Page 62 of A Liar's Twisted Tongue

“Not fair!” I laugh, grabbing onto his shoulders for balance while he holds me by the waist.

He shrugs. “A page from your playbook.”

“Quick study,” I say.

“And there you were, talking about dust or something like that.”

“Leave you in the dust,” I correct, lifting my chin. “You’ve never heard anyone say that?”

He shakes his head. “No.”

“Oh,” I laugh, feeling a little silly now. “It’s just like saying you’d surpass someone.” Suddenly, his hands feel very hot on my skin.

What is wrong with me?

This is the prince. Someone who’d likely have me killed for a discretion like… kicking a rock. Or something. I just need to make sure he’s on my side, because so far, he’s the only one with the means to find my mom.

And I still don’t believe him when he said he didn’t know where she was.

“A dance?” I ask.

He releases one side of my waist and grabs my hand. “I thought you’d never ask.”

The dance is rather simple, really. It’s just taking steps. The only thing that has the power to make me lose focus is the fact that his touch burns through my shirt.

I look up at him with a smug smile after three rounds of monotonous dancing.

“See?” I say, raising my eyebrows. “Easy.”

Then he spins me to the side and tilts me down so fast I don’t know what’s happening until I feel his hand pressed to the small of my back, keeping me from falling to the floor, and I’m staring up into his midnight eyes. I never noticed before that there’s a lighter shade of blue around his pupils, like the rarity of light in the night sky back home.

I never noticed the little divot in the middle of his bottom lip either.

He leans in closer and whispers, “Don’t get cocky.”

My heart is beating so fast I fear he can see the pulse of my neck. I just swallow and say, “I think cocky is your territory. It goes with your ego.”

Then he pulls me up straight, again, and a little closer to him. I do the same.

“The one you refuse to stroke?” Lucian says.

“There are other kinds of flattery.” I dare to look him right in the eye. “If you can prove to me that you deserve them.”

“Consider me at your mercy.”

But I was wrong—there is another thing that can make me lose my focus.

The whispering.

Chapter 12

A Fool’s Errand

LUCIAN

It was not until 121AA that Eunoia were allowed to attend Visnatus. As due to their nature, they were to only be given access to an education that pertained to healing and ruling a world as docile as Viridis. They did not need the knowledge of psychology or the strategy of war.

— CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE FORMING OF VISNATUS BY REPRESENTATIVE LUTHENIA

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