“Close about.” That was somewhat of a lie. Union City existed on the border of the Lowlands and Midlands. I dragged my teeth over my lower lip. “Where are you from?”
“Vytrus.”
My heart skipped over itself. Vytrus was the Hyhborn Court nestled deep in the Highlands, the northernmost territory of Caelum and incredibly far from the Midlands, and yet, we all knew of the Prince of Vytrus. He was said to be one of the most dangerous of Hyhborn, unpredictable and volatile as the lands that he protected, and the hand of the King’s wrath. The King’s . . .
I’m one of the King’s favorites, in case you’ve forgotten.
The breath I took went nowhere as I stared at the back of his head and a sudden sense of knowing filled me. “The Prince of Vytrus?” I whispered. “What is his name?”
He turned his head slightly. A moment passed. “You already know it.”
CHAPTER 15
A faint tremor ran through my arms. “You’re not a lord.”
“No, I am not.”
Heart leaping, I jerked my hands back as if I’d been scalded while one chaotic thought crashed into another. I’d been touching a Hyhborn prince. The Prince of Vytrus was my Hyhborn. The dangerous, deadly being I’d rescued and was currently bathing was a prince. Oh my gods, Finn and those fools had bled and tortured a prince, almost—
“Finally,” he . . . Prince Thorne murmured.
I jolted. “Finally what?”
He faced forward. A moment passed. “You’re afraid.”
I blinked rapidly. Was I afraid? Who wouldn’t be, but . . . “You let me believe you were a lord.”
“I did.” His shoulders had tensed. “Is that why you’re now afraid? Because you know who I truly am?”
“I’m . . . I’m a little uneasy. You’re a prince and you have quite the . . .”
“Reputation?” he finished for me.
“Yes.”
His fingers tapped along the rim. “You shouldn’t believe everything you hear, na’laa.”
“Sure,” I replied. “I mean, you can take a lowborn’s soul.”
“Just because I can, doesn’t mean I have.”
My brows shot up. “You’ve created no Rae?”
“Not in a very long time.”
I frowned at the back of his head. The way he said that . . . “Exactly how old are you?”
He chuckled. “Older than I look. Younger than you’re probably thinking.”
Well, that was also incredibly vague, but as the shock of his actual identity lessened and my heart calmed, I realized I . . . I wasn’t afraid of him. I was more afraid of what he was and why he was here. There was no way the King would’ve sent the Prince of Vytrus to collect tithes. He was here for another reason that I wasn’t sure had anything to do with the information he’d sought from Muriel. My heart started pounding again. When the Prince of Vytrus acted on the behalf of King Euros, violence and destruction almost always followed.
My throat dried as I forced myself to pull it together once more. I resumed servicing him, giving a fine shiver as my hands once more made contact with him. “Why have you not created any Rae in a long time?”
“Because it . . . seems unfair to do that to a soul.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. It wasn’t fair. Frankly, it was disturbing, but I hadn’t expected any Hyhborn to think that, let alone a prince. “I’m relieved to hear that.”
He said nothing to that.
I eyed the tense line of his shoulder and arms and decided to change the subject. “You’re very far from home.”
“I am.”
Opening my mind to his, I saw and felt that white wall. It was like standing with my face to the sun on a warm summer day. “This information that you sought from Muriel? Is that why you’re here?”
That wall— that shield of sorts— kept his mind silent as he said, “Partly.”
“That . . . sounds mysterious.”
One side of his lips tipped up. “Does it?”
“Yes,” I murmured. Could he feel the pounding of my heart against the back of his shoulders as I leaned into him? “Your appearance is also mysterious.”
“How so?”
“One would think with us being so close to Primvera, you would simply request lodging there,” I pointed out.
“One would think that,” he said. “However, my needs are better met outside of the Court.”
My brows knitted. What could those needs be? Whatever vague answers I gained from him only led to more questions. I leaned in, biting down on my lip as I drew my hands over his flesh.