I expect him to drag me back out, to use my trickery and escape to his advantage, but instead, he says, “Move to the corner. You’ll be better hidden.”

I slide along the stone wall, shifting silently until I hear a guard announce, “Harper, Princess of Disi.”

Even my breathing stops. Why would the princess visit a former guardsman?

“My lady.” Grey’s voice, hushed with surprise. No, more than surprise. He was so impassive when he faced me that I wish I could see his face now.

A rush of skirts indicates she’s moving. I allow myself a slow breath and pull deeper into the corner. All the sconces in this part of the room are dark. Surely I’m well hidden. I peek around the edge of the curtain.

What I see almost makes me give myself away entirely.

They are embracing. My heart gives a sudden lurch in my chest.

I’ve been longing for a book in my hours here, but this is almost worth the hours of boredom in that room. The princess and the guardsman. What an absolute scandal. Nolla Verin will faint when I tell her.

If I can ever tell her.

Grey puts his hands on Harper’s arms and draws her back. “You are the Princess of Disi. You cannot—”

“I don’t care! Grey, you’re alive.”

“Indeed. Until sundown tomorrow.”

The princess’s face goes solemn. “Rhen told me.” She takes a step forward, reaching for him, but he steps away. She stops and wrings her hands. “Please, Grey. Please tell him.”

“Forgive me,” he says, and his voice is gentle in a way I didn’t expect. “I cannot.”

“I watched what Lilith did to him, Grey. I can’t watch him do something like that to you. I can’t. I know why he’s afraid, but I told him—he can’t—” Her voice breaks. “You just came back. I can’t—he can’t—”

“My lady.”

His voice carries a tone of command, and she steadies herself. A slender hand swipes at her face. A tear glistens in the dim candlelight. “What?”

“We once spoke of my duty to bleed so he does not. I swore an oath to die so he would not. If I die bearing this secret, and it allows him to take the throne without challenge, what difference is this?”

“This is not the same, and you know it.”

“It is the same. It is very much the same.”

Her voice turns sharp. “If he does this, I don’t know if I can ever forgive him.”

Grey’s expression is resigned, his eyes full of shadows. “A king should place his country above the woman he loves.”

Harper goes still. “That’s what he said, too.” She scowls. “You stupid men and your stupid ideals. You were imprisoned here together for like ever, but you can’t just talk this out and figure out a solution?”

I was right yesterday. She and I could have been friends.

“My lady.” Grey finally steps forward and touches a finger to her chin, lifting her gaze. “If you love him, you will try to understand his motives. Do not underestimate his ability to rule as he sees necessary. We have spoken of mercy and weakness.”

She sighs. “I know.”

“Do not underestimate my ability to stay alive either.”

Her eyebrows go up, her expression turning hopeful.

Grey shrugs and drops his hand. “I have been granted a day, and I did not expect that much.”

She reaches out to catch his hand, clutching it between her own. “You’ll figure out a way. Promise me you’ll try.”

“Easily done. You have my word.” He pauses. “I would ask a promise of you as well.”

“Anything.” Princess Harper straightens. “I’ll make a case for your innocence—whatever you need. Tell me the right words. I can go to his advisers—”

“My lady. You misunderstand. My request is not that you intercede.” He hesitates. “I do not want you to watch.”

She blanches and takes a step back. “Grey …”

His voice is firm. “I will keep my promise if you can keep this.”

She swallows. “Okay. I will.” She pauses. “I’m still going to try to stop him.”

He smiles, though there is little humor in it. “That is why you were destined to stand at his side.”

A tear slips down her cheek, but she hurriedly wipes it away. “You must be tired, but …” Her voice trails off, but then she looks up, her eyes hopeful again. “Maybe we could spend some time together tomorrow? He says you can do whatever you want as long as you stay on the castle grounds.”

He nods. “Yes, of course.”

“I’ve been working on swordplay. Zo has been helping me.”

His smile is a little sad. “I look forward to seeing your progress.”

“Good,” she says. Her face nearly crumples, but she swipes at her eyes again. “Tomorrow morning?”

“As early as you wish.”

The princess slips out as quietly as she came.

Grey stalks across the room, moving quickly despite his injured leg, and tosses the curtain wide.

I stare up at him. “And to think you spoke of treachery and treason.”

He frowns. “What?”

“You and the princess. No wonder you ran.”

To my surprise, he laughs. “Rhen would hardly allow me an inch of freedom if that were true.” He sobers quickly, which makes me think there may be more that he is not saying. “Do not speak of things you do not know.”

Interesting. “Did you mean what you said? That you’d rather die than tell him you’re the heir?”

“Yes.”

He answers so simply, so guilelessly. After the polished doublespeak of the prince, his forthright honesty is unexpected.

He frowns. “How did you get in here?”

“The fireplace. I pulled the barrier wide.”

His eyebrows go up. “Those barriers have not been moved in years.”

“That’s probably why it took me all day.”

He glances at the hearth, then back at me. Again, I am self-conscious of these clothes that reveal every curve, and I wish I could pull back into deeper shadows.

“You crawled through a lit fire?” he says.

I scowl. “It was not lit on my side, and I am more nimble than I look.” Outside, bells signal the change of guard. “Will you allow me to return, or do you intend to reveal my escape to your prince?”

He studies me for the longest moment, then stands back. “My room is guarded as securely as yours is. You will find no escape through here.”

I kneel on the hearth and put my back against the side wall so I can ease around the flames. “You told the princess not to underestimate your ability to stay alive.”

“I’ve made it this far.”

“So have I. Don’t underestimate my abilities either.” I shimmy through the narrow opening, flicking a lit ember off my sweater, mindful of his eyes watching me.

“I don’t suppose you would change your mind?” I say. “About working with my mother? Working toward peace?”

“Your mother is a monster,” he says.

I frown and put my hand against the brick, then ease through the gap and look at him across the flames. “Given what I’ve learned, so is your prince.”