His olive-green eyes sparkled. “With pleasure, Princess Cleo.”
“Close enough.” She laughed. “Tell me, Kurtis, now that you’ve been relieved of many of your duties around the palace, you must have a great deal of time on your hands, yes?”
“I suppose I do. Although, I hope to be invited to future council meetings, at Prince Magnus’s discretion of course. I believe I could still be of help.”
She wondered how likely it was that Magnus would agree to that. “Well, you’ve just reminded me of something my sister loved and did very well. I would like to take archery lessons to honor her memory, and it seems that you would make an excellent tutor.”
“It might seem vain to agree with you, your grace, but I would. And I’d be honored to be your tutor.”
“That’s wonderful news, thank you. Can we meet every day?” she asked eagerly. “I tend to get bored with new hobbies unless I fully immerse myself in them.”
Kurtis nodded. “Every day it is. I’ll try my very best to teach you well, princess.”
“Teach her well?” Magnus’s deep voice cut between them. “Teach her what, might I ask?”
Cleo thought it best not to act guilty. After all, they were speaking plainly in a hallway, not whispering in an alcove or guarding the conversation from potential eavesdroppers. Further, she had nothing to be guilty of, and so she turned to the prince without hesitation.
“Archery,” Cleo said. “Lord Kurtis is a skilled archer and he’s agreed to tutor me.”
“How very kind of him.” Magnus studied Kurtis with a sharp, even glare, as a bird of prey might study a small rabbit, right before tearing off its head.
“Yes. Very kind.” Her heart sped up again, but she couldn’t falter now. “Magnus, I need to speak with you.”
“So speak.”
“In private.”
Kurtis bowed his head. “I’ll leave you alone. Princess, perhaps we can have our first lesson tomorrow at midday?”
“Perfect.”
“Until then. Your highness, your grace.” Another bow and Kurtis turned on his heels and walked down the hallway.
“My deepest apologies for interrupting,” Magnus said, his tone free of sincerity. “So. Archery?”
Cleo waved her hand dismissively. “A simple hobby to help pass the days here.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t you already have a hobby? Yes, I believe you’ve previously spent your free time plotting vengeance on me and my entire family?”
“I have many hobbies,” she countered.
“Indeed. Now, what is it you wish to speak to me about?”
“I said I’d prefer to talk in private.”
He cast a glance around the hallway, where servants bustled and several guards were stationed. “This is private enough.”
“Is it?” she said. “Then perhaps we can start by discussing what happened at Lady Sophia’s villa and why you seem to be trying your very hardest to forget all about it?”
His smile fell, and he hissed out a breath as he took Cleo firmly by her upper arm, directing her toward the nearest exit to a balcony. Suddenly she was out in the cold air without a cloak to keep her warm, her breath forming frozen clouds before her.
Magnus extended his arms in presentation. “Privacy. Just as the princess wishes. I hope it’s not too cold out here for you. For me, this temperature is refreshing after so many months trapped in the hellish heat of Auranos.”
How she wished she could read minds, to know exactly what was going on behind his dark brown eyes. Magnus had a rather enviable talent for stripping his expression of any telltale emotion. There was once a time when Cleo believed she had cracked the code, had learned how to see past this mask, but now she doubted herself, just as she doubted everything else.
All she knew for sure was that, by deciding to accompany him here to the palace rather than going into exile with Nic, she had put her immediate future in the prince’s hands. But that was a small price to pay to ensure she’d live to see the distant future.
“If you’re afraid that I want to discuss what happened at Lady Sophia’s—”