The Heart of Betrayal (The Remnant Chronicles 2)

“It’s been a long time since there have been any challenges,” I mused.

“No one wants a target on his back, but challenges always come, my brother, which is why we must never grow lazy.” He shoved the map aside. “Ride with me tomorrow. I could use some fresh company. We haven’t ridden together in too long.”

I said nothing, but my expression must have revealed my reluctance.

He shook his head, retracting his invitation. “Of course, you’ve just returned from a long journey, and besides that you’ve brought Venda a very interesting prize. You deserve a respite. Rest a few days and then I’ll have work for you.”

I was thankful that he didn’t mention Lia as the reason. He was being more gracious than I deserved, but I took note of his emphasis on Venda, a deliberate reminder of where my loyalties belonged. I stood to leave. A draft ruffled the papers on his desk.

“A storm brews,” I said.

“The first of many,” he answered. “A new season comes.”

CHAPTER FOUR

I jumped to my feet and searched the shadows of the room, trying to see what made the noise.

“Here.”

I spun around.

A thin shaft of light took new form as someone stepped forward into its soft beam.

A dusky strand of hair. A cheekbone. His lips.

I couldn’t move. I stared at him, all I had ever wanted and all I had ever run from locked in the same room with me.

“Prince Rafferty,” I finally whispered. It was only a name, but its sound was hard, foreign, and distasteful in my mouth. Prince Jaxon Tyrus Rafferty.

He shook his head. “Lia…”

His voice shivered through my skin. Everything I had hung on to across thousands of miles shifted inside me. All the weeks. The days. Him. A farmer, now turned prince—and a very clever liar. I couldn’t quite grasp it all. My thoughts were water slipping through my fingers.

He stepped forward, the beam of light shifting to his shoulders, but I had already seen his face, the guilt. “Lia, I know what you’re thinking.”

“No, Prince Rafferty. You have no idea what I’m thinking. I’m not even sure what I’m thinking.” All I knew was that even now, as I shivered with doubt, my blood ran hot, spiking with every word and glance from him, the same feelings swirling in my belly as when we were in Terravin, as if nothing had changed. I wanted him desperately and completely.

He stepped forward, and the space between us suddenly vanished, the heat of his chest meeting mine, his arms strong around me, his lips warm and soft, every bit as sweet as I remembered. I soaked him in, relieved, thankful—angry. A farmer’s lips, a prince’s lips—a stranger’s lips. The one true thing I thought I had was gone.

I pressed closer to him, telling myself that a few lies compared to everything else didn’t matter. He had risked his life coming here for me. He was still at terrible risk. Neither of us might survive the night. But it was there, hard and ugly between us. He had lied. He had manipulated me. To what purpose? What game was he playing? Was he here for me or for Princess Arabella? I pushed away. Looked at him. Swung. The hard slap of my hand on his face rang through the room.

He reached up, rubbing his cheek, turning his head to the side. “I have to admit, that wasn’t exactly the greeting I envisioned after all those miles of chasing you across the continent. Can we go back to the kissing part?”

“You lied to me.”

I saw his back stiffen, the posture, the prince, the person he really was. “I seem to recall it was a mutual endeavor.”

“But you knew who I was all along.”

“Lia—”

“Rafe, this may not seem important to you, but it’s terribly important to me. I ran from Civica because for once in my life, I wanted to be loved for who I was—not what I was and not because a piece of paper commanded it. I could be dead by the end of the day, but with my last dying breath, I need to know. Who did you really come here for?”

His bewildered expression turned to one of irritation. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“No!” I said. “If I had truly been a tavern maid, would you still have come? What was my true worth to you? Would you have given me a second glance if you hadn’t known I was Princess Arabella?”

“Lia, that’s an impossible question. I only went to Terravin because—”