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“We haven’t been able to yet, no.”
“Who cursed it in the first place?”
Ken glances at the castle, then back to me. “It was never meant to be like this.”
Rainer.
Of course it was Rainer. Who else could it possibly be?
Now it all makes sense—why they call him the Prince of Fear.
I want to ask more, but Viv returns, shifting back into her regular form—fully clothed and all. Convenience of enchanted leathers.
She looks at Ken and nods, before offering me a small smile.
“Perimeter is clear. Wards haven’t been breached.”
Something unspoken passes between them. I know they’re trying not to frighten me, but I can tell something is up by the way Viv’s brows are drawn down towards her eyes.
“Are you sure everything is fine?”
“Yes.” Her lips form a tight smile. She glances at Ken. “We should find Rainer and debrief.”
She shoots me an apologetic look, but I don’t blame her for not saying more in front of me. It’s an understandable security measure, so I don’t press her. I accept her answer, for now, and leave them to find the prince.
I’m starting to find the troubled fae prince safer than whatever lies beyond the walls.
He might be unpleasant, but at least he’s harmless.
I think.
My stomach churns, unsettled.
Gods, I hope he’s harmless.
twenty-one
Up to My Innards In Conflict
Rainer
I lean over the desk in my father’s old first-floor office, my back to the room as I face the windows. Out of all the rooms in the castle, this is the one I like the least.
It’s the one that reminds me of him.
Unlike my mother’s old rooms, which offer comfort, my father’s old rooms contain fury and condemnation within its walls. Or I’m projecting again.
The leather-bound books and manuscripts decorating the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves are just that—decoration. Everything in here, from the shelves on two of the walls and the fireplace on the far wall, to the oversized desk in the center of the room and unwelcome red-velvet sofa are for show.
But I must meet with Eoin, and I’d rather not share my more precious and private spaces with him. That’s what this room has become—a receiving space for the guests I don’t much care for.
Fitting that unwanted business take place in an unwanted space.
Seeing Eoin near Alessia, healing her, flashing that disgustingly charming grin at her, it made me sick to my stomach with something I’m not used to.
Envy.
I’m jealous of the Terra Prince. For all the things he has that I don’t. For everything he can be that I can’t.
