“Thank you, your grace. The fact of the matter is . . . I’m a bit concerned for your husband. During the council meetings over which he’s presided, I can’t help but notice how so obviously doubtful the prince is about his abilities to lead. I fear it’s only a matter of time before the rest of the council catches on and begins to believe him inept. If the council finds him unfit to rule in his father’s place, they have the power to remove him from command.”

“All new leaders make mistakes at first,” Cleo said after a thoughtful pause. “And, as a matter of fact, I must disagree with you. When I sat in on the meeting he seemed both confident and capable.”

Did I just say that aloud? she thought with dismay.

She knew how much Magnus disliked delivering public speeches, so she really had been surprised at the seemingly effortless way he took command of the council meeting. When he spoke, it was as if everyone else faded from her view.

“I’ve known the prince a great deal longer than you have,” Kurtis replied without hesitation. “He’s never shown any signs of leadership, nor any interest in learning more about what makes a great leader. Yet he suddenly shows up here out of the blue, demanding control and sowing frustration.”

Cleo wasn’t sure she liked the direction of this conversation but still wanted to see where Kurtis was trying to lead it. “He is heir to the throne.”

“He is,” Kurtis acknowledged. “As were you to the Auranian throne, if not for Magnus’s father. I’m no fool. I know this marriage wasn’t one you made of your own free will. Forgive me if this seems quite harsh, but it’s almost as if you’re less of a wife and more of a prisoner of war. Knowing what a bully he was when we were children, I greatly sympathize with your position.”

He was far more perceptive than she’d given him credit for. “I’m not sure how to reply to that, Kurtis.”

“You don’t have to say a thing. But, know this: In my heart, I know that Magnus is not meant for that throne. It belongs to someone else. Someone who has earned it, and who is much more worthy.”

She found she couldn’t breathe. Was Kurtis offering his allegiance to her?

“Kurtis . . .”

“That throne is mine,” he continued. “With both the king and my father in Auranos, I should be the one in power here.”

She grappled to conceal her shock. “It’s unfortunate, then, that the prince of Limeros disagrees with you.”

“You should know that the prince has succeeded in making far more enemies than friends since his arrival,” Kurtis said, his voice hushed as they drew closer to the palace. “I’ve become concerned about his safety.”

“You believe his life’s at risk?”

“I pray to the goddess it isn’t, of course.” He paused, his lips thinning out to nearly a grimace. “But what I know for sure is that very few in Limeros would mourn either his or his father’s death.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I hope that you might encourage your husband to step down.”

“You think I have that kind of control over him?”

“You certainly seemed to have a certain sway over him at the council meeting when it came to how to handle Limeros’s debt. It’s clear to me that he’s come to value your opinion.”

“I don’t think we share that clarity.”

“Even so, will you consider this request, princess?”

She pushed a smile onto her lips and squeezed Kurtis’s arm. “I appreciate your frankness today, Kurtis. And yes, I will consider it very carefully.”

“Excellent. Then I promise not to take up any more of your time.”

He bid her farewell until tomorrow’s lesson and left her there at the palace entrance, lost in her thoughts.

What just happened?

Cleo’s desire to reclaim what was rightfully hers had not faded at all, and Kurtis Cirillo would make for an interesting ally. If only something about his approach, his naked desire for the throne, hadn’t left such a rancid taste in her mouth.

So, the council hated Magnus. And, if presented with a choice, they would side with Kurtis. If Magnus were to then put up a fight, his life would be in danger.

That had once been her goal—to see the prince dead alongside his father.

Judging by the tight, sick sensation that now roiled in the pit of her stomach, times had certainly changed.

• • •

She returned to the ice gardens later that day, pulling her cloak closer as she explored the grounds, trying to clear her head. Everything around her was covered in a coat of pure white. Even the palace, a black and ominous beast of a structure, appeared muted and gray today, frost covering nearly every inch of its surface. She walked the long icy pathway leading through the gardens, imagining that it was lined with manicured hedges and blooming rose bushes. Perhaps an ivy-covered archway. Full of color and warmth, just like home.

Cleo loved Auranos, of course. But Limeros did have its beauty, too—a cold, untouchable beauty best admired from afar.

Much like the prince himself.

Yet the prince isn’t always cold and untouchable, is he? she thought.

Suddenly, something—a sensation, a small sound . . . she wasn’t sure what—made her pause and turn around.

Someone walked along the pathway behind her, about a hundred paces off. She stood there, transfixed, as the figure drew closer.

Until she could finally make out who it was.

“This is impossible,” she whispered.

When he was about thirty paces away, she started to walk, her legs moving of their own accord, taking her closer to him.

Theon.

Theon Ranus wore brown woolen trousers and a thick black cloak, the hood pushed back to reveal his handsome face. It was a face she’d memorized, a thousand times over. A face that had haunted her. A face she loved.

“H-how? How are you here?” she managed when she knew she was close enough from him to hear her.

He stopped, only an arm’s reach away. “I told you I’d find you and I meant it, princess. I will always find you. Did you doubt me?”

She reached out to him with a trembling hand, and found him solid and warm and real. “But . . . I saw you die! That—that sword pierced straight through your heart. You were gone!”

He grasped her hands in his. “An exiled Watcher found me, just in time. She healed me with a grape seed concoction enchanted with earth magic, but still it took months before I was strong enough to leave. I’ve searched for you ever since, princess. I searched everywhere and, thank the goddess, I’ve finally found you.”

That was why she’d been in Paelsia in the first place, to search for the mythical grape seeds rumored to bring someone back from the edge of death.

He was alive. Theon was alive! This changed everything. “I’ve missed you so much!”

Theon looked at her tenderly, seriously. “You’ve endured such horrors these last months. You’ve been forced to do terrible things in order to survive. But it’s over now. I’m here, and I promise to keep you safe.” He looked up at the façade of the black castle. “We need to leave here immediately.”

“Leave? But wait . . . I have to tell Nic . . .” Her life had been filled with hope again, but everything seemed to be changing so fast that she barely had the time to process it.