Chapter 36

17 days left

T he third challenger requested to meet Aria in the library; that was new. When she arrived, she found the man already settled, perched on the window seat with one foot crossed over his opposite knee, thumbing the pages of a book with the light of enjoyment in his dark eyes.

"Hummingbird princess." He looked up with a raised eyebrow. "Heard things about you. Sit."

She couldn't have been more baffled if he'd carried a falcon perched on his head for ornamentation.

"Lord Silas," she said hesitantly. "It's a ... pleasure."

After eyeing her for a moment, he clucked his tongue. "I guess Gilly never mentioned me, though he had plenty to say about you."

Gilly . Aria frowned. "Who?"

"Guillaume Reeves."

Her eyes widened. "You're his friend! The one studying abroad."

An echo of a smile appeared then vanished. He set his book aside and reached for a tray of apple tarts. When had he sent for those?

"You've made yourself at home, I see." She smiled, but the back of her mind screamed that she was going to get Baron's friend banished.

"It will be my home," he said matter-of-factly. "That's the challenge, isn't it? Solve the puzzle, win the princess." He brushed his fingers together, dusting crumbs back onto the serving tray.

"You intend to pass the challenge?" she managed at last.

"I'm undecided."

As if he could resolve the matter so easily after two men had failed. He was baffling.

"What has Baron said about me?"

He smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know?" He settled back into the window seat, propped both heels on a footstool, and wiggled himself into a comfortable nest. With clear purpose, he returned to his book.

"My lord."

He gave no response.

"Silas," Aria tried.

He turned a page.

Aria wished she would have asked Baron far more details about his strange friend. But she sensed that from the moment she'd entered the room, he'd been testing her, prodding to see her responses.

Whatever the test was, Aria resolved to pass it.

Straightening her spine, she turned away to peruse the bookshelves. After considering a few volumes, she chose The Epic of Einar and joined Silas in the window seat, claiming her own apple tart along the way.

From the corner of her eye, she saw him tilt his head to check the title of her book.

Then he snorted.

"Not in support of mythology, my lord?"

"Not in support of pretenders. That's Gilly's favorite book. You won't fool me with such an obvious show."

Obviousness. Mark.

Aria felt heat in her ears. Nevertheless, she spoke calmly. "Baron's favorite story is the conquering of the chimera. Mine is the Illusion Isles."

"No one enjoys the Illusion Isles," he challenged. "It's the most foolish part of the entire epic."

"Correction. It's where the most foolishness transpires, but had Einar not made his mistakes in the isles, he couldn't have learned the strengths that carried him through the three heavenly realms."

"She's a literary expert now." Silas snapped his book closed, then plucked hers from her hands. "So this is the trick. A little feigned interest in hobbies, a touch of seduction, perhaps, and you have the kingdom's strongest Caster wrapped around your finger."

Aria's tired mind scrambled to follow. "Widow Morton? I have no—"

"Guillaume Reeves is the strongest Caster this, or any, kingdom has ever had. The best another could do is match him, not surpass him."

Aria frowned. He'd told her himself that he wasn't strong enough to break her curse.

"Two years in university study, Highness—can you guess my research field? It isn't offered here." Silas closed the epic in his hands, then popped it back open to a specific page, as if he had the entire thing memorized. "Warlockry."

He displayed the illustration of Einar battling the three tempest warlocks. The warlocks had horrid faces of protruding eyes and jagged teeth, together bearing down with beams of light against the hero's fracturing shield.

"They let you study magic at university?" She ought to have been attending classes in Pravusat the last eighty-three days.

He ignored her question. "Magic is dependent on instinct, and instinct is unlearned by experience, maturity, and reasoning. Therefore, the younger a magic user's age when activated, the stronger those powers can manifest. Simple math. Which is why Gilly Reeves is the strongest Caster ever known."

Aria stared with wide eyes. She'd realized Baron's activation of his power at birth was unheard of, but Silas applied a greater meaning to it than she'd imagined. "I had no idea."

"Doubtful, but irrelevant. For several months now, Crown Princess Aria has been presented with the best suitors Loegria has to offer. Men of rank, handsome features, and societal favor, yet she has turned her attention to a man whose rank was stripped, whose features aren't, shall we say, commonly handsome, thanks to a mixed heritage, and who not only lacks society's favor but actively attracts its scorn." He raised both eyebrows. "There's a gap in the logic, princess."

Aria bristled. "Perhaps because love does not bow to logic."

" Love "—the wrinkle of Silas's nose couldn't be clearer—"is an excuse people give to justify their actions. Gilly's actions and excuses, I understand. Yours remain to be seen. You want to break a curse, I've been told. Perhaps. But I find it interesting that no one has considered the obvious alternative."

"And what is that, Lord Silas?"

"That there is no curse, only a conspiracy. That the crown princess is in league with rebel Casters to overthrow the king. When the strongest Caster continued to resist the movement, you reverted to more subtle methods of recruitment."

The accusation swept back Aria's fatigue in a cold wash of shock. She leapt to her feet, gaping at him. "I—you—I am already the heir. What could I gain by your imagined plot?"

"Waiting heirs are often perpetrators of revolution, especially because they easily rally followers. Perhaps you lack patience to await your father's death or abdication, or perhaps you seek to avoid a disinheriting."

Aria had been under siege already, but now the assault had moved within her own walls. She felt defenses rising within her, the heat begging to be released in darts of insult against this enemy who had dared present as a friend.

But she pressed her tongue between her teeth.

Baron trusts him .

Aria had made countless mistakes in her life, and she was beginning to realize such a thing was unavoidable. Perhaps she should have spent more energy ensuring that if she was going to make mistakes, she did not make them in the areas that mattered most.

On the Illusion Isles, Einar believed the illusion which showed his wife's betrayal, and based on that belief, he made the worst mistake of his life by killing her. A mistake he journeyed through three heavenly realms to undo.

Aria sat beside Silas and looked him in the eyes.

"I wish to protect Baron because I love him. That might not mean anything to you, but it does to me, and I think you want to protect him too."

She held his gaze.

And waited.

In the end, his response was an inarticulate grunt. After retrieving his original book, he settled back into his reading nook, though his brow remained furrowed.

Aria smiled slightly. When she stood, the wobble in her knees was at least partly from relief rather than weariness. "I'll leave you to it, then."

"Gilly's party is tomorrow," he said without looking up. "I've been told you're the guest of honor. I've also been told you're under house arrest."

"My intention was to leave the castle tonight. Should you wish to accompany me, you'll want to be in Sutton before night falls. I'll meet you there, outside the inn."

After speaking, she realized the sleeping Cast wouldn't affect him, so the time did not matter, but she couldn't explain details of her curse, so she let it be.

"We'll see," he said.

She rolled her eyes and let him read.

That night, Aria dressed in traveling attire and a thick woolen cloak, gathered what she needed into a satchel, and scribbled a note for the servants to find, where she claimed to have gone in search of Eliza.

I'll return tonight with my sister in tow.

A bald-faced lie in every regard. Her father's soldiers had actively scoured the ports and countryside, and she carried no delusions about discovering what they could not. Especially when she knew Eliza best. The girl could disappear if she wanted—she'd had plenty of training living as the spare princess, invisible to most. Aria's longing pulled in two directions. She wanted Eliza to come home, but she also wanted her to be happy. Home could not provide that at the moment.

"Come with me," she urged Jenny. "We could stop by Harper's Glade before returning."

Jenny licked her lips. "Will the ... will the crow ..."

The poor girl was still terrified from witnessing a shapeshifter, though Aria had assured her Corvin was not a threat. At least she'd agreed to keep the boy's secret, which was more mercy than many people would have shown for a stranger.

"Someone should stay here." Jenny looked down. "So the castle isn't empty. In case."

As if the girl could stand alone against Casters if Widow Morton decided to make another ploy in her game of torment. The thought added to Aria's worry, but she was not going to force Jenny to travel against her will.

"If anything happens," she said, "stay hidden."

Aria left the castle and saddled her horse. A crystal night greeted her as she rode, sparkling with a full array of stars and not a cloud to conceal them. The moon offered the mischievous curve of its smile. Not a single guard stopped her on her way or shouted an alarm—they were all asleep beside their watch fires.

After exiting the gate, she looked back at the palace, slumbering beneath its curse. The descent of night always left her feeling trapped and hopeless, but tonight tasted like the crisp air of choice.

She leaned forward on her horse, rubbing the mare's neck and whispering about an adventure. The beast's ears pricked, and she danced a few steps on the road. Aria smiled.

" Hyah! " she said.

Together, they cantered into Sutton Town, each clap of hooves echoing in the empty streets. Approaching the inn, Aria saw a dappled gray stallion waiting patiently outside. It stepped forward at her approach, already bearing a rider.

But it wasn't Silas.

It was a more familiar figure.

"Baron!" Aria couldn't hide her smile, her heart galloping in her chest. "What are you doing here?"

As his mount pulled beside hers, she got a better look at him, at the soft shadows outlining his smile.

"Silas sent word you needed an escort. I thought the matter must be urgent, since he would never touch a messenger bird otherwise."

She was glad the darkness concealed the blush in her cheeks. He'd read her letter; he must have. He'd come to escort her personally. Did that mean ... ?

You told him not to answer yet , she scolded herself. And he's a gentleman, regardless of feelings.

"Though I don't expect to meet other travelers in the darkest part of night," Baron went on, "if we do happen upon any, and I'm called into question for breaking house arrest, I hope you might offer me a royal pardon."

"Ensuring the safety of a princess pardons any lesser infraction," she said. "So I'll thank you for being my guard tonight. I can imagine no safer company."

"This way, then." He turned toward the southeastern road.

She blew out a breath, shoulders sagging. Then she shook herself back to reason and urged her horse forward to match his. Even without a direct answer to her confession, it was enough that he had come.

They rode in companionable silence, exiting the town.

"Now that I've met Silas," she said, "I believe I have the full measure of your social circle. Family and friends both."

"And how do you find it?"

"Half charming, half baffling. Fully an adventure."

His quiet chuckle was nearly lost in the clop of hooves. "Silas enjoys catching people off guard. He's good conversation, if you can appreciate that he always speaks his true opinion."

"He mentioned you talked about me."

"I . . ."

She gave a mischievous smile, hoping she made him blush. "It's only fair, since we've spoken of him as well."

"Not in the same manner, I assure you."

She bit her lip. While she considered another way to tease him, he spoke first, with more solemnity than before.

"I wish you could have met my father. That would have been the full measure of my social circle."

Me too . She stopped herself before speaking; Marcus Reeves had been a part of court. She'd surely interacted with him at some point, if she could only remember it.

Aria cast her mind back, searching for any memory.

They left Sutton behind and entered open country, where the nighttime air rustled with the sounds of hidden animals and an occasional light gust of air through the grass. A memory stirred with the breeze.

"You said your father never wore gloves."

Baron turned toward her, his expression outlined by the dim light of hope.

She nodded, certain now. "I remember the lord without gloves. He attended my twelfth birthday. There was a receiving line, where I was supposed to talk to every lord and lady, since it was my official entrance to society. He shook my hand, and his was the warmest handshake in all of court."