“You’re fine?” she asked slowly, her attention dropping to the blood caked over his knuckles before returning to his face. A challenge glimmered in the depths of her gray eyes, like a storm daring him to dodge its lightning. “Sure you don’t need any help with those cuts? I’ve tended to Lyana’s before. I know how to treat a few shallow wounds.”
Rafe resisted the urge to yank his hands away and hide them behind his back. He flexed his fingers instead, not breaking the owl’s gaze. “They’re nothing.”
She shrugged, the knowing smile lingering over her lips, then disappearing in a blink—but it was enough to make him wonder.
Did she know?
Had the princess spilled his secret?
As the idea traveled across his head, the owl released a heavy sigh as her shoulders fell, taking her wings with them, turning her into a woman who looked just as lonely as he did.
“Look, Rafe, right?” She didn’t wait for him to answer. “The only other person I know on this island was whisked away before I even woke up, and I haven’t seen her since. I’ve been wandering the halls, looking for a familiar face for an hour. You’re not my first choice either, but right now, you’re the only one I’ve got. And I was in the crowd during the trials. You were pretty wonderful with a sword, so can you please help me pass the time and show me what to do? I’m a killer with a bow, but I’m useless with a blade. And a little exercise seems like a better option than spending another hour talking to myself, so won’t you just, just…” She was almost huffing as she crossed her arms and waited for his response.
Rafe tightened his grip on the sword, shifting his gaze from the owl to the guards casting curious glances in their direction, to the castle walls where his brother and his brother’s new mate would be cooped up for hours, and finally to the bag of beans spilled across the ground—the physical manifestation of the dejection coursing through him.
“Fine,” Rafe mumbled, unable to believe the response even as it rolled out of his lips. But this girl, Cassi, was right. It was her or another hour of carting a bag of beans to the practice yards before systematically ripping it to shreds. A little human interaction would be good for him. The gods, it could even show the other ravens they had nothing to fear. He tossed the practice sword in the air and caught the blunt edge, offering her the hilt. “Have you ever used one of these before?”
The glee on her face as she wrapped her fingers around the worn leather handle almost made him regret his decision. But her voice was calm as she answered, “Maybe a few times.”
“Show me your stance,” he instructed reluctantly, fighting against his own judgment as he stepped around her, adjusting her feet and her hands, shifting her balance, and ordering she remain on the ground until further notice. Within minutes, Rafe was lost in the movement, time racing as he did something he rarely ever got to do—share a bit of himself with another person.
The hour flew.
Then another, and another, until they were sticky with sweat. Their clothes were stained with grass and dirt. Their limbs were caked in mud. Yet they were smiling, even as their breath came up short and exhaustion overtook them, slowing their thrusts and parries. Still, they didn’t stop. Not until the sun was setting, and Cassi fell to the ground, grunting as her wings got crushed beneath her.
“Enough,” she cried.
“You need to work on your stamina,” Rafe goaded, even as he swayed on his feet. A moment later, he was surprised to land as heavy as a rock on the dirt. His mind was so slow that it took her laugh for him to realize she’d swiped his legs out from under him.
“You need to work on your comebacks,” she said, easing back against the grass to stare up at the sky.
Rafe opened his mouth before noticing she was right, and he had no idea what to say. So, he sealed his lips and followed her lead, letting his head fall against the ground as he blinked at the vast sky—a sight that had always made him feel small in an almost comforting sort of way. As though his problems were small as well.
“I’m hungry,” Cassi stated.
His stomach rumbled as soon as she spoke. “Me too. Come on.”
Rafe led her from the practice fields to the kitchens, quietly noting how her steps resembled the confident march of a native far more than the confused hesitation of a newcomer. She turned when he turned, shoulder to shoulder, at his side and not behind. There was no pause in her movements. No question. As though she knew exactly where he was taking her. The very notion was impossible, and yet Rafe couldn’t quite shake the sense that the owl had been there before.
Don’t be a fool. She’d probably just wandered to the kitchen that morning in search of breakfast after she’d woken alone.
Sure enough, when she asked him for the way to her rooms after they’d had their fill of fresh bread, her strides were different, more like he had expected. Shorter. Unsure. When they rounded the next corner, she stopped dead in her tracks. With his eyes still on her, he bumped into a body he hadn't seen coming.
“Sorry,” he murmured, turning to find the smiling face of his brother. Rafe jumped back. “Xander!”
“Rafe.”
“Cassi?”
“Ana!”
The four of them paused for a moment. A spike of heat shot through Rafe’s chest, leaving a smoldering path in its wake, the undeniable sense that he’d been doing something wrong, but he didn’t know what. He glanced at the owl, but she was smiling at her friend. And though he didn’t want his eyes to follow, he couldn’t help it—they were drawn like a moth to a flame, and what a bright spot she was. Lyana. Standing there in an amethyst dress embroidered with diamonds, her face framed by the golden trim of her cream overcoat, highlighting the natural warmth of her skin.
“What were you two doing?” Xander asked, mirth evident in his tone.
Rafe suddenly remembered the dirt and the sweat, how much a mess the two of them must have looked compared to the crown prince and his princess in matching finery, pristine as royals should be. “I was, uh, teaching Cassi some swordplay.” He couldn’t help noticing how Lyana tossed a confused glance at her friend, but he cleared his throat and straightened his spine, refocusing on his brother. “You?”
“The usual,” Xander smoothly replied with a shrug. “Breakfast with my mother. Meetings with the advisors. Now supper with the traders.”
His eyes were shining in a way that belied the casual tone of his words. As they flicked to the woman by his side, Rafe knew why. He was proud of his mate, proud to show her off to his people, proud to be standing with someone they would love instead of someone they had shunned.
Rafe gritted his teeth, nodding as words escaped him.
“Well, we should probably be going. We’re running late,” Xander said to his mate with a gently prodding expression. She started, forgetting where she was for a moment, but followed him as he maneuvered around Rafe, whose feet were rooted to the ground. Cassi walked on, either unconcerned or unaware that her guide had become motionless.
Rafe waited a moment longer, listening to his brother’s footsteps, each fading sound like a premonition of things to come. His heart sank deeper and deeper into the hollows of his chest.
He’d always known that things would be different after the courtship trials.