Amia smiled at him as they passed in the hall and then curled her finger, beckoning him to follow as she disappeared behind the corner up ahead. She led him into a small room used as the servants’ chapel and closed the door behind them. They were alone. The girl bit her bottom lip, but her cheeks were flushed with excitement. “I feel as if I haven’t seen you in ages, my prince.”

“It’s only been a day or two.”

“An eternity.” She placed her hands against his abdomen and slid them slowly up over his shoulders.

He let her. He craved someone’s touch today to help quell the ache in his chest. If he closed his eyes, he could imagine that she was someone else. She shivered as he pressed her up against the stone wall and brought his mouth down to hers in a deep kiss. He threaded his fingers through her soft brown hair and imagined it flowed down to her waist and was the color of richest ebony. That her eyes were the color of the sky in summer, not a pale and wintry gray.

“Have you learned anything?” he asked, finally pushing away the fantasy. Amia smelled of the fish she’d been helping to prepare for dinner rather than of roses and jasmine. He could only fool himself so much.

“About your sister?”

His throat tightened. “Yes.”

“Not yet.” She gazed up at him as if entranced. “However, there’s something else interesting happening as we speak. The king and Tobias are in a secret meeting with visitors.”

Tobias, he thought with distaste. Always lurking about. “What visitors?”

“Chief Basilius arrived with an entourage an hour ago.”

He stared at her, momentarily rendered speechless. “You can’t be serious.”

She grinned. “I was looking for you to let you know. If the Paelsian chieftain, one who never makes public appearances, has traveled to Limeros to speak with the king, something very interesting must be happening, don’t you think?”

“Indeed.”

Chief Basilius was rumored to be a powerful sorcerer feared and respected by his people. He stayed apart from other Paelsians in a private compound, devoting his days to meditation and, supposedly, magic.

Magnus didn’t believe in such ridiculous notions. However, his father did, to an extent. King Gaius believed in the power of elementia. Magic that had been gone from the world since the days of the goddesses.

“Did you hear anything else?” he asked. “Do you know why the chief is here?”

“I tried to listen for as long as I could, but I was afraid I’d get caught.”

“Amia, you don’t want to ever be caught. My father would not take well to eavesdroppers.”

“Even if I was eavesdropping on behalf of his son?”

“I wouldn’t hesitate to say you were lying.” He took her arm in his and squeezed it until she flinched. A flicker of fear went through her pale eyes. “Who do you think the king would believe? His son and heir? Or a kitchen maid?”

Amia swallowed hard. “I apologize, my prince. I would never say such a thing.”

“Smart girl.”

She took a moment to compose herself, shaking off the momentary unpleasantness between them. “As far as what I heard, it seems as if it’s related to the murder in the Paelsian village last month and the meeting King Gaius called last week.”

He eased his grip on the girl. “I think I’ll join them. I have a right to be a part of such a political meeting as much as Tobias does.”

“I agree completely.”

The girl was nothing if not agreeable. He looked down at her. “Thank you for this information, Amia. I do appreciate it.”

Her face lit up. “Will you need anything else from me?”

He considered this for a moment before stepping back from her. “Yes. Visit me in my chambers after I retire tonight.”

Her cheeks reddened and she smiled demurely. “Of course, my prince.”

Magnus left the chapel and headed toward his father’s private meeting hall, which was situated on the main floor next to the great hall. He didn’t bother to attempt to overhear anything; he simply walked straight in. There were a dozen men in the room and their gazes all shot to him immediately.

“Oh, I’m very sorry,” he said. “Am I interrupting something?”

While he enjoyed acting the part of a shadow much of his time, there were other occasions that called for a more illuminated approach. Tobias’s ongoing presence at the castle had raised his hackles more than he’d even realized before today. He felt the sudden and driving need to assert his position as prince and the rightful heir to his father’s throne.

“This,” King Gaius said from his seat upon the dais, always a step above everyone else, “is my son, Prince Magnus Lukas Damora.”

Instead of an expression of outrage at the interruption, there was a small bemused smile on the king’s lips at Magnus’s unannounced entrance. Tobias simply glared at him, as if enraged on behalf of the king by Magnus’s extreme rudeness.

“It’s a great honor to meet the prince,” a man’s deep voice sounded out, and Magnus moved his gaze to his left. “I am Chief Hugo Basilius of Paelsia.”

“The honor is ours, Chief Basilius,” Magnus said evenly. “Welcome to Limeros.”

“Join us, my son,” the king said.

Magnus restrained himself from making a cutting remark about missing the invitation earlier and sat down across the table from the chief and four of his men.