Page 56 of A Thieving Curse

“Curling his tail around his ankle?” guessed Meredith.

“Ducking his head like this?” Peter scrunched his shoulders and lowered his head in a perfect imitation of Alexander’s guilty stance.

Alexander held up a hand. “Wait. You all think I look like a puppy?”

“Yes,” Meredith, Jasper, and Peter said together, while Lucas said, “Sometimes.”

Raelyn tried and failed to bite back a laugh.

“Whatever.” Alexander returned to eating, as did everyone else.

“So, Raelyn,” Lucas said around a mouthful of food. Meredith tutted, and Lucas swallowed before continuing. “How many siblings do you have? What are they like? Did they all come with you?”

“Lucas,” Jasper said gently, “don’t pry.”

“No, it’s all right,” Raelyn answered. Alexander’s eyes widened. But it didn’t hurt so much to talk about now that she had closure. “I have three brothers. The eldest is Frederick. We were never close. He had to be trained to be king of Eynlae while I was tutored to be queen of Rethalyon. As we got older, we…drifted apart. Argued more. Maybe not ideal for Rethali-Eynlaean relations, but we still love each other.” She ate a piece of carrot. “Nathaniel is fourteen. I love him, but he’s a brat.”

Alexander cocked his head. “In what way?”

“He’s spoiled—even for a prince. He thinks he knows everything, and his favorite pastime is getting Gareth and I in trouble.”

“Trouble?” Lucas propped his chin in his hand. “What does a princess get in trouble for?”

“Let me guess,” Alexander teased. “Wore the wrong dress? The wrong diadem? Curtsying wrong?”

“You’re impertinent,” Raelyn grumbled. Peter hid his mouth behind his hand.

“I was raised in a cave.” Alexander laughed. “Come on. I’m dying to know what gets a princess in trouble.”

“Me too,” Lucas chimed in.

She huffed. “Avoiding my studies. Sneaking into my brothers’ more interesting lessons. Reading the wrong books—fables and legends instead of history. Lying about being sick to skip etiquette class. Horseback racing.”

Alexander’s fangs flashed as he smiled. “You’re more interesting than you let on, Raelyn.”

“Thank you?” She took an overlong drink of ale. “Trouble was always Gareth’s idea, though. He’s a year and a half older than me, and my best friend, rather to our parents’ chagrin. It’s not that I didn’t take my duties seriously, I did, but…Gareth understands me in a way my parents don’t. We weren’t the prince second in line to the throne and the future queen of Rethalyon when we were together. We were just…siblings.” She looked at Alexander. “Thank you again. For letting me see him.”

Alexander lowered his eyes, his wings drooping. She hadn’t meant to make him feel guilty.

Trying to alleviate the tension, she grasped for a new subject. “Why don’t you tell me about yourself?”

“Oh, it’s not polite for the host to talk about themselves.” Alexander looked up again with a smirk.

“It’s not polite to put your tail on the table, but here we are.”

The prince glanced down. Apparently, he hadn’t noticed that his tail had curled up and the spade-shaped end rested on the edge of the table. It flicked down. Lucas snorted, and Peter stifled a laugh.

“They covered tail etiquette in one of the classes you didn’t skip, did they?” Alexander asked, a rough edge to his voice.

“You joked about eating me,” Raelyn ventured, hoping she hadn’t crossed a line. “I can joke about your tail.”

Alexander blinked, then a slow smile spread over his face. “Fair.”

“Is…is it really not polite for us to talk about ourselves?” Lucas asked.

“No, please, Lucas.” Raelyn shifted her attention to him. “Tell me all about yourself.”

The prince groaned. “You have no idea what you’ve done.”

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