“What the hell are you doing?” I demanded as my shirt suddenly flew open, the two sides cast to the breeze.
Talisyn stared at the brand on my chest. “Do you care to explain why you have the same exact mark in the same place as Honor? Do you have anything that you might want to tell me?”
I stared at him, pretending to be far more perplexed than I felt. My heart thudded in my chest, and the phantom fingers of Teris’s spell squeezed my mind. “I haven’t seen Honor’s scar but I assume they did the same thing to both of us. I don’t think anyone would want to try to chain a dragon shifter in their dungeon. Use a little common sense, Tal.”
Talisyn wasn’t distracted by the insult. He ran his fingertips over the brand, studying it. He stood so close to me, the heat of his body and his presence dominated me as he leaned in close, and my breath caught in my chest as he murmured, “I think you’re keeping a secret from me, Lucien, a dangerous one. And I don’t like it.”
I cast about for anything that would distract him. “Don’t tell me you’re jealous of my relationship with Honor as well.”
“I don’t think you have a relationship with Honor.”
The two of us stared at each other. The implication of his words wasn’t lost on me. Talisyn had figured out my secret. My heart jumped because even though I wasn’t supposed to let him know, if he could figure it out, he could tell the other guys, but I could finally drop this lie Teris had forced.
And indeed, the other guys were trooping into the training yard now.
“We thought we would come join you,” Lynx said cheerfully. “It’s always entertaining to fight Lucien.”
Branok glanced between the two of us, “What did Lucien do now? It looks as if we interrupted an important conversation.”
“No,” I said.
“Yes, yes you did. But I think you all should hear what I just said to Lucien.” Talisyn said my name with subtle emphasis.
That emphasis wasn’t lost on Branok and Lynx, judging from the look they exchanged.
“And what has our Lucien done now?” Lynx demanded.
“He isn’t our Lucien at all. He has the same mark that Honor has.” Talisyn looked triumphant.
The others looked doubtful.
I couldn’t stop myself from saying, “Henrick wouldn’t want a dragon shifter in his dungeon, obviously. I imagine it wasn’t any extra trouble to put the same enchantment on me that he used on Honor.” I felt compelled to say the words, no doubt by the elders’ enchantment.
The guys glanced at each other and then Branok burst out laughing. “Can you imagine Honor being a dragon. I mean that she’s plenty fiery, but there’s never been a female dragon.”
“Sweet little Honor,” Arren deadpanned, even though we all knew he didn’t really find me sweet. “Breathing fire. An… almost fierce… warrior.” His eyes flicked over me judgmentally as he managed to insult both Lucien and Honor all at once.
They all burst into laughter. Jaik was the only one who looked thoughtful.
“I’m going to get some water,” I said,
As I was walking away, Talisyn said softly behind me, “Honor.”
I resisted the impulse to turn at my name.
Talisyn was going to be trouble.
I wasn’t sure if I should feel hopeful or terrified.
I went with both.
Chapter
Twenty-One
Honor
The next morning, I woke to Damyn’s deep, honeyed voice at the door. He and Jaik were engaged in a quiet conversation.
“Honor told me how important that job is to her,” Damyn said. “You can’t just get her fired.”
“She’d be fired anyway, she missed two weeks.”
“I fixed it,” Damyn said pleasantly. “Honor never has to know. You can support her working.”
“I want to just give her everything,” Jaik said. “Everything she wants.”
“You can’t give a girl like that everything she wants. Most of what she really wants, she has to claim for herself.”
I lay there listening to the low rumble of their voices. Damyn would say whatever he must to get me out the door so I could continue to be both Lucien and Honor. And yet, what Damyn had just said struck me deeply and made me feel as if he really saw me and understood.
“I’ll watch over her all day when you can’t,” Damyn promised. “I might not be as good with a sword as you, Jaik, but I’m decent. I’ll protect her.”
“You taught me everything I know.” Jaik’s voice had changed, lightened.
I exhaled in relief. Damyn could always convince Jaik.
“That doesn’t mean you aren’t better now. And I’m proud of you.” Damyn clapped Jaik’s shoulder.
“Thanks, Damyn.” Jaik’s voice was quiet, but I knew it meant something to him.
“Just try and smile for that girl now and then, hm? She’s a reason to smile.”
“I smile.”
“When? When does anyone get more than a faint smirk from you?”
For a few seconds, Jaik was silent. “Hm.”
“Can’t think of anything either, can you? I’ll wait outside, then I’ll take her down to Calla’s when you’re ready.”
The servants’ quarters—on this same side of the castle but down seven floors, in the basement—might as well have been a world away.
“Come on, Honor,” Jaik chided as he slid onto the bed, which tilted under his weight. “No one thinks you’re actually asleep when there are interesting conversations to eavesdrop on.”
I blinked my eyes open indignantly. “What do you think I am?”
“Perfect,” he said, brushing my hair back with one hand and kissing my forehead. “And naughty.”
I rolled my eyes, then tilted my face up, seeking his lips. His thumb brushed over my lip, his gaze intense as if he were drinking me in, and then his lips claimed mine in a slow, searing kiss.
When I finally made it out of the apartment, dressed in a tunic and leggings as usual, Damyn unfolded his tall, powerful body from where he’d leaned against the wall. He nodded good morning to me and started down the hall. As I strode after him, I wondered if he was mad.
He waited until we were in the quiet of the stairwell before he asked, “So, do you have anything else to yell at me about today?”
Yes, he was mad.
“I’m sure something will come to me.”
Damyn was a few steps ahead of me, his broad shoulders in my face, and he abruptly stopped and faced me on the stairs. Quietly, he said, “I’m trying to do the right thing for you, Honor.”
“That’s lovely,” I said. “But it’s not quite as helpful as letting me do the right thing for myself.”
We went down the rest of the stairs in silence. As we went down the flights, more students started to join us on the stairs, streaming to classes in their dark uniforms. They glanced at me curiously, giving me strange looks as if I didn’t belong with them. Maybe I didn’t.
Then we passed from the ornate luxury of the academy to the barebones bustle of the servants’ floors, and every servant who passed me gave me just as strange a look.
But when I walked into Calla’s door, she froze at the sound of someone behind her, then whirled and hugged me. She grinned as she exclaimed, “I’m so mad at you!”
“I’m getting very confusing messages.” I hugged her back.