Page 28 of Ties of Dust

However, she wasn’t inclined to think that Carrack’s position was enough of an advantage to justify the level of pride the prince and nobleman were expressing. Thebenefit of being connected to the continent had to be balanced against the limited coastline. Torrens and Siqual both had exponentially more navigable coastline. Dernan…well, Dernan’s small stretch of coast was hampered by high cliffs, it was true. But as the little duchy-turned-kingdom placed no value on the high opinion of the other kingdoms, it was in a class of its own.

Not to mention those cliffs were riddled with deposits of chameleon steel, which was more valuable than accessible shoreline. Or at least, it would be, if the situation were different.

“I don’t know if anything is indisputable,” she said at last. “But as I said, this is my first time in Carrack. I’ll have to reserve judgment.”

Lord Armand looked unimpressed by her lack of enthusiasm, but it didn’t seem to bother Prince Cassius. In fact, there was a light in his eyes that almost looked like excitement.

“I’ll take it as my personal challenge to convince you, then.”

Flora bit her lip, not trusting herself to reply. Why did her treacherous heart lurch when he looked at her like that? How much of a fool could she be? This was the prince betrothed to Mim.

Not betrothed yet, pointed out a most unhelpful voice in her mind.Due to dramatic events, the formalization of the betrothal has been delayed.

She ignored this irrelevant observation. Prince Cassius was Miriam’s intended, and Flora had better hope the betrothal was formalized soon. Because with it, the alliance would be sealed, and that was the only way the tether would lift. Well, that or the death of one of its subjects, shesupposed, but that was hardly a desirable way out of the mess.

At least if she died, Prince Cassius would probably be free and unencumbered, she thought glumly. If he died…well, she wasn’t sure how the magic of the tether would achieve its goal. She could hardly die twice as much as he did. Maybe twice as painfully?

“Is your shoulder hurting you?”

“What was that, Your Highness?” Flora looked up, embarrassed to realize she’d been so lost in her thoughts, she hadn’t even noticed the prince watching her.

“Your shoulder. You were shifting it like it was hurting particularly.”

“It’s fine,” she said quickly.

The evasive—and not entirely honest—answer was standard guard conduct. She wasn’t sure why it felt uncomfortable to be false with the prince, but it did.

“I’ll be glad to get off this horse,” she blurted out. “As I’m sure you will also. The ride does jolt the wound, doesn’t it?”

“It does,” he acknowledged, his brows lowered unhappily. “I wish you weren’t forced to suffer for no fault of your own.”

She smiled at that. “Whereas you were shot by an enemy archer through your own fault?”

He shrugged his unharmed shoulder. “It’s not a matter of fault, I suppose, but it’s a danger that comes with royal position.”

“Oh, I know,” she assured him. “I’m a royal bodyguard, remember?”

She caught a frown from Lord Armand, and subsided. His unspoken rebuke was accurate—she was being too informal with the prince. She was happy to let theconversation drop, anyway. There was plenty else to focus on as the group moved east into Carrack. The capital, Crandell, was several hours’ ride from the border, and Flora felt her curiosity grow as they rode through rich and prosperous farmland. She knew from her geography lessons that the northern part of Carrack was colder and not as arable, but the area surrounding the capital was temperate. Greener than Siqual, and with much gentler terrain than Dernan.

The road they were traveling on was wide and well-kept, and they moved over it quickly thanks to the prince’s guards clearing the way before their delegation. Some time after crossing the border, Flora noted a row of low hills ahead, and before long, the road beneath her horse’s hooves was climbing steadily. When they reached the top of the hill, she drew in a breath.

The city of Crandell sat in the valley below them, and their vantage point provided an excellent view of the capital. Having lived in the Siqualian capital of Sindon and the Torrenese capital of Toledda during her time at school, she’d thought she knew what to expect. But neither of those cities compared to Crandell. In size alone, the Carrackian capital dwarfed them. But it was more than just the size of it.

“What do you think?” Prince Cassius’s voice, a trifle smug, broke into her contemplation. She hadn’t even realized that she’d pulled up her mount, and he’d done so beside her.

“I think it’s enormous. And more beautiful than any city of stone and bustle has any right to be,” she said frankly.

“It is beautiful,” the prince agreed, his eyes straying to the city. “And it’s the largest city on the Peninsula.”

“By a lot,” she agreed. Her eyes roved over it. “What arethose patches of green? They must be large if we can see them from here.”

“Those are the public parks,” said the prince. “They’re one of Crandell’s best features, in my opinion.”

“Public parks right in the heart of the city?” Flora was impressed. “Are they open for anyone to use?”

“Of course. I’ll take you to one. They’re beautiful, peaceful places.”

Warmth seeped over Flora at the promise, and she tried to hide it with humor.

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