Page 8 of Winds of Destiny

The prince hasn’t stopped scooping up salad yet. After weeks on the road, I’ve been looking forward to fresh foods like this one, but the way he’s shoveling it onto his dish makes it clear he doesn’t intend for me to get any of it. It’s a cute method of annoying a guest, but I’ve handled far worse.

Hells, I’mbeingfar worse. Seeing as I’m letting my betrothed, his father, and everyone else in this place believe that I’m nothing more than a common military man rather than the crown prince of Huridell.

“Is it because he’s merely lazy?” Prince Camrael goes on, pausing just long enough to tip the bowl over his plate so that the last of the tart-smelling dressing drips down onto his enormous pile of slender, shiny greens. “Or is it more a matter of cowardice?”

I don’t have to look at my people to know that they don’t like hearing these insults to my honor. For my part, though, I find it more amusing than anything else. Not an hour ago I was wondering if the prince would be a bit dull despite my first impression outside these walls—gods forbid, perhaps he was even going to beboring. This, at least, proves that he’s witty if not wise.

From the way his sister and father are clenching their jaws with repressed emotions, they understand what’s going on as well.

Well, I’m not going to make things worse for any of them. Yet.

“Neither of the above,” I say pleasantly as I reach for a platter of fish that’s too large for the prince to eat it all before I can get to it. “He is entangled in a number of important projects that make it impossible for him to leave the city, that’s all. He sent us, who have his full trust, in his stead. Have faith that we will do everything in our power to bring you to him safely.”

“Thank you for that lovely reassurance that you’re not going to murder me the instant we leave Zephyth,” Prince Camrael says with a perfectly false smile. “We might as well throw the idea of the proxy marriage out the window now that we have your prince’strustto rely on.”

The smile might be false, but it sits prettily on his face. He’s a handsome man, slender and smooth-skinned where my people are more ruggedly built. The look in his eyes cautions me against underestimating his abilities, though—not that I would, after seeing how he moved those enormous creatures to protect us earlier.

He’s not just witty, he’sclever. Clever and beautiful and sharp as a knife.

Oh, I’m liking this match more and more. The proxy marriage is a boon I wasn’t expecting, but as soon as the king proposed it, I said yes.

“It would be a sinful waste to murder someone as exquisite as yourself,” I say to the prince, and I’m pleasantly surprised when he blushes.

“How would your prince feel about you being so blatant in your appreciation of his fiancé?” Prince Camrael asks.

I smile with utter surety. “He would be delighted by it. Our society is more…acceptingof the desire for connection than many others, as I’m sure you’ve heard.”

“Yes,” Prince Camrael agrees. “Ihaveheard that your father has a vast harem. No wonder your prince had to stay behind and protect his position; I imagine it’s commonplace to kill the competition in order to ascend.”

“Camrael,” the king says warningly, but I’ve been expecting this line of questioning.

“On the contrary,” I reply. “It isn’t a question of birth order, but of magical strength that chooses the next ruler.”

Prince Camrael tries and fails to hide his curiosity. “Magical strength?”

I lean in as if conveying a big secret. “We don’t speak of this with outsiders, but since you’ll be family soon…” I love the way his eyes narrow. “In Huridell, we’ve retained more of our people’s magic these past few decades than in the cities on the plains.” The reason for that I didn’t know; whether it’s because we were the only city in the mountains, far from the center of the world whence the everwinds had once emanated, or because our patron god is simply stronger, no one had yet determined.

“Prince Eleas is stronger in magic than any of his siblings, or indeed anyone else in the entire city. He is the undisputed heir to the throne.” I have been ever since my mother’s death five years ago.

“Hmm.” Prince Camrael’s smile is thin. “Let’s hope it stays that way.” He takes exactly one bite of his huge helping of salad, then motions for a servant to take it all away. “And bring me a fresh plate,” he tells the man, who immediately delivers one.

He grabs the fish and begins to heap that onto his brand-new plate. I was wrong—the platterisn’tbig enough to deter him from keeping the rest of us from eating it. His manners are as challenging as they are ridiculous. I want to bend him over my knee and spank him until he apologizes.

Nowthere’sa thought…

His sister intervenes. “Do save some for our guests,” she tells her brother, her voice smooth and untroubled as she gets up from her seat, grabs the food, and moves it out of his reach and closer to my men.

The crown princess is attending to us like a table servant. Prince Camrael looks pained by her actions—there is a limit to his willingness to discomfort his family, then. That’s promising. Not even he can be a brat all the time, it seems.

“I was trying to be polite,” he tells her, before insincerely smiling at me. “I assume your favorite dish is the blood of your enemies, judging from how you Dellians have presented yourselves at our table tonight. I was waiting for one of you to ask for it, and perhaps some skulls to drink it from.”

“You dare!” My second-in-command, Sergeant Rusen, is on his feet, one hand going to his sword hilt. The others are following his lead—and damn it, now the guards posted against the wall are going from purely ceremonial to deliberately lowering their spears in our direction. I need to think fast.

First things first. “Sit down,” I say, not bothering to look at Rusen. He’s trained with me since we were twelve and knows better than to disobey a direct order from me. If there’s one thing my father is good at, it’senforcing the chain of command.

Rusen sits immediately. The others follow suit. Good.

Now for the next bit of damage control. I look at King Perael, who is staring at us with narrowed eyes. For all that this engagement was his idea, I can see that he won’t allow his son to go into a situation that he doesn’t trust. He is an overbearing father, that much is clear, but he cares for his child.

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