Page 75 of The Princess Knight
“I see you haven’t wavered in your training.”
Ronan stopped, and Domhnall collided into his shoulder. “Is mytrainingreally what you wish to talk about?”
The prince sighed, brushing the hair out of his eyes. “I guess now that you have your princess to occupy you, you’re done with me.”
“She’s not my princess,” Ronan said. “She’s not my anything.”
Domhnall rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say. My point still stands. I had to wake up at first light for the chance to talk to you.”
Ronan sent him a sharp look. “Well, you can talk to me now. What is it?”
“My father has written. Niamh and I will be wed come summer.” Domhnall’s tone was straightforward, if not tired. He didn’t seem to feel joy at the thought of his impending marriage.
“Congratulations, then,” Ronan said. “I hope your marriage is a happy one.”
It was the truth. As much as he was angry at Domhnall, he couldn’t help but wish for the best for the man he grew up with.
Domhnall nodded. “As do I.”
Ronan began to leave Domhnall behind when he heard the prince’s voice call out once more.
Frustrated, he turned back to Domhnall and let himself demand the answers he hoped Domhnall would share on his own. “Was it a coincidence that we came to Caisleán at the same year as your future bride?”
“No,” Domhnall replied, jaw clenched.
“How long had you been planning this? You acted as if coming here was the culmination of our years of work, that it would be about us getting the training we always dreamed of. But I probably didn’t even factor into the equation, did I?” Ronan let the anger and hurt of the past few months finally surface. “For years, I considered you a brother, yet you never let me in on your plans.”
Domhnall softened ever so slightly, as if just realizing the effects of his actions on his friend. “Youarefamily to me, but there are some things I must keep to myself.”
Ronan scoffed, eyes hardening into stone. “If this is howyou treat family, I worry about your friends. Except, I’ve seen how you treated Clía. The games you played. Giving her and her kingdom no warning before backing out of the betrothal. Constantly trying to convince her to go home and attempting to manipulate her when it didn’t work.”
The prince bristled. “Are you really going to let a girl come between us?”
“I’m notlettinganything happen. It’s your actions that have led to this, that revealed to me a side of you that is selfish and cruel.”
Domhnall’s fists balled at his sides. “You don’t understand. I’m only doing what must be done.”
“You think I don’t understand duty? Sacrifice? It’s all I’ve ever known. But I don’t prolong the suffering of others to spare myself pain. I don’t relish causing harm, no matter how necessary. It’s cowardly and spiteful.”
Ronan took one last look at the prince, chest heaving with indignant rage, before turning back to the castle. This time, Domhnall didn’t call after him.
***
WHENRONAN FOUNDCLÍA OUTSIDE HIS ROOM, WAITING TOwalk together to their meeting, restlessness from his argument with Domhnall was still coursing through him. The moment his eyes fell on her, it was dulled into something more eager, if not anxious.
Was her presence here a peace offering? A way of moving on, continuing as normal, as friends? Or was it a brief respite before she continued avoiding him?
The thought filled him with dread, and he knew he couldn’t stay silent. He was done acting like there was nothing between them—he didn’t know what it meant, but confronting Domhnall had offered him relief. Discussing this should as well—for both of them.
They made their way toward the western wing, and once there was no one else in the hall with them, Ronan wrapped his fingers around her elbow, pulling her into an alcove.
“What are you doing?” she whispered.
In the shadowy hideaway, he could make out the confusion in her eyes.
“We need to talk,” he replied.
Her eyes narrowed. “No, we don’t.”
