He pushed the thought away. He couldn’t hang the straw men until the time was right anyway, so he would just have to bide his time and hope that all would go well.
Retreating to his concealed spot along the wall, Dev did his exercises. He had just finished when he heard the key in the door, and he realized with a start that he’d been so preoccupied with his worries over the straw men he hadn’t realized how late he’d begun his exercises.
Stupid, Dev, stupid. You can’t afford lapses like that. They’ll get you killed.
Moving away from the wall, Dev turned his back to the door and swabbed frantically at his forehead with what was left of his right sleeve. The likelihood of the temperature in the stronghold causing someone to sweat was low, and Dev hoped whoever was about the enter wouldn’t notice.
Glancing over his shoulder, Dev saw the servant girl enter, eyes cast down. She scurried into the cell as if Dev were a viper who might strike at any moment, and dropped his tray on the small table.
“What is your name?” Dev asked, his voice a whisper. It came out harsh and grating, and the girl flinched before turning her head away. Cursing himself for pushing her, he turned his own back, not expecting her to answer.
“Tansy.” The voice was so faint he was surprised he’d heard it, and he turned to find that the girl had moved closer to him. Quick as lightning, her hand flashed out toward him, and he saw she held a hunk of cheese, in addition to what was on his tray. It was the most food he’d had since Ellaria had taken him.
“Thank you,” he said, breathing the words, afraid both of scaring the girl and alerting the guard to the fact that the two of them were talking.
She nodded, turning her eyes away from him again. He nibbled on the cheese, forcing himself to make it last, and waited as she stood there, shifting her weight from one foot to another and twisting her hands. As she hadn’t made a move yet to leave, he decided to venture another question.
“What news?”
“A loss,” the girl whispered, her face still turned away from Dev.
“Ellaria has suffered a loss?” He’d suspected it, but it was good to have confirmation. The girl gave him a quick, curt nod. “Why are you telling me this?”
At last the girl looked up at him, and he took a step back, surprised by the ferocity with which her eyes blazed. “I fear her.”
“You do?” He knew his shock must be evident, but it was too late to try to conceal it.
She nodded again. “She is a cruel mistress. Should she prevail—”
A noise from outside the cell made them both jump, and the girl almost ran to his waste bucket. She had been in the cell for longer than usual, and Dev knew the guard would soon notice.
“Wait,” he begged, making a split-second decision. He set his cheese aside and pulled Jess’s ring off, the once-snug band sliding easily from his finger. “Princess Jessmyn’s army will come for me. If I give this to you, will you see to it that she gets it?” He held it out, letting her see the pleading expression on his face. She stared at it, recoiling as if it could do her harm. Conflict was written on her face as clear as day, and he held his breath, feeling the seconds stretch out before him, seeming to slow. He didn’t breathe again until she reached out and snatched the ring. Without a word, she made it disappear and grabbed the waste bucket, hustling out of the cell.
When she was gone, he slumped against the wall in relief. Just because she’d taken it didn’t mean she’d do as he asked, of course. For all he knew, she might keep the ring hidden away somewhere, waiting until this was all done to use it to barter a better life for himself. The thought didn’t bother him much, though. What would he do in her situation? What he’d asked of her was not only foolish but dangerous. If Ellaria were to catch her in the act, or even hear the faintest of whispers against the girl, her life would be forfeit—and very probably the lives of everyone she knew or loved. Even if the girl laughed at the stupid prince who thought she might carry out such a suicidal mission for him, laughed all the way to town to trade the ring for some coin, he wouldn’t regret it. He’d taken a chance, and if nothing else, perhaps he might have provided the girl with a means of escape from her servitude to Ellaria.
He heard a scuffle outside his door and sidled up to it, feeling sick to his stomach. The girl must have tipped the guards off somehow, and now she would be punished, and it would all be Dev’s fault…
“Did ye hear?” It was the clever female guard. Her voice was low, but not low enough, and Dev flattened himself against the wall, straining his ears.
“A course I did,” Dev’s guard answered. His voice was angry, and Dev heard him spit into the rushes.
“Not that! Lord Reykstend’s lords! They declared for Her Majesty.”
“How many head?”
“Four thousand, if the rumors can be believed.”
“Four thousand!”
“Mallaric is well an’ truly pinned in, his supplies dwindlin’.”
Dev’s stomach sank like a stone. “…defecting every day, an’…” The guards were whispering now, and no matter how much he strained, he could hear only snippets of their conversation.
“Can’ talk here,” the male guard growled. Dev heard shuffling, then footsteps heading down the stairs, and he knew it was as much information as he was likely to get, at least for the time being. Perhaps the servant girl would bring him more—she still had to return his waste bucket.
His hopes were dashed a short while later, however, as the female guard opened his door, grunted at him, and flung the bucket his way. He managed to duck, sick with dread as he watched the door slam closed. Sinking to his knees beside his bed, he let his head fall against the mattress, and he prayed that the girl had chosen to leave the bucket rather than arouse the guards’ suspicions. Any alternative was too horrible to contemplate.
Chapter 34
Jess lay awake late into the night. Worries circled through her mind, causing her to thrash about in her bed, leaving her drenched in cold sweat. What if she failed? What if she lost Dev forever?
Closing her eyes, she swallowed hard against the ache in her throat. The fear was paralyzing. She had thought herself strong, capable. She had thought she’d known heartache, that she’d known sorrow and fear, but she’d never known anything like what she now felt. Her terror was like a living thing, sharpening its claws on her nerves and tearing her apart inside. She wanted to weep but feared if she started crying she’d never stop.
It did her no good—it did Dev no good—to allow the fear to consume her, but keeping the darkness at bay proved harder with each day that passed. Self-doubt plagued her as it never had before, and Jess’s entire body began to shudder with the effort of trying to maintain some semblance of calm. A sob escaped her lips when she tried to take a deep breath, and she had to press her fist to her mouth, biting down on it to hold back the sound of her fear and grief.
Rolling onto her side, she curled into a ball, gasping at the pain that seared through her chest. It felt like her heart had been torn from her. Desperate to push away her dark thoughts, she closed her eyes and pictured Dev. She remembered what it felt like to be in his arms, enveloped by his warmth, and she clung to the memory. If she concentrated hard enough, she could almost smell his scent, hear the sound of his voice, and it calmed her, made the shaking abate. Though it wasn’t the music of Lyrane, the distant sound of waves crashing against the shore comforted her, drove away the silence, and her muscles unclenched as she felt the sensation of weightlessness that preceded sleep.
“I wish we were alone.” Dev’s lips brushed her ear as he whispered to her.
A delicious shiver raced up her spine, raising gooseflesh on her arms, and Jess closed her eyes, reveling in the sensation. When she opened them, she saw that Dev had noticed the effect he’d had on her, and his gaze fell to her lips, making her shudder once again. She had been longing to be alone with him ever since the moment he’d arrived, but with all the ceremony that surrounded her twentieth birthday, it ha
d been impossible. This ball was the culmination of the celebrations, and once it was over, Jess intended to seize all the private time with Dev she could.
“So do I,” she murmured, her body protesting as he spun her away from him. It was a good thing they’d both been drilled in dancing almost since the day they were born, enabling them to move through the steps without conscious thought. Jess doubted they’d have been able to keep up appearances otherwise. Her cheeks blazed, and she hoped everyone would attribute it to the exertions of the dance, though she wondered how they could. Surely someone must have noticed the heated gazes she and Dev kept exchanging, the way their bodies arched toward one another even when the length of the ballroom separated them.
For months, she and Dev had exchanged love letter after love letter. The separation had been hard. The moment Jess had set sail for Lyrane at the conclusion of her visit to Moritan, she’d had to excuse herself and hide in her quarters, pleading sea sickness. In truth, she’d sobbed as if her heart were breaking, hating the sea as it pulled her farther and farther away from Dev.
It wasn’t that either of them intended to keep their love a secret. Given how much her parents esteemed Dev’s, Jess felt certain they would all be thrilled when they discovered their children were in love. But they hadn’t wanted to say anything to their parents until they were all together again, and contrive as they might, they had not been able to engineer a way for their families to come together in one place. It had been excruciating to be forced to wait until the grand gala to celebrate Jess’s twentieth birthday.
Even then, its arrival had brought them little relief, seeing as how Jess was the center of attention, beset by an endless stream of well wishers bearing lavish gifts. No matter how much she wanted to get away, her absence would have been conspicuous. She and Dev had no choice but to try to be patient, though neither of them had proved to be particularly good at it.
“Must I give you up to him?” Dev asked, giving a subtle jerk of his chin in the direction of the lord to whom Jess had promised the next dance.
“I’m afraid so,” she confirmed.
“Is it selfish of me to want to keep you all to myself?”
Her heart raced. “Should I care if it is?”
He led her through a turn, then wrapped an arm around her waist, his face inches from hers. It took a great deal of restraint for her not to press her lips to his and kiss him with all the pent up passion she’d been storing over the past six months. She’d reserved this dance for him because it required a great deal of closeness. Her nerves had tingled at the thought of him being so near, but now the dance felt more like torment.
“You’re the crown princess. Tell the orchestra to keep playing, order them not to let this dance ever end,” he suggested.
“If only.” She almost moaned as his fingertips grazed her bare arm.
As the music drew to a close, Dev pulled her into the final pose, one hand pressed against the small of her back, his touch sending heat down to the tips of her toes. The other held one of her arms aloft, and her free hand rested against his chest. She could feel his heart pounding as he looked down at her, his eyes devouring her.
“Thank you for the dance, Princess Jessmyn,” he said, his voice caressing her name.
“Thank you, Prince Devaran,” she replied, unable to prevent a small smile of pleasure as his eyes darkened with hunger at the way she said his name.
She didn’t have a chance to dance with him again that night, but every time her eyes searched the crowd for him, she found him looking back at her. By the time the ball ended, she couldn’t remember anything other than dancing with him, watching him as he danced with other ladies, looking up to find his eyes fixed on her face. It was as if the noisy crowd hadn’t even existed.
“Goodnight, Jess,” he said. As he bent over and brushed his lips over her hand in a proper kiss, one of his fingers slid over the sensitive skin of her inner wrist, the caress making her shudder.
“Goodnight,” she said, hoping her voice was steady. She didn’t know what she said to his parents or Tanvir, and she had no recollection at all of saying goodnight to her own parents.
Back in her chambers, her maids helped her exchange her heavy ballgown for a light, gauzy silk nightshift. As they unbound her hair and brushed it out, Jess closed her eyes and curled her toes into the soft fur on her floor, her mind lingering on images of Dev. Alone at last, she stepped out onto her balcony as she did every night, to listen to the music of Lyrane before going to sleep. The breeze was soft against her face, and despite the lateness of the hour, strains of music floated on the air, revelers singing as they returned from the ball, and commoners raising their voices as they left the taverns and returned to their homes.
“Jess,” a soft voice hissed from below. Startled, Jess looked down to see Dev step out of the shadows and into the flickering torchlight.
“What are you doing down there?” she asked, leaning over the balcony rail. He’d changed out of his ball finery and looked more like himself, wearing black breeches tucked into black boots, and a loose white shirt that was open at the neck. His hair rippled in the breeze, and she wished she could kiss his throat, smell the scent of his skin, feel his pulse under her lips.
“I haven’t given you your gift yet,” he called back. She thought he looked nervous, though it was difficult to tell as the darkness threw shadows over his face.
“Yes, you have,” she said, confused.
“No. That was from my family. This is from me.” He brought a small silver flute to his lips and, closing his eyes, began to play.
The song was her favorite, a ballad about the first warrior queen of Lyrane, who had defied her tribe by falling in love with an enemy prince. The lovers had refused to let anything keep them apart, and together they had united the tribes and formed the Realm of Lyrane, becoming its first king and queen, and ruling for many prosperous years. Legend had it that the people were so happy to live in peace and harmony at last that they had begun to sing and never stopped. All Lyranian children grew up hearing that it was the spirits of the first Lyranians that ensured the Realm was never without song. It was a difficult song to play and, though Dev made several mistakes, it had never sounded so beautiful to Jess. As the last shivering note was carried away on the breeze, tears streamed down her cheeks.
“I promised I would learn to make music for you,” he said, opening his eyes and looking up at her.
“I can’t believe you learned to play that for me.”
“I told you I would do anything for you and I meant it.”
“Thank you, thank you so much.” She wanted to say more to him, but she was overcome. He must have practiced night and day since they’d left Moritan in order to be able to play the piece. Even though Jess had played all her life, the piece was still a challenge for her, and she marveled at the dedication it had taken for him to learn it. Never had she been so touched.
“I wish I could hold you right now.” Love and longing mingled in his voice, and she ached to be in his arms.
“Tomorrow. We’ll ride out together, spend the entire afternoon alone. I know just where we can go.”
“Tomorrow can’t come fast enough. Sleep well, my darling.”
“I love you, Dev.”
“And I love you, Jessmyn. Always and forever.”
Ten minutes after he’d melted into the shadows, she was still on her balcony, staring at the spot where he’d stood, making music for her. When she finally rested her head on her pillow, she fell asleep with a smile on her face and music in her head.
Chapter 35
“I could never thank you enough for my song. It was the most wonderful gift I’ve ever received,” Jess said, throwing her arms around Dev.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it. I hope I didn’t butcher it,” he said, wincing. Playing the ballad had been one of the most nerve-racking things he’d ever done. He knew how much the music meant to her, and he’d wanted so desperately for the song to be perfect. He’d found th
e Lyranian music tutor as soon as he had returned to Estoria, and he’d played every day for hours, until his fingers were numb and he was huffing for breath.
“It’s never sounded so beautiful.” Her eyes shone with love as she caressed his face.
“I’ll play it for you every day if you like.”
“I want to be with you every day. I’ve missed you so desperately.” Her voice caught.
“I’ve missed you too,” he said, his own voice hoarse. He hugged her fiercely, not wanting to let her go. Inhaling her jasmine scent, he closed his eyes and relished the feel of the smoothness of her cheek against his. He couldn’t tell if she was trembling or if it was him; it was probably both of them.
Telling their parents they were going for a ride, he and Jess had set out from Mashala Palace, riding hard for the small wood north of the castle. Jess had led him to a cozy, comfortable hunting lodge nestled in a clearing. Her parents and other nobles used it during the hunting season but it was currently unoccupied, and she had assured him that no one would bother them there. They could finally have the solitude they both craved.
“I’ve thought about you night and day,” Jess whispered, her lips brushing his ear. Now he knew for certain he was shivering. Just being close to her was enough to make every nerve in his body come alive.
“And I’ve thought of you. I’ve lain awake every night since my return from Moritan, aching for you,” he told her, leaving a trail of kisses along her jawline as he made his way to her lips.
“We had so little time together there.”
“We’ve always had so little time together.” His lips found hers and he wound his fingers through the silken strands of her hair. Pins fell out, destroying the careful arrangement, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. She responded to his kiss with a passion that set him on fire, the small noises of pleasure she made against his mouth further inflaming him.
“How will we explain your hair?” he asked when they came up for air. He wasn’t really worried about it. After all, a good hard ride was bound to muss her hair. But he wanted to be sure Jess wasn’t worried.
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