I add a card to the pile. “My father once said we are all dealt a hand at birth. A good hand can ultimately lose—just as a poor hand can win—but we must all play the cards fate deals. The choices we face may not be the choices we want, but they are choices nonetheless.”

She says nothing, simply adding another card to the pile herself.

“Grey has grown skilled at finding girls who have no family, no one to miss them.” I pause and look at her. “Often there is no trickery to it—they come willingly, with little more than the promise of a safe place to sleep. You, I suspect, would not have been lured so easily.”

Her eyes are hard. “No.”

“Why did you attack him?”

“He had a girl. I thought he was some psycho murderer. I tried to stop him.”

Of course she did. “So your choice led you here.”

“Don’t try to pin this on me.”

“I am not. I am saying that no matter how much I try to plan a means to end this curse, fate keeps dealing new cards.”

Her expression goes still. Again, we play in silence for the longest time.

I watch her draw another king. She’s more savvy this time, but she’s slower to add it to her hand.

I play my other prince.

“Stop it,” she says.

I take the card she offers. “Stop being obvious.”

She draws until she has a card to play. “I have a question for you, about all those other girls. Did you ever come close?”

I sigh. “Sometimes victory seemed very close—other times, miles away.”

“May I make an observation?”

My hand goes still on my next card. “For certain.”

She looks across at me. “You just said ‘victory.’ You didn’t say ‘love.’ ”

I’m not sure I have a response to that. My initial reaction is to ask why that matters.

My second reaction is to wonder why I ever thought it wouldn’t.

Harper is not done. “Have you ever felt anything for any of these girls?”

I lay down a two of swords and try not to think about how badly I want to push the hair back from her face again. “I do not feel nothing.” I pause. “But failure seems such a certainty that I have learned to guard myself from disappointment.”

“Hmm.” She plays another card and lapses into silence again. From the kitchen below us, I hear ringing laughter from the innkeeper.

It makes me wistful. I cannot remember the last time I sat at a crowded table, sharing stories and laughter.

Then Harper says, “Do you really have no way to contact this enchantress who cursed you?”

“No.” I play a card. “And I would not even if I could.”

“Not even to help me get home?”

I go still. I look at Harper. She does not know what she asks. “The Lady Lilith does nothing without cost. I have nothing to offer. Do you?”

Her mouth opens, and I add, “You have seen my chambers on the third floor. Regardless of what you think of me, I would ask you to consider carefully what you’re asking.”

She pales a little, but her voice is strong. “I will do whatever it takes to get home. If I have to face some sorceress, I’ll do it.”

That makes me smile, but it’s grim. “Spoken like the Princess of Disi.”

She blushes and looks back at the cards in her hand. But then she looks up at me. “I’m not kidding, Rhen. Do you have any way to contact her?”

“No.” I pause, weighing how much to say. I imagine brazen Harper facing the capricious Lilith. Even if Lilith would return her to her home, any scenario I can fathom seems fraught with peril. “She shows herself from time to time, but her appearances are unpredictable.”

“Would you ask her?” When I say nothing, Harper adds, “Or would you keep me prisoner?”

My jaw is tight. “You do not know what you are asking. She is vicious. Cruel.”

“But she will show up.”

“She will.” I have no doubt.

“You could tell her I want to go home. You could tell her I want something from her.”

“She has sworn not to interfere with my attempts to break the curse. She may refuse.”

Harper swallows. “But … but those are your attempts.” When she speaks, her voice isn’t fully certain. “If you promise to get me a meeting with Lady Lilith, I can promise to try to break the curse for you.”

I sigh. She bargains like she plays cards—her emotions are fully on display. “I do not hesitate because I desire something from you. I hesitate because I am loath to sacrifice another person to her power.”

“I have nothing to offer, either, Rhen. But that also means I have nothing to lose.”

“Nothing to lose? Your brother? Your mother?”

She looks away again. “There must be something you want.”

Yes. There is much I want. But nothing so much that I would bargain for an audience with Lilith to get it. She is bad enough when she shows herself of her own accord.

I open my mouth to refuse but then I consider the Queen of Syhl Shallow. I consider my plan. I consider my conversation with Grey.

I look at Harper and play my next card. “As a matter of fact, there is.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

HARPER

We’ve formed a truce. Sort of.

Even this conversation about the sorceress who cursed him doesn’t feel like bargaining. There are no stakes, no veiled risk, not like when Dad tried to negotiate for more money or time. It’s leaving me off balance because I was ready to fight with Rhen for what I want, and there’s no fight in the man sitting across the table from me.

Then again, he just said there is something he wants.

I hold my cards close to my lap. “I told you I’d try to break the curse if you can make a meeting happen.”

“An empty promise if your intent is to bargain for passage home.” He shrugs and lays down a queen of swords. “And unnecessary. That’s not what I want.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Come on.”

“Do not misunderstand. I would give anything to break the curse. But I do know that bargaining for love will end in disappointment.”

“Fine.” I add a queen of stones to the slowly growing stack. “Then what do you want?”

“I would like for you to be Princess Harper, first daughter to the King of Disi. I would like to spread word of Emberfall’s alliance with your people, especially your father’s promise to send an army to drive Karis Luran out of my lands.”

Each word hits me like a bullet. I expect him to crack a smile and say, “Just kidding.” But he delivers all that with the same gravity as everything else he says.

I stare at him. “You … what?”

“Do you truly need me to repeat it?”

“No—but—” Maybe I do. “What?”

“If I can convince my people—and Karis Luran—that Emberfall is not defenseless, that future conflicts may arise, I may be able to convince her army to leave.” He gives a slight shrug. “We may have to negotiate for trade, or possibly yield access to our harbor, but from what I have seen, our closed borders have led to suffering, so that may not be a poor outcome.”

I might need to remind him I’m not actually a princess. I barely understand what he’s talking about. “But—”

“It is not a perfect plan, admittedly.” He plays another card casually, like we’re discussing the weather. “But if we were to visit the biggest cities and make a declaration of our engagement—”

“Whoa! Wait.”

He offers a rueful smile. “Forgive me. A declaration of our alliance.”

Like that one word is what tripped me up. “So you’re saying you want to keep this going? I just—I made that up! To get those guys to leave the inn! I can’t stop a whole army.”

His eyes narrow, just a fraction. “Are you certain, my lady? You have surprised me before.”

That makes me blush. “But there’s no army on our side. What if they don’t believe us?”

“Then we have lost nothing.”

I feel like we’ve fallen into the Twilight Zone—and considering the last couple of days, that’s saying something. “You want me to pretend to be a princess? I don’t know anything about Emberfall— or royalty—or—”

“Such is your charm,” he says. He must see my expression, because he adds, “Truly. My people have never heard of Disi. That means your customs, your mannerisms, your version of royalty—none of it is subject to question.”

“They haven’t heard of Disi because it doesn’t exist,” I hiss.

“My father always warned that it does not take an army to defeat an army. He spoke of insurrection within Emberfall—but the same can apply to the army of Syhl Shallow. If they believe they are outmanned, they may retreat to await further orders, rather than walk into a trap.”

I can’t stop staring at him. “Do you have any idea what you’re saying right now?”

He hesitates, then sits back. “You are right.” His tone is resigned. “This is foolhardy. I have gotten ahead of myself. And you have your own troubles. There is no reason to risk yourself for mine.”