Falling Kingdoms

Cleo’s smile widened. “Well, I’m not in love with Nic, so I guess we’ll just have to figure it out.”

He pulled her into his arms again, more tentatively this time. “I’m still furious that you ran away and nearly got yourself killed. This is not the right place for you right now.”

“There’s no other place I could find the answer I need.”

“The search will have to wait.”

“But it can’t wait.” Her throat grew tight again.

He studied the ground for a moment before raising his gaze to hers. “We can’t stay here. You must realize that, don’t you?”

Cleo’s heart beat hard enough to burst from her chest. She couldn’t forget the real reason she’d come here. Yet she also couldn’t deny that he was right. If there was a war against Auranos brewing, this was no place for its princess. Her throat thickened. “I wish there was another answer.”

“Give it a week,” Theon said. “And I’ll return here myself. I’ll find out if this legend you believe in so completely is true. Let me do that for you.”

She looked up at him with gratitude before she nodded. “Thank you.”

“I’ll also find Jonas Agallon when I return.” His expression darkened. “He needs to answer with blood for what he’s done.”

She shivered at the suggestion of violence. “He blames me for what Aron did to his brother. He still carries Aron’s dagger.”

Theon looked at her sharply. “Did he threaten you with that dagger?”

She nodded, then turned her face forward so she wouldn’t see the flash of rage in his eyes.

“If I find him,” Theon growled, “he won’t have to worry about taking his vengeance on anyone for his brother’s death. He’ll be joining his brother in the ever after.”

“He grieves Tomas. It doesn’t excuse him for his actions, but it gives meaning to them.”

“I disagree.”

Cleo couldn’t help but give him an amused look.

“What?” he asked cautiously.

“We do disagree on a lot of things, don’t we?”

Theon squeezed her hand. “Not everything.”

Her smile grew. “No, not everything.” She reached her arms around his neck and kissed him again, softly at first and then harder.

In that moment, her optimism fully returned. Theon would return here soon without her and he would certainly have an easier time in his search than she had. She would face the wrath of her father in Auranos. After he calmed down about her ill-advised journey, she would explain very simply that she had fallen in love with a guard and if the king wanted his youngest daughter to be happy—and of course he did—then he would approve Theon as a suitor for her. There was no reason why Theon couldn’t be knighted and given a higher position within the palace to help raise his social status and make him suitable in anyone’s view to court a princess. It wasn’t as if she was the eldest daughter and first in line for the throne.

There was the sound of hoofbeats from behind and Theon tensed, pulling away from their embrace. Three figures on horseback were approaching and moved around them to block the road to the village up ahead.

“Ah, here you are.” The one in the middle didn’t look very old at all, eighteen or nineteen at the most. He had dark hair and dark eyes and was dressed all in black. The men on either side of him wore red uniforms that Cleo immediately recognized as Limerian.

A chill went down her spine, and she drew her cloak closer around her.

“Whom do you address?” Cleo asked crisply.

“You are Princess Cleiona Bellos,” the dark-haired boy said, staring down at her with a rather bored expression. “Correct?”

Theon tightened his grip on her wrist. She took this to mean that she wasn’t to answer the question.

“Who wants to know?” Theon asked instead.

“I am Magnus Lukas Damora, prince of Limeros. It’s an honor to meet the princess in person. She’s every bit as lovely as I’ve been told.”

She stared up at him in surprise. Prince Magnus. Of course she’d heard of him. But this was not their first meeting. He’d visited the palace with his parents when she was very young, only five or six years old. Her gaze moved to his cheek, where he had a scar that stretched from the corner of his mouth to his ear, and a sudden memory returned to her, one that she hadn’t thought of since she was only a child.

A boy, crying, his cheek weeping blood. It dripped onto a colorful rug at the palace. His mother, the Limerian queen, handing him a cloth napkin to press against his face. She hadn’t gotten down on her knees and hugged him to her chest. His father, the king, growled at the boy to stop making a mess.

This boy didn’t look at all like one who would cry over a little blood. In fact, the cold way he studied her made her feel as if it she’d been touched by ice. Some might find him very handsome, but she did not. There was a cruel and unpleasant edge to his appearance. He made her immediately uneasy.

But dealing with unpleasant people was part of her duty as the king’s daughter.

“It’s a great pleasure to make your acquaintance, Prince Magnus,” Cleo said, keeping her voice polite and measured. “Perhaps we’ll meet again sometime soon. We’re about to meet our friend in the village up ahead before we return to Auranos.”

“How nice for you,” he replied. “And who is your friend who stands next to you?”