Then his arms swept around me and tightened, pulling me against him as he deepened the kiss. I responded, rising onto my toes, only for him to pull back and groan.
“Prince Darius.” The voice that had interrupted us came again.
I stepped out of his arms, looking frantically around for our audience, but could see no one. Slowly my attention focused on a ball of power in the middle of the room.
“A communication composition?” I asked.
He groaned again. “They won’t leave me alone.”
“Prince Darius?”
“Prince?” I asked with a smile, trying to suppress my disappointment at the interruption. “Don’t they know you’re king-elect now?”
“They appear to be well aware,” he said dryly, “since they now seem to have need of consulting me day and night. But it’s a bit of a mouthful. Most people seem to prefer to continue using my old title for now.”
I shook my head. “You’d better go. That working is burning power.”
He still looked reluctant, so I gave him a light push through the door. “We can finish our conversation later.”
Fire leaped into his eyes. “Is that a promise?”
I flushed. “If you like. Now go!”
He disappeared through the door with a last backward glance, and I closed it firmly behind him. My fingers crept to my lips which still tingled from his touch.
I had meant it when I said conversation. There was much for us to talk about. I didn’t know which official or discipline head had been calling him, but they had made a timely interruption. I could not afford to forget that this lighter, more open Darius was now responsible for an entire kingdom. He might still bear the title prince, but he was king-elect of Kallorway. And I was a princess of Ardann, with a secret too big for either kingdom. We were hardly free to follow wherever our emotions might lead us.
He fought in combat class the next morning as usual, although we weren’t paired. And he turned up to composition class as well, bringing sheaves of parchment with him—reports of some kind by the look of it. Our instructors addressed him with added respect, and none called him to task for his distraction. We didn’t speak, other than polite greetings, although his eyes apologized for his preoccupation. But I could only imagine the weight of work he now had before him.
I wasn’t the only one who failed to hold his attention. Jareth, sitting beside him, sent several poisonous glances at the reports that so absorbed his brother. Several times he spoke, making Darius chuckle, but each time, Darius returned promptly to his reports. When his brother’s eyes weren’t on him, Jareth’s expression turned sour, and when he looked up to see me watching him, his eyes flashed momentary anger before he smoothed the emotion away.
Darius wanted to change Kallorway which meant he was consumed with a task big enough to absorb all his time and attention. And even when he had not yet had the distraction of a crown, he had refused to consider that he might be harboring a traitor in his inmost circle. If I was right, and Jareth was working against him, then Darius was even less likely to see it now. But I couldn’t sit back and see all his efforts constantly thwarted. I would have to act to protect him myself.
I came to the conclusion during discipline class and was immediately filled with the desire to take action. Our small energy class had completed our final placement with the trainees studying to be seekers and were back in our original classroom. As soon as the bell sounded for the end of the lesson, I hurried out into the corridor, scanning the trainees who began to fill the hall from the other rooms.
The moment I spotted Jareth, I hurried in his direction.
“Verene,” he said in a tone of faint surprise when I appeared next to him.
“Jareth.” I nodded in greeting. “I would like to have a word with you, if you’re willing.”
He gestured with wide open eyes. “By all means.”
I shook my head. “Not now. In private. Could you come to my sitting room after the evening meal?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Consider me intrigued. I shall be there most certainly.”
“Good.”
I hurried away before he could ask me any questions, dropping back to walk beside Bryony. She also regarded me with a raised eyebrow.
“What was that about? Were you just voluntarily talking to Jareth?”
“I invited him to visit me this evening.”
“You what?” she squawked before lowering her voice. “Whatever for? Does Darius know?”
“Not unless Jareth tells him. I’m hoping he won’t.”
“You’re hoping he won’t…” She said the words slowly. “What exactly are you planning, Verene?”
“I’m going to prove to Darius once and for all that Jareth can’t be trusted.”
“And how exactly are you going to do that?” She sounded skeptical.
“I’m going to dangle the same bait I accidentally left out before and see if he bites twice.”
“Bait?” She gave me a disapproving look. “Do you mean yourself?”
“Ultimately. But to start I just mean the compositions I use to protect my door. I’m going to give him the chance to read them again and then see what happens. If I’m right, he’ll send another assassin, like he did last year. And this time, Darius won’t be able to deny it.”
“Then I’m sleeping in your room,” she said resolutely. “And don’t try to fight me on this.”
I smiled. “I was actually hoping you’d say that. I want to catch Jareth out, but I don’t have a death wish.”
She nodded approvingly. “And this time, after we’ve caught the assassin he sends, we’ll make sure you’re ready to intercept any deadly compositions that try to cut short the interrogation.”
I nodded. “I won’t make the same mistake twice.”
Bryony insisted on being in my suite for the initial meeting with Jareth as well, although she agreed to remain out of sight in my bedchamber. When his light knock sounded on the corridor door, I opened it unhurriedly and gestured him inside, displaying a hint of awkward uncertainty.
“I must say your invitation took me by surprise, Princess,” Jareth said. “You seem to have been avoiding me of late.”
“You’re right, I have.”
He looked surprised by my open admission.
“But Darius has assured me I’ve been harboring the wrong impression about you,” I continued. “And given his triumphant return, I thought the time had come to mend matters. So I have something for you.”
“I assure you that isn’t necessary,” he said with his usual light smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“Please humor me,” I said. “It’s just a token.” I looked around the sitting room. “Just give me a moment. I must have left it in my chamber.”
I left him alone in my sitting room, shutting my bedchamber door behind me. Bryony stood waiting, holding out a small sprig of green leaves with two small white tulips at their center. I took them from her and stood waiting for a moment, my head cocked.
“How long do you need to leave him?” Bryony whispered.
“As long as I can without seeming suspicious.” I grimaced. “So your guess is as good as mine.”