Page 15 of Winds of Destiny

Cam glances around, clearly looking for me. As soon as our eyes meet, his regal expression is replaced with a quicksilver smile.Turo, I see him mouth, and I make my way to him, leaving the Dellians to control themselves.

I bow as soon as I’m at the appropriate distance. Cam hates it, but I have to when his father and sister are with him. “Your majesty.” I greet the king first, and he acknowledges me with the faintest nod before making his way over to Kai, his awed subjects parting for him like water sliding off the sand.

Gilraen is next, arm-in-arm with her husband Loran. “Your highnesses,” I say with another bow.

“Lord Turo.” Gilraen inclines her head graciously, a small smile on her lips. “I understand we have you to thank for the fact that the palace is still standing.”

“It’s an art I’ve been practicing for years,” I tell her, and Cam makes a “pfft” noise and lightly smacks my arm.

“I’ll leave you to your art, then,” Gilraen says, and she and her husband move past us onto the dais, where undoubtedly she’ll do an excellent job of smoothing things over if I’ve offended the Dellians.

I don’t care if I have. I can’t even look at them right now. The only person I have eyes for is Cam.

We hover side by side in the doorway, surrounded by folks who aren’t quite bold enough to interrupt our moment. Usually I wouldn’t mind—Cam loves interacting with his people—but he’s so tense right now I wonder that he hasn’t snapped in half.

“I don’t want to be here.” He says it so softly I can barely hear his words just a foot away from him.

“I know.”

“It’s not just the Dellians themselves.”

That surprises me. I move a bit closer, tightening the aura of untouchability that exists around us. “What else is it?”

“I’m afraid of what they mean,” he whispers. “I’m afraid of what comes next. I don’t feel ready.”

His hands are shaking. It’s all I can do not to pick them up and hold them steady. I can’t touch Cam the way I want to right now, but I move in close enough for our shoulders to press together. Cam sighs and relaxes ever so slightly. “I’m here,” I tell him softly. “I’ll keep you safe.”

“But you can’t.” He looks toward the dais, where Kai and his family are waiting for him. “Not from this.”

Gods, my heart is breaking. He’s right; I can’t protect him from this. I hate that I can’t. Anger rises inside of me, anger with nowhere to go and no way to be expressed. There’s nothing I can do for him except support him through this and watch as it breaks both our hearts.

“Don’t look at me like that.” Cam nudges me with his shoulder. He’s smiling now, putting on a brave face. “Or you’ll make me cry, and then my father will lose what little remains of his temper. Come on.” He straightens up and pulls away from me—just a few inches, but it feels like a bottomless chasm. “Let’s go play nice and get this over with.”

He moves away, and I follow, staying as close as I dare. My hand has moved to the hilt of my blade, resting there like a touchstone. If the only things I can protect Cam from tonight are threats to his life, then I’ll do that to the best of my ability.

I’m already too late to protect him from threats to his heart.

Chapter Ten

Kai

Although he hides it well, I can see that Prince Camrael is miserable. Some of the clues are little things: the slight pallor of his golden skin, the way he holds his cup with two hands instead of one—to hide the shaking, I presume.

The biggest clue isn’thisbehavior at all, but that of Lord Turo, who’s as near to him as a shadow tonight. He’s absolutely expressionless, but the way he’s gripping his sword speaks volumes. The two of them are close, mirroring each other’s emotions. If one is upset, then the other is.

I need to do something about this.

I’ve secured the betrothal. Soon we’ll be married—proxy married, but it’s as good as the real thing to me, despite no one else here knowing my true identity. A contract between our cities is a good idea for many reasons, but the biggest reason is simply this—Huridell is stagnating. Our city has been prosperous and isolated for a long time, and despite the favor of our god and how we’ve kept our magic so far, signs of deterioration are starting to show.

We don’t explore, we don’t try new things, and nothing novel is ever created. We’re becoming as set in stone as the mountain itself while the rest of the world shifts and evolves, and that will be our downfall if nothing is done to combat it.

Camrael is everything I could ask for in a husband. He’s beautiful, he’s smart, he’s inventive, and his reputation for novelty and creativity has spread far beyond the bounds of his city. I’ve been tempted to write to him for years, but with my father’s obsessive monitoring of all communications and the way he’s gotten more and more desperate for control since my mother died, I decided it was safer not to put Camrael on his map.

Camrael is amazing, but right now he’s also unhappy, and that won’t do. I want him happy. I want him to… Shit, I want him to at leastlikeme and my people, rather than resign himself to us.

The first step toward that must be mine, given how unevenly my men and I have presented ourselves so far. Lord Turo, I know, is unimpressed with our conduct.

I’m impressed as hell withhim, but now isn’t the time to think about that. I make my way over to Cam, who appears to be at the mercy of his high priest at the moment, and move to intervene. “Excuse me,” I say to the priest, an older man with a white mustache that dangles down to his collarbones, “I need a moment with the prince.”

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