Page 23 of The Crownless Prince

Marcus blinked, taking in the castle that had appeared in front of them, towering over the landscape. The path ahead wove past trees and bushes up a tall hill to the base of Faine Castle, an imposing square with round towers for stairs at all four corners and in the middle of thefront and the back. Shale tiles covered the conical roofs of the towers and the two long gables forming the castle’s roof. Pairs of massive chimneys sprouted from the right and left ends of the roof, and another chimney rose between the gables in the center. Thin arrowslits marked the towers, and the wood shutters covering the windows in the walls of the castle were all shut fast—except…

Marcus blinked. The road curved enough he got a glimpse of the left side of the castle, where a snowy trellis with dormant vines stretched up over the stones to a window on the third floor…that was open. A bit of orangish light in the dark opening made him certain of it. Adriana had once promised she would never latch those shutters or cover the window for the winter in case he ever visited her. His heart twisted painfully, and he nearly tripped over the uneven surface of the road.

What did it mean, that as her betrothed arrived, even after her father had sent an assassin to kill him, Adriana had not sealed her window despite the cold? He didn’t know, and he hated the irrational thrill of hope that went through him. She deserved a husband as securely wealthy as Thorne, and Aedyllan needed stability more than Marcus needed Adriana. Shaking away futile dreams, he focused on navigating the muddy road.

There was no longer an icicle’s chance in a dragon’s cave for Marcus to have a future with Adriana.

Yet as they approached the castle, his heart beat faster. Every step took him nearer to the snow-dusted stone staircase. Soon he was standing in front of the stairs’ flared base and elegant stone balustradethat curved around a short decorative column. He looked up the steps that ran up the wall to an arched doorway in the central tower.

He was going to see Adriana for the first time in far too many years.

Edwin leaned close and whispered, “Whatever happens, I’ll stand by you.”

Marcus mumbled his thanks. He didn’t plan on getting caught—or falling to pieces when he saw Adriana—but it was reassuring to know his friend would have his back and understood his inner turmoil.

Servants led away the horses and carriage to the stables at the rear of the castle. Thorne’s servants grouped together behind the knights, who took up position following their lord. Marcus kept his hood up and slouched to make his tall frame smaller as they entered Faine Castle.

Chapter 10

Marcus had climbed the trellis.

Leafy vines slick from the afternoon’s summer rain covered the trellis that sprawled up the side of the castle to her window on the third floor. But he’d climbed it, just as he’d promised he would in his last letter.

Adriana stared at him in the flickering light of the candle on the table, moonlight limning his frame and highlighting his dark hair. Was he taller than she remembered? He made her feel so tiny.

It had been over a month since they’d last met up, as it was difficult for Marcus to explain disappearing by himself for a day at a time to his father. Some days Adriana despised Prince Arlius for keeping them apart.

“You came,” she whispered.

Marcus grinned, a softness in his eyes that sent her heart racing. “You asked me to.”

A blush crept over her cheeks. “I didn’t?”

“‘I wish I could see you,’” he quoted her letter. “So far as it is in my power, I’ll grant your every wish.”

Adriana’s knees went weak. A sudden need filled her,the tipping point of months of longing. She reached out and grabbed the front of his long tunic and pulled him close. He must have wanted the same thing she did, because then his lips were on hers, his fingers tangled in her tresses and hers gripping his silky hair.

Her first kiss wasn’t as magical as she’d thought it’d be—it was fumbling and awkward. There were a few ows when their teeth knocked together, or his hand got stuck in her curls, but they soon found a rhythm. When they separated, both breathing a little harder, she rested her palms on his chest and looked up into his brown eyes.

Her mind warned perhaps this was too big of a promise for two almost-seventeen-year-olds who weren’t even supposed to see each other, but her heart knew what it wanted.

“I wish to kiss only you for the rest of my days, Marcus Alimer.”

Aknock sounded on Adriana’s chamber door. She considered saying she was indecent and whoever it was couldn’t enter, but if it was Father, that’d only make his impending lecture worse. Before she had a chance to respond, the door opened, prompting a frown from her maidservant, Leena, that the young woman quickly hid.

“Adri—” A heavy sigh marked Jairus’s entrance.

She turned away from her open window and the snow-coveredlandscape beyond it and faced her older brother.

“You can’t wear that. And how many times have you been told to cover that window for the season? You’re going to catch cold.”

“My plant needs the sunshine.” She motioned toward the gooseberry plant in its pot atop a small stand next to her door. It had been a gift from Leena’s grandfather, Alban, the castle healer, after six-year-old Adriana had been jealous of his room full of medicinal plants and begged for one for her room. “Besides, I like the view.”

Very few of the rooms in the castle had a window, as most of the windows instead opened to the enclosed halls that ran around the perimeter. Adriana was lucky enough to have a room on the end of the third floor, and she cherished that window far too much to cover it with a tapestry for the winter. Both the view and the memories it held were too precious, and she’d made a promise…even if promises mattered little when only one person was alive to care.

She moved to sit on the edge of her bed, its heavy curtains currently tied back to the posts. “As for my gown, I’m in mourning. Why shouldn’t I wear black?”

Jairus hung his head but quickly straightened with a frown. He pushed his gold circlet back into its proper place across his forehead, then his fingertips brushed where the ends of the circlet tucked into his multistrand braids. She reflected distantly that her brother cared more about how she looked when meeting her betrothed than she did.

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