Page 38 of Song of the Shadow Prince
“Did you ever see Arya naked?” I interrupted, raising a haughty brow.
He choked out a cough. “What? Of course not! And why are you referring to yourself in the third person?”
I laughed. “Then how would you know if she had a mark or not?” I asked, ignoring his last question. “You wouldn’t.” I picked my torn dress from the floor and strolled toward him. “So let’s stop pretending we know each other. You said it yourself. After this, we go our separate ways. Let’s not complicate matters, eh?”
He grunted and pushed past me, almost knocking me down on his way to the door.Rude.
Once he was out of the room and the door was closed, I removed the comfortable clothes of his I’d worn to bed and stepped back into the torn dress and cloak. It would probably be odd if I showed up at the Ryder residence in men’s clothing. I was sure Lord Zacharia would have much to say about his daughter’s virtue—or lack thereof.
When I was fully clothed and Damien’s shirt and pants were folded and placed neatly on his bed, I walked out of the room to where he and his uncle were waiting. Royal Prince Bai was pacing the living room with hurried steps. When I walked in, he suddenly stopped.
“Oh, thank the immortals,” he grumbled. “We need to go,now!”
I frowned and looked between them. “Did something happen?”
Damien nodded. “The emperor has invited your family to the palace for lunch,” he responded icily.
Utterly confused, I looked at them, unsure what the big hoopla was. “Oh, okay, cool. I’m starved. Your hospitality is shit, by the way. You didn’t even offer me a glass of water.” I wagged a finger at them. “What’s the big deal?”
They both froze. “My brother obviously has an agenda,” Royal Prince Bai said coldly. “One for which weallneed to be alert. If he knows what Damien did last night…”
Ah, now I understood. They were worried the secret was out and we, specificallyI,was getting invited to the royal palace to spill the beans.
“Relax,” I said calmly. “No matter what he says or tries, he won’t get a single thing out of me,” I declared. “I promise you both, you have my word. And my word is my bond.”
Damien furrowed his brows, wearing a look that said he wondered if this new version of Arya was real or not. He was probably afraid I’d revert to the old Arya any moment.
“All due respect, but you’re not known for keeping your promises, Lady Arya,” Royal Prince Bai grumbled. “And you don’t know what the emperor is willing to do to get information out of—”
“If I tell you I can handle it, will you believe me?”
I wasn’t Special Forces or anything, much less infantry trained, but I was an Army soldier, which meant I had some tricks up my sleeve. And as the great American I was, I didn’t negotiate with terrorists. Although I refrained from telling them that last part. Calling the emperor a terrorist might get me beheaded. My hand fluttered to my throat and I gulped.Yikes.
When they didn’t respond, I sighed loudly. “I’m not the Arya you knew, okay?” I admitted. “You have nothing to worry about.”
“You said the same thing the day after the boat incident,” Damien said with narrowed eyes. “But what does that mean?”
I sighed again, not wanting to get into the nitty gritty. “It means you have nothing to fear. The old Arya is long gone… at least for now.”
Royal Prince Bai dramatically waved his hands, halting the conversation. “Enough! We don’t have time for this. I brought one of my servants over last night, so Lady Arya will pretend to be her this morning and leave the island with me. I am also invited to this luncheon. But we need to leave now.”
Damien shook his head. “I’ll fly her out—”
“You can’t,” his uncle cut him off. “It’s daytime. The guards on the island cannot see you in dragon form. I will fly her—”
Damien growled so loud, the foundation of the volcano rumbled. I steadied my footing and looked between the older prince and Damien.What the hell?
“Damien?” Royal Prince Bai asked in confusion.
Damien furrowed his brows, seemingly just as confused by his reaction, and shook his head. “Apologies, Uncle, I…”
“I won’t shift fully. I’ll carry her out. She won’t ride me like she did you,” he said carefully, reassuring his nephew.
Damien nodded thoughtfully, then glared at me before storming away.
I jerked back and looked at Royal Prince Bai. “What the hell did I do?”
He stared at Damien’s retreating figure. “I… I don’t know.”
