Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

“ I t’s all going according to plan,” I announced later to the rebels. “Haven Harbor is holding council about the proposal Prince Korth submitted to send two ships with a regiment each to aid my father.” Wicked, conspiratorial smiles were exchanged among those gathered. I couldn’t resist allowing my own face to mimic theirs.

“What about Odette?” someone called. “Do we get rid of her now?”

“No,” Edric said. “We may still need her as a hostage if this doesn’t work. As long as one or two other people are here to make sure Odette stays in line, the rest of us don’t need to be. They’ll need us more back in Ebora.” Growls of approval met his words.

“It’s almost time! The second that Haven Harbor’s military is there, Raquel will be”—Curdy drew his finger swiftly across his throat—“and we will be out of here.”

“Are things still progressing well with the prince?” Thad asked me.

Curdy snorted. “I can answer that. Dahlia’s been throwing herself at him and he barely even notices she’s there.”

“That’s not true,” I snapped, wondering how Curdy would even know such a thing when he was tasked with watching Odette. “Just because he isn’t pawing at me every second like some drunkard doesn’t mean he doesn’t notice. He’s a gentleman.”

“Ah, but you are the only one here who isn’t a man,” Simon noted. “The more often a man touches you, the more he likes you. It’s not a good sign if he doesn’t even give you the time of day.”

“He holds my hand all the time.”

A ripple of laughter spread through the rebel members present. “Men are never fully committed until they have some sort of physical affection,” Edric remarked. “Just holding hands isn’t enough.”

“Are you suggesting that you want to be the one to go back and tell my father that you encouraged me to sacrifice my virtue?” I quirked my eyebrow. “I’m sure he would have plenty to say about that.”

“Not to that extent. But have you even kissed him yet?”

“Prince Korth is very proper and respectful.”

“So, no,” Simon said, raising his eyebrows while Curdy clenched his fists.

“I have other ways of ensuring his loyalty. He said he cares about me.”

Their laughter swelled.

“Don’t take it personally,” Thad told me, patting my shoulder in a fatherly fashion. “All men say that, but that doesn’t mean it’s true.”

“No man is entirely loyal to a woman he hasn’t even kissed, and no man can go without physical affection for too long. Is he seeing someone else?” Simon said.

“No!”

“Not everyone is as woman crazy as you, Simon,” Thad reminded him. “Some of us, myself included, still have families waiting for us at home.”

Simon scoffed. “Oh, does this prince have a family waiting for him somewhere?” He folded his arms as a light drizzle began.

Thad rolled his eyes. “Ignore him,” he told me. “You’re doing just fine.”

Even so, a drop of doubt lingered.

It rained all the next day. A colossal crack of thunder woke me up only a few hours after I’d left the rebellion’s meeting, and the sound of hammering rain thundered against my closed windows during the night. Even though the several nights’ worth of sleep deprivation tugged at my eyelids and made me rub my itching eyes, I couldn’t fall back asleep. Simon’s suggestion kept coming back to niggle at the back of my mind. For all my supposed confidence and bravado, I couldn’t deny my trepidation. I thought I understood men, but Korth wasn’t behaving in any way I’d come to expect. How was I supposed to ensure his loyalty if he pulled away every time I showed an interest in him? When I’d tried to kiss him before, he’d acted as though I’d burned him.

It could be due to the simple fact that any time we went anywhere together, we were tailed by our obnoxiously proper chaperone. I couldn’t fault him for not wanting an audience. But even so, I’d been here for more than three weeks, we saw each other every day, we were engaged to be married, and he had yet to do anything more than hold my hand.

Korth showed up at the usual time for our stroll and just like always, offered me his arm.

I smiled flirtatiously. “Are we going for walk in the rain? How romantic. Shall I catch cold so you can nurse me back to health?”

The corner of Korth’s mouth twitched upward a fraction of an inch. “I planned to show you around the library.”

“Even better. Do they have books about bridges?”

“Many. There aren’t as many about dumbwaiters, but I did read the ones they had.”

Just as it was with the dumbwaiters, the library was also much larger than the one in Ebora. The grand oak doors, intricately carved with scenes of siren lore, looked solid and heavy. When Korth pulled them open for me, my breath hooked. An expansive hall stretched out before me, with rows of shelves that soared upward. The towering mahogany bookcases were meticulously organized, each containing a treasure trove of tomes bound in leather and decorated with gilded letters.

Lit chandeliers hung suspended at intervals above the long, heavy tables, which had ornate candelabras set on green velvet runners. Flickering light from beeswax candles illuminated the open books, quills, and ink pots set out in front of the scribes who diligently scratched at their manuscripts, noses held close to the papers. The high windows, currently darkened from the rain, were stained glass depicting historical triumphs. Once sun returned and filtered in, patches of colored light would be cast on the shelves and tables.

The scent of aged parchment and ink permeated the air as Korth led me through the aisles. I couldn’t help running a finger along the polished book spines. So much knowledge contained here, but totally inaccessible to anyone unable to read.

“Do you like it?” Korth breathed.

“I love it.”

There were muted whispers as the scribes conversed in low tones with each other and the sound of scratching quills filled the air, as well as the crackle of the fire in the grand fireplace on the far end of the library, framed by a carved stone mantel. Comfortable, high-backed armchairs upholstered in a deep-sea blue invited readers to sit and lose themselves in whatever volume they chose to read.

Above the fireplace’s mantel hung a majestic tapestry depicting the kingdom’s founding. Too antsy to sit by the fire, I passed by. But when I looked back, I saw that Godfrey had settled himself into one of the armchairs, still watching us closely. The library was so open that it wasn’t like Korth and I would be able to easily sneak off, and Korth was too proper to do such a thing anyway.

Tightly spiraling staircases with wrought-iron banisters wound up to the mezzanine level, where rolling ladders dotted the walls and a walkway ran around the perimeter of the library. I climbed the stairs, eager to get a bird’s-eye view of the library and ran my hand along the railing that guarded anyone on the walkway from falling. I leaned against the rail, gazing down at the library, in complete awe of its grandeur.

Korth joined me, listening as the sounds of hushed voices, scribbling, and the crackling fire rose up to where we stood alone.

“Why haven’t you kissed me?” I asked Korth baldly, whispering so that only he could hear me.

Korth glanced nervously down at the chaperone on the far end of the hall and his voice went up half an octave. “What?”

“After the message from my father came. I gave all the right signals and you pulled away. Am I unattractive to you?”

He blanched. “No.”

“Then why?”

I wouldn’t have been surprised to see smoke furling from Korth’s ears. “I just…” His hands clenched into fists then unclenched at his sides as he fought for what to say. “I’m not experienced,” he finally admitted quietly. “And I don’t want to disappoint you.”

The frostiness coating my heart melted. Most men would never admit inexperience, particularly in reference to kissing and romance, but here Korth was, openly and humbly confessing. I found it strangely endearing, not only that he would be so perfectly honest, but also that he had held himself back from other women for years …waiting for me.

Waiting for Odette , I corrected myself hastily. But it was impossible to prevent the candle in my chest from leaping at his words, flickering more brightly. Boys would boast about their prowess in any area. A real man didn’t. Korth was a real man.

“Besides,” he continued. “You were upset, and…and I want you to remember a first kiss in which you weren’t crying.”

“That’s a reasonable thing,” I told him, gently bumping his shoulder. “And if you haven’t noticed, I’m not crying now. It’s good to know you aren’t opposed to the idea.”

Korth’s ears turned pink. “Not at all.” He spoke so quietly that I barely heard him. He shot another look at where Godfrey was sitting, out of earshot but still in a position that made us highly visible. “I don’t know the right words to say in these situations though.”

This would have been so much easier if Korth were the greedy, superficial prince I’d expected. “You don’t need the right words.” I told him softly. “Your actions are enough.”

My heart drummed in my chest. It was ridiculous to get giddy over Korth confessing his faults. Every other woman longed for a man who had the right words to woo her. But when I heard such flowery sayings to me, it only would remind me that words spoken with such confidence had surely been uttered before. Korth’s shy reservation was proof that he truly had waited all that time, had spurned any advances, all for me. He had stayed true when any other man’s head might have been turned. It might have been Odette he thought he was getting, but his eyes were on me, and me alone. And I didn’t want him to stop looking.

A secluded alcove was nestled behind one of the rolling staircases on the second floor. On the pretext of examining one of the decorative sculptures, I moved into the wall’s recess. “What’s this?” I asked.

Korth moved in to take the sculpture from me. “A Kraken. Surely you’ve heard the stories.”

“Yes, but now we’re where Godfrey can’t see us.” After a slight pause, I traced the sharp angles of his jaw then allowed my fingers to raise and explore his hair, releasing it from the stiff confines of his original styling. The slightly disheveled look was exactly as it had appeared in my dream, and I suddenly found myself unable to breathe, far warmer than I had been when I passed the fireplace, and assailed by the same sensation I experienced any time I pictured Korth kissing me.

He checked over his shoulder. “The only place not visible from his armchair and you found it.”

My heart leapt frantically within my chest while the pounding in my ears was deafening me. Waves of heat poured off my body with such intensity that I’d be casting a mirage soon. “I lured you here,” I corrected him. “What are you going to do about it?”

Hesitantly, Korth touched my shoulder, and a blaze of heat ripped through my body, more intense than I was prepared for. After glancing at me for permission, he inclined his head so our breaths mingled together, lips an inch apart. He was finally going to do it, I thought, and allowed my eyelids to shut, waiting…waiting…

The sound of someone insistently clearing their throat broke the spell. Godfrey hadn’t been fooled in the slightest. He had vacated his armchair and was shuffling his feet loudly, clearing his throat multiple times in rapid succession as he pulled a random book from the bookcase and set it down on a nearby table with unnecessary force. I opened my eyes to find Korth side-eyeing his manservant with immense irritation. It was almost worth having our moment interrupted to see Korth expressing some genuine emotion. I swooped my face around to kiss Korth’s cheek, then whispered in his ear, “Next time we pass the lake, let’s shove him in.”

Korth let out a laugh that he quickly stifled and arranged his face back into one of calm passivity, but his eyes kept a sparkle that hadn’t been there before. “You’re a bad influence on me,” he told me, so quietly that Godfrey wouldn’t hear. “And I wouldn’t trade you for any other woman in the world.”

Godfrey, true to his chaperone duties, lifted a ceramic vase and set it down again, loudly rolling the base to create a grinding sound that announced his presence once again. I closed my eyes, willing myself to remain patient. The time would come. We just needed to be rid of the chaperone. If Korth was less rule-abiding, it would be easy to convince him to give the wretched manservant the slip and sneak off to be alone, but Korth was much too honorable for such things. A sigh of frustration escaped my lips as the heat of the moment was blown away.