The Shadow Princess (Chronicles of the Stone Veil 6)

“King would love to go for a ride,” I muse out loud. I’ve completely ignored him since we arrived, although Bastien assures me he’s been exercising him. A few hours surely wouldn’t hurt. “Okay… I’m in. Tomorrow morning?”

“I’ll meet you at the stables at dawn,” he says, beaming brightly. “Early bird gets the worm.”

“You mean fish,” I correct him.

“I mean worm,” he says, hand flashing out to steal the rest of my muffin. “We’ll then use the worm to catch the fish.”

I laugh, and he winks at me before jogging off toward the training fields. He’s not a member of the army, but he loves to train with them, and he’s quite good with a sword.

Bastien offers a curt nod as I approach and turns to walk up the steps to the hall in a clear effort to avoid me.

“Bastien… wait a minute,” I call out.

He faces me, that mask of indifference in place. Which is fine. I’ve learned to school mine the same way.

Throwing my thumb over my shoulder in the direction I just came from, I say, “I was talking to Archer, and he invited me to go fishing tomorrow morning. I wanted to let you know as I won’t be here.”

Bastien shakes his head. “Not a good idea.”

He starts to turn away from me again, and without thought, I grab his arm. Grunting with annoyance, he looks down at where I’m holding him before bringing his eyes back to my face.

I don’t let go. “I’m sorry, but it seems you might have thought I was asking your permission. I wasn’t. I’m telling you, I’m going fishing with Archer tomorrow morning. Post whatever guards you want… hell, come yourself if you’re worried about it, but I’m going.”

“It’s unsafe for you to be away from town,” he replies, pulling his arm away.

“I’ll still be well within the boundary of the cloak,” I say firmly, noting that Kieran is watching us with interest. “And again, I’m not asking permission.”

Bastien’s eyes glitter as he steps toward me. Dipping his head, his voice rumbles low. “I could lock you up.”

My smile is saccharine. “I could have you executed for treason for sending me to the First Dimension. But I won’t. I’m merely telling you I’m going fishing. Deal with it.”

Kieran snorts, glancing away as he shakes with pent-up laughter.

Locking his jaw, Bastien gives me a mocking bow. “As you wish, Your Highness.”

“Thank you,” I say, my tone cool and dismissive. Bastien pivots full on his heel, marches up the steps to Conclave Hall, and disappears inside.

“Well, you’ve ensured he’ll be in a grumpy mood the rest of the day,” Kieran says gloomily. “And we’re sparring later, which means he’ll draw blood.”

I pat him on the cheek. “My apologies. Maybe you could knock some sense into him.”

Chuckling, Kieran walks up the steps with me. “So, how have things been this past week I’ve been gone? You and Bastien getting along?”

I glance at him as if he’s crazy. “Did that look like we’re getting along?”

Kieran shrugs. “One can hope.”

“Truth be told, I haven’t seen him much.” We enter through the large double doors. And because it still bothers me, I grumble, “I’m sure he’s been off with his woman.”

Kieran laughs again, stopping to face me. “That’s right. I forgot Bastien told you he was involved with someone.”

“He told you that?” I ask, incredulous.

Kieran nods. “He was drinking that first night you arrived. He told me he said that just so you’d drop any silly notions about rekindling something with him.”

“So, there’s no woman?”

“There was a woman,” Kieran says, and jealously flares hot within me.

“Ralina, right?” I grit out.

Kieran blinks in surprise. “Gods, no. That woman is a harridan. But he was seeing a woman who lives on the outskirts of town. He broke it off with her the day you returned.”

My emotions do a harsh zigzag, more jealousy to know he really was seeing someone, but then a flush of happiness that he broke it off. Relief that it wasn’t Ralina, and then a strong urge to find that awful woman and slap her.

I push down all those feelings. “Oh, well… I don’t even know what to say to that.”

Kieran rests his hands on my shoulders and peers at me seriously. “My advice is you don’t let him put you off. You push at him because as much as he wants to deny it, he still has feelings for you.”

I tip my head to the side. “How do you know?”

Kieran leans in, brushes a chaste kiss on my cheek, and chuckles again. “Trust me, Thalia. I just know.”

I watch as Kieran moves into the main hall. He’s given me a lot to think about where Bastien’s concerned, but for now, I put it all aside. It’s time to hear what Kieran learned and launch back into strategy planning.