I nibbled on my bottom lip more. “I’ve wondered the same,” I admitted.
“Some say he’s the reason behind the disappearances in the castle, though. So maybe I’m being foolish to think he’s anything but terrible.”
My spine snapped upright. “Who did you hear that from?”
“Michas Crimsonale.” She nodded her head to the balcony doors, to where Michas stood inside with the other nobles. “But others are saying it too. They’re saying that the crown prince is silencing anyone who brings forth concerns about the crops.” She shrugged. “But I don’t think it’s the prince. Michas hates him. Everyone knows that, so of course, he would spread rumors.”
My eyebrows rose, and not from Meegana also thinking the prince was innocent, but because she’d just spoken so easily of the crop failures, as though it truly was becoming commonplace knowledge among the Solis that the orem was dying.
I was just about to ask her what else she’d heard of the crops when the door at the end of the balcony opened.
Lord Waterline stepped out. “Lady Ockson? I think Nuwin is looking for you.”
“Oh?” Excitement danced in Meegana’s eyes, and she gave me an apologetic look.
“Go.” I swished her away. “Enjoy the rest of your date with him.”
She smiled and squeezed my hand before sashaying away.
Alone on the balcony with Lord Waterline, I tried to stop my skin from crawling as he neared.
“And what about you? Are you ready for our date?” He sidled closer, and his breath reeked of alcohol, but more than that made me wary. A foggy gleam coated his eyes, the expression almost dopey, as though he’d also partaken in some kind of illegal substance only sold in the ostracized markets.
“I suppose,” I forced myself to say. “What did you want to do?”
He inched even closer, and a pulse of heat undulated from him. It hit my Shield, and the potency of it nearly took my breath away.
Carnal lust coated my Shield, and with a start, I realized the male who held the seduction affinity that I’d detected on my first training day was Lord Waterline.
Shivering, I flamed my magic inside me, concentrating on not letting my Shield slip, but my attention was so fixated on my Shield that I didn’t realize he’d moved so close. A shriek of surprise released from me when his arm snaked around my waist, drawing me to him even though I tried to pull back.
“There’s a nice view from my chamber. I was thinking I could show it to you.”
I recoiled when his hot breath hit my neck, and his affinity rose even higher.
Hot, pulsing need coated every line of my Shield. Concentrate. Don’t let it down, not even for a second.
“No, I don’t think so.” I tried to extract myself from his arms, but his hold tightened, and a flare of anger pulsed from him.
“Why are you fighting this?” He grinned, the expression looking unhinged.
“Because I don’t want my mind fogged by a male forcing his affinity on me.”
“Even if I could use my affinity to pleasure you like you’ve never been before? I could have you throbbing, begging for it, you’d be so hot.” He moved like lightning. In a blink, he had me pinned to the balcony’s railing.
I swallowed a yelp when he bent me backward, my spine arching painfully. I frantically pushed when he roughly grabbed my hips. Images of Vorl’s attacks reared in my mind, and a moment of panic consumed me. Not again. Not again.
But just as that age-old feeling of helplessness threatened to swallow me, I forced myself to remember that I was no longer weak or magicless. My Shield was strong. I was resisting his affinity, and I had power now. Immense power.
If only I chose to use it.
A maneuver that Sandus had taught me barreled to the front of my thoughts, and just as Lord Waterline tried to force his mouth to mine, I ducked and hit out, wrapping my fingers around his forearm before shoving and spinning as a rush of fire erupted across my skin.
Lord Waterline yelped in pain when I bent his wrist back and burned him at the same time, but I didn’t stick around to see what he would do next. I fled from the balcony and burst inside.
The door slammed closed behind me, and all eyes turned on me.
Only Georgyanna, the crown prince, and half a dozen of the males remained.
One glance in my direction, and the crown prince’s easy smile vanished. He cut through the group, striding toward me as his affinity rose, his aura so strong that it threatened to swallow me.
“What happened?” he asked when he reached me.
The door to the balcony opened, and Lord Waterline stumbled in, that dopey expression still painting his features. A ring of ice surrounded his burned wrist, his second affinity—a water element—helping his wound.
The crown prince stilled, and the air around him seemed to freeze. “What did he do?”
Each word came out as though it took actual concentration for him to speak. All of his energy had fixated on Lord Waterline, who was now casually ambling back to the wine table while everyone else carried on behind us, entirely oblivious to the prince’s rage.
“Nothing,” I replied as I wrapped my arms around myself and rubbed my hands on my biceps. “I got away. He wasn’t able to do anything thanks to a move Sandus taught me and a little help from my fire affinity and Shield.”
A thundercloud converged on Prince Norivun’s face, his eyes darkening until they looked like a raging storm. “Did he attack you?”
“Yes, and he tried to use his seduction affinity on me.” I cast a glance toward the male. Strangely, Georgyanna had joined him at the table. She was whispering to him again, and I could have sworn that Lord Waterline physically responded, his body loosening.
When she spun away, the young lord shook his head, then brought a palm to his forehead before glancing behind him. Genuine confusion covered his face, and in that moment, I knew.
Despite him being an absolute annoyance at dinner, Lord Waterline hadn’t purposefully attacked me on the balcony. Lady Endalaver had manipulated him to do it, and from the looks of it, he didn’t even realize what he’d just done.
Blessed Mother. She’s truly evil.
But before I could tell the prince what I’d witnessed, a ferocious snarl tore from his mouth, and Prince Norivun was striding away.
“My prince?”
But he flew forward, not responding, as his entire demeanor shifted until he was death on wings.
His powerful affinity rose with each step he took, and with a horrifying understanding, I knew that the prince was going to kill my date.
CHAPTER 15
“Wait, it’s not him!” I sprinted until I stood in front of the prince, then pushed him with everything I had before anyone could notice his response. “Stop!”
“I’m going to kill him.” Norivun’s chest rose and fell rapidly, and the aura around him crackled with malice.
I planted myself to the floor. “You can’t kill him.”
His eyes darkened to a frosty blue. “No? Then you don’t know what I’m capable of.” He tried to sidestep me, but I moved just as fast.
“Prince Norivun, please listen to me.”
“Ilara. Move.” Murder had painted itself upon his features, and I knew if I didn’t think of something immediately, he was going to murder Lord Waterline. And even though the lord was slimy and a cad, he wasn’t an abuser, and he wasn’t to blame for what had happened on the balcony. Georgyanna was.