I rounded the corner to my room when I felt someone’s hand slide over mine and jerk me to a stop.
“What are you doing?” I searched over my shoulder and tried to pull my hand away from Evren’s touch, but he refused to let go.
“Are you okay?” He practically growled the words at me, and the sound infuriated me.
“Am I okay?” I laughed. “Why in the gods would you care if I am okay?”
He stepped closer to me, and I retreated. “I didn’t know.”
“Didn’t know what?” I jerked away from him again, and this time he let my hand fall from his. But that didn’t stop him. He pushed forward until I had no choice but to press my back against the wall.
“About your father. I had no idea.”
I swallowed hard as he searched my face. I didn’t want to talk about my father with him. Not when his parents were the ones who took him from me so ruthlessly.
“It doesn’t matter.” I shook my head and looked away from him.
“It does.” He lifted his hand as if he was going to force me to turn back to him, but the markings on his fingers caught my attention.
“What happened?” I reached for his hand and turned it over in my own. The tips of his fingers were solid black, and the color seemed to be bleeding up his skin. I had no idea how I hadn’t noticed it earlier. I pressed my fingertip to his dark one and a flare of power shot through me.
“Nothing.” He pulled away from me and slid his hands into his pockets as if I could forget what I had just seen.
“Something happened.” I pointed toward him. “Were you hurt?”
A grin slid across his lips. “Are you worried about me, princess?”
“Of course not.” My chest felt heavy under my lie.
“You’re not a very good liar.” His voice was low, and his gaze dropped to my mouth as he spoke. The combination was deadly.
“I’m not lying.”
“You know that I face far worse every day than what lies behind the walls of this castle. I can handle myself.”
“Do you?” I blinked up at him. “Your mother seems pretty terrible to me.”
“The queen is not my mother.”
I shot back, my back slamming harder into the wall, and searched his face for the truth. “What?”
He pulled his hand from his pocket, and I could barely focus on the stain of his skin. He touched the bottom of my braid, exactly where Gavril had earlier, and he twisted it around his dark finger.
“I am the bastard son of King Riven. I was born a month after his wedding to the queen, and I was brought to the castle shortly after.” His muscles tightened as he spoke, and I felt dizzy as I watched him.
“Where’s your mother?”
He shook his head, but I felt desperate to know the truth of his words.
“Is she alive?”
“From what I know, she is.” His gaze darkened as he looked down at my braid which he was still toying with. “I am forbidden to see her.”
“Why?”
He bit down on his bottom lip as his jaw clenched. I should have respected his privacy. But Evren was such a mystery to me, and regrettably, he was one that I was desperate to figure out.
“Why, Evren? Because of the queen?” I practically begged for his answer.