34. Chapter 34

thirty-four

N evander’s boots echoed through the hallway outside Castien’s suite, each click a sharp reminder of his helplessness. The healer had been in there for hours, her stern words still ringing in his ears: “The prince needs peace, not someone scowling at his unconscious form.”

He clenched his jaw, glaring at the two sentries guarding the door. They straightened under his gaze, eyes snapping forward. If only Shaydn were here. The royal Dracian healer knew more about the healing arts in her beautiful little pinky than this woman would ever accumulate in her lifetime. Nevander pushed his fingers through his hair, the strands falling haphazardly back across his brow.

The door suddenly swung open, startling them all. The silver-haired healer emerged, disapproval dripping from her words. “He’s asking for you, my lord.”

A surge of sympathy shot through him. If this is what Castien had to put up with after Shaydn left, no wonder he habitually hid from the healer.

Nevander pushed past her, still feeling her sour stare at his back. Castien’s voice, weak but defiant, reached him before he saw his friend. “Alone, damn you. Get out of my room. ”

With a huff, the healer slammed the door shut behind her as Nevander rushed to the bedside. Castien struggled to sit up, his face contorted in pain.

“Ow,” Castien flinched, rubbing his battered elbow. “Is she gone?”

“Appears so,” Nevander replied, raising an eyebrow.

Castien flopped back onto the pillows, letting out a long exhale. “Ugh, thank the Axan moon. That crabby old wench and her smelling salts could raise even the most unwilling from the dead, if it meant escaping her.”

For a moment, Castien’s pale eyes unfocused. “I remember... a beautiful girl tending to me when I was sick. I miss her.” He shook his head, blinking rapidly as reality crashed back.

“Mother!” His eyes widened in panic. “That bastard, where is he?” Castien struggled to rise from the bed. He glared at Nevander. “Don’t just stand there, help me up!”

Nevander grasped Castien’s arm and hauled him upright. Castien’s eyes rolled back in his head and Nevander caught him before he fell.

“Just-” Castien gasped, “just give me a minute here.”

He gripped Nevander’s arm weakly. “Van, one of the kitchen workers attacked us,” Castien growled, his voice barely above a whisper. “I couldn’t fight him off in this weak, useless body!”

Nevander’s stomach twisted with guilt. He should have been there to protect them.

“The queen is missing,” Nevander said, his voice tight.

Castien’s anguished moan pierced the air. “Mother,” he whispered. Then his eyes snapped open, sharp with urgency. “Is anyone else missing? ”

Kallessa was missing.

Nevander clenched his jaw, forcing himself to breathe evenly. He had to let her go on with her life, if that’s what she truly wanted. She and Dovina would be fine. They had to be.

“Not that we know of.”

Castien looked around the dimly lit room. “What time is it?”

Nevander glanced out the window. It had been dark for hours. “Probably around midnight.”

Castien’s jaw dropped, his eyes widening before he snapped his mouth shut again. “Midnight? How long have I been out?”

“We found you this morning, unconscious on the floor.”

“This morning...” Castien whispered, running a hand through his tangled locks.

“When did he attack you?” Nevander pressed.

Castien clenched his fists, his knuckles whitening. “Yesterday evening.” His voice hardened. “That means he has over a day’s lead on us.”

“Your father is on his way here.”

Castien inhaled, casting his gaze toward the windows. “Help me out of this bed, and go slower this time. I need to be on my feet when he gets here.”

Nevander slowly pulled Castien into a sitting position, watching him closely.

“This is all my fault,” Castien grumbled. “I should have reviewed the staff closer. Should have stopped mother from throwing this ridiculous festival.” He raked a hand through his disheveled raven locks, his eyes flickering with frustration.

Nevander met his gaze. “And I was supposed to help you. Instead, I was hiding and pretending to be engaged. ”

“Where is she?” Castien asked.

Nevander clenched his jaw, unable to hold Castien’s intense stare. He looked away, his gaze falling on Castien’s desk. “Where are your books that are usually stacked on that desk?”

Castien glanced toward his desk, his eyes narrowing as he registered the empty surface. “I don’t know and don’t change the subject. Where is she?”

Nevander responded flatly. “Gone.”

Castien’s expression darkened. “I thought you said no one else was missing.”

“She’s not missing,” Nevander clarified, frustration boiling up inside him. “She and Dovina left.”

“And why is that?” Castien demanded.

“Because the game of pretend came to an end, dear prince,” Nevander snapped. “Ciana told her who I was, and I guess she didn’t want to be seen with a warmongering whore chaser.”

Castien studied Nevander’s face, his brow furrowed. “She really didn’t know... And she just ran?”

Nevander jaw clenched, and he turned to pace the room, too irritated to stand still any longer. “They are both gone, as is the carriage.”

“That’s just not what I expected.” Castien mumbled.

Nevander paused in his pacing to glare at Castien. “Stop meddling in other people’s lives.”

Castien’s eyes narrowed and he flung his pale arm toward the door. “Go get my valet if all you’re going to be is an ungrateful friend.”

Before Nevander could respond, a woman’s scream pierced the air, sending chills down his spine .

“Where is my cousin? Kallessa! Unhand me, you beast. Kallessa!”

That was Dovina.

Wait, if that was Dovina —

Where was Kallessa?

Dovina’s shrill voice pierced the air. “Kallessa! Kallessa, where are you?”

Nevander’s jaw clenched as he rounded the corner, his boots clicking sharply on the polished floor. The sight that greeted him was almost comical. Dovina, usually the picture of poise, looked like she’d been dragged through a hedge backwards. Her blonde curls formed a wild halo around her flushed face, and her clothes were hopelessly rumpled. A palace guard held her firmly by the arm as she struggled.

“It’s fine, soldier. Release her,” Nevander commanded, his voice tight with barely contained frustration.

As the guard obeyed, Dovina’s eyes locked onto Nevander. Her rosebud mouth dropped open, her eyes widening, before she sank into a deep, formal curtsy.

“My lord, Prince Nevander,” she breathed, her voice suddenly calm and reverent.

Nevander’s stomach twisted. Of course, she hadn’t recognized her prince with his wild hair and beard. He briefly considered letting her hold that perfect pose until she toppled over, but the gnawing worry about Kallessa’s whereabouts overrode his pettiness .

“Lady Dovina,” he returned the greeting, his court voice dripping with authority. “You can drop the act. I know who you are.”

Confusion flashed across her face. “My lord?”

“Come with me.” He grasped her arm, steering her towards the nearest parlor–ironically, the same one where Ciana had revealed his identity to Kallessa.

Once seated, Nevander leaned forward, fixing Dovina with a steely gaze. “Kallessa is not with you?”

Dovina’s brow furrowed. “No, my lord. Why would she be?”

A chill raced up Nevander’s spine. “Because she disappeared the same time you did.”

Her eyes darted around the room. “But that doesn’t make sense. Why would she leave? How would she leave? I took the carriage.” She paused. “How do you know my cousin?”

Nevander’s patience wore thin. “Remember the inn with the owl-obsessed owner? The ‘vagabond’ you kicked out of his room?”

He watched comprehension slowly light up her face, followed quickly by horror. Dovina fell to her knees, head bowed low. “My lord, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. Please forgive me.”

“I have imprisoned people for less.” Which was a lie. But he needed to instill some fear into the flighty girl so she would listen. “Get up and tell me exactly what happened since you left. Leave anything out, and I’ll have you thrashed.”

As Dovina slid back into her chair, another spark of realization ignited in her eyes. “Wait, wait, you are Kallessa’s Nevander?" she blurted out.

He gave a curt nod in response, his expression hardening. “I’m asking the questions here. Start talking. ”

Dovina bit her lip, her gaze dropping to her lap. “I wanted to pick out my own husband.”

Nevander’s eyebrows raised, but kept silent, praying she would quickly get to the point.

She ran her fingers across her wrinkled skirts. “Warwick was so sweet to me and attentive and had all the same opinions about everything as I did.” She flicked her eyes to Nevander’s, pleading for him to understand with her gaze. “We even have the same shade of blue eyes! And he’s so handsome and young, even though he’d been married before. And he was a Krithadean dignitary.”

Warwick? Nevander slowly breathed in and out through his nose.

“When he proposed to me, I was so excited. That would teach Father to try to sell me to the neighbor.”

She tried to continue her tale, but Nevander raised his hand, cutting her off. “Sell you to the neighbor?” he repeated.

Her lips trembled. Oh, she was good. He knew her and even felt himself soften at her vulnerability. “I overheard him telling Mother that if he offered me to the widow on the neighboring estate, they could double their holdings.” She sniffed. “He has four children and he’s bald!”

Dovina wiped her eyes. “Anyway, when Warwick proposed, it sounded so romantic and adventurous at first. We planned to run away and elope, then have a formal wedding ceremony later.” She took a shaky breath. “So we took the carriage and headed toward the Krithadean capital.”

She twisted her hands together. “But when we arrived, we ran into some of Warwick’s old friends. He went out drinking with them, leaving me alone in our room at the inn.” Resentment crept into her voice. “I sat downstairs in the common area and overheard the innkeeper gossiping. Warwick’s in debt from gambling, looking for a rich wife to pay it off.”

She gasped. “And... they say he murdered his first wife! I realized what a mistake I’d made and escaped that evening with the carriage. Teansong is too far to travel from the Krithadean capital and I knew Kallessa would still be here and likely be worried because I forgot to leave a note. So I came back here.” She at least had the decency to look slightly guilty about that oversight.

“Father is going to be so angry with me,” Dovina said, fidgeting with the lace on her sleeve.

Nevander sat back, studying her. “Why?”

Dovina hesitated, chewing on her lower lip nervously. “Well, he sort of doesn’t know where I am.”

He clenched his jaw, a muscle twitching in his cheek as he fought to keep his expression neutral. “What do you mean?”

She pouted. “I got the post the day the invitation came to the Axan Moon Festival. After what I’d overheard, I had to escape. So I had a wardrobe made for Kallessa and,” she quickly finished the sentence in a voice so low, Nevander almost missed it, “I may have threatened her into coming with me.”

His nostrils flared and he took a deep breath. Didn’t Kallessa have enough to deal with? “How did you threaten her?”

Dovina glanced out the window, her brow furrowed. “I don’t know why, but Father has always harbored an inexplicable hatred for Kallessa,” she admitted hesitantly. “So, I told her he would cut off her stipend if she didn’t come with me.” She opened her hands in a pleading gesture. “It was a lie, but the truth is, he could indeed cut her off at any moment. ”

Rage boiled in Nevander’s chest. “You used her as a means to an end?”

Dovina squirmed uncomfortably under his gaze. “She needed to get away too,” she protested weakly. “Being cooped up in crazy Aunt Gevene’s cottage all the time can’t be good for her. And I thought maybe she might meet someone here, too…”

“But now she’s gone,” Nevander said flatly, fighting the urge to race to the stables and charge after her. Kallessa had left for home, alone.

Oblivious to Nevander’s building anger, Dovina asked, “Why would she leave? She seemed so happy.”

She had seemed that way the last time Nevander had seen her. Wrapped in his cloak, with snowflakes in her hair. It was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. He jumped up, pacing the room.

Then he began firing off questions at Dovina, who still sat huddled in the chair, her arms wrapped tightly around waist. “Did she know of this harebrained idea of yours to run away?”

“No,” Dovina whispered.

“So no one, save Kallessa, knows where you are?”

In an even smaller voice, she answered again. “No.”

Nevander’s fists clenched at his sides. “You stupid, foolish girl.”

Dovina began to cry in earnest then, her shoulders shaking with sobs.

Ciana, of course, chose that moment to enter, her brow furrowed with concern. “What is going on here?”

Dovina, with her big glossy eyes brimming with tears, looked up at her princess. She stumbled into an awkward curtsy, her shoulders shaking as she cried even harder, the sobs wracking her slight frame .

As Nevander quickly recounted the events, Ciana’s face grew graver. A heavy silence fell once he finished.

“I just d-don’t want to marry the neighbor!” Dovina blubbered.

“Oh, for Axan’s sake,” Nevander muttered, exasperated.

Ciana sat next to Dovina, putting her arms around the distraught girl. “We won’t let your father marry you off without your consent,” she soothed, “but we need to find Kallessa.”

Dovina quieted as she processed Ciana’s words. “If she thought I left, she probably thinks I went home. But why did she leave?”

Ciana met Nevander’s gaze. “Because she found out the man she fell in love with was the prince of Dracia.”

Realization dawned in Dovina’s eyes. “She would be ruined. If anyone knew, no one would ever marry her after this.”

Nevander’s stomach lurched. Was his reputation truly that bad?

“Of course she didn’t know,” Dovina continued, oblivious. “The poor little country bumpkin didn’t even recognize her own prince.”

Nevander raised an eyebrow. Neither had Dovina, initially.

She waved a hand dismissively. “Well, you’re easy to recognize now. Who could ever mistake that profile?”

Did she mean the profile that was on the Dracian half crown?

Nevander’s heart thumped in an uneasy rhythm as a realization hit him. “What do you think your father is doing right now?” he asked, his voice a practice in control.

The smirk vanished from Dovina’s face. “What do you mean?”

“His precious daughter has been missing for almost two weeks. Do you think he’s sitting around waiting patiently for your return?”

Her face froze. “He’ll have soldiers out looking for me. ”

“And don’t you think the first place he will look is your aunt’s house?”

Dovina swallowed hard. “Aunt Gevene would tell Father anything he wanted to know.”

“Including the fact that you and Kallessa left together almost two weeks ago?”

She slowly nodded.

“So what will happen when Kallessa shows back up without you?”

Dovina gasped, her hand flying to her mouth as the full gravity of the situation sank in. “Oh, no.”