Nerissa up north from Auranos, Cleo was grateful to Magnus without reservation. He could have easily denied her request.

Not that Cleo would have accepted that response as final.

Cleo grasped the girl’s hand. “Nerissa, what do you think?”

Nerissa placed an opal-handled hairbrush down on the vanity table and looked back at Cleo’s reflection. “You say you’ve already agreed to go along with this new plan,” she said, “so I think you should stay true to that agreement. At this stage in the prince’s scheme, there’s very little to do with you, and much more to do with Jonas. Nothing has really changed, it seems. Except, perhaps, your ongoing question of whether the prince is capable of being honest about his true agenda.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Cleo said.

“You said he’s forgiven you for conspiring with Jonas.”

“He says he understands why I did what I did.”

Nic let out an exasperated groan. “How have you two not figured this out yet? If the prince’s mouth is moving, he’s lying.”

Cleo’s eyes flashed with frustration. “And what if he isn’t lying this time? We just give up the first chance we’ve had in months to reclaim our kingdom?”

“But what if he is, once again, misleading you? Cleo, damn it,” he swore under his breath, “I can’t lose you, too. Got it?” His tone was fierce, but his eyes had grown glossy. He rubbed at them and turned away from her. “I need some air, even if it might turn my lungs to ice.”

He left the room, and Cleo rose to her feet to go after him.

“Let him clear his head,” Nerissa said, placing her hand on the princess’s shoulder. “It’ll give you the time to do the same.”

“Nerissa . . . I don’t know what to believe anymore. Everything used to be so clear and now . . . I’m just so confused.” Her voice caught. “I haven’t even had a chance to speak to Jonas privately.”

Magnus had put the rebel and his friends up somewhere on the far side of the castle, but Cleo didn’t know exactly where. And the prince made it clear he wasn’t going to tell her.

“Yes, of course you need to talk to him,” Nerissa said. “But first you need to talk to the prince. If you peel back the layers of animosity and suspicion and . . . confusion you feel, perhaps your sense of clarity isn’t as marred as you think it is.”

The thought of talking to Magnus after all that had unfolded in the throne room sent a shiver running through her.

No. She wouldn’t allow herself to fear him. Hate him? Loathe him? Distrust him? Yes. But never fear. She’d decided that long ago.

Still, Cleo shook her head. “It’s the Limerian day of silence. I wouldn’t even know where to find him.” Cleo had never experienced a single day of silence at the Auranian palace, and to witness such quiet in a place as stark as this northern castle was about as jarring as she could imagine.

“This day of worship will only make it much easier to find and speak to him in peace,” Nerissa reasoned. “Everyone in Limeros has gathered in the temples and village centers to worship their goddess. And I happen to know exactly where the prince has gone to do his worshipping.”