CHAPTER 14
“This is unbelievable! I had no idea such beauty could be grown in this desolate patch of forgotten waste.”
Nuwin’s voice had my head whipping up so fast that a crick formed in my neck. Wincing, I set down the spade that I’d been using to dig into the garden.
“Prince Nuwin?” I blinked, then blinked again just to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating.
I hadn’t seen the youngest prince in over a month, and considering that solitude bred insanity, well, I figured it was a good sign that I was still questioning if I was seeing a possible apparition.
“Yes, it’s me, and I know, I know. I’ve been quite neglectful in my attention of you.” He sighed and crouched at my side, his black leggings flexing with the movement.
He looked so much like the crown prince that for a moment, I marveled at their similar features. But Prince Nuwin dressed more fashionably than his older brother. A rich-blue tunic covered his upper half, and all of the stitching had been done in silver—the court’s colors on full display.
Nuwin gave a rueful smile. “Believe me, I would have come sooner, but my dastardly brother reworked his wards to keep me out.” He waggled his eyebrows, a mischievous grin streaking across his face. “Too bad for him that he forgot about one of the trap doors, and I finally remembered it and gave it a try.”
I laughed, unable to help it. “Is that why I haven’t seen you? I have to say this is a surprise. I thought you’d disappeared with your brother, and that was why you’d gone missing.”
During the past month, I’d thought of both Nuwin and Haxil, hoping the males would stop by to ease the monotony of my days, but I figured there was little chance of me seeing the guard. If the prince had left, then his four guards had probably accompanied him, but as for Nuwin . . .
I smiled pleasantly up at him.
“This is a good surprise, I hope?” the youngest prince replied with a wink.
“Yes, it’s nice to see someone new.”
Nuwin grinned.
“Does the prince know you’re here?” I asked curiously, then wondered again why Prince Norivun would want to keep his brother away from me. I set my spade down and wiped a piece of silvery hair from my cheek.
Amazingly, the prince’s illusion magic still held, not showing even a hint of weakness. All of my black hair was still concealed.
Nuwin’s grin just broadened as he evaded my question by lifting a hand and wiping his finger across my cheek. “You had a smudge of dirt,” he explained when I stiffened. “Although it did make you look quite adorable.”
My cheeks warmed. “Does the prince know you’re here?” I asked again. Not that I cared about following the prince’s rules, but he did seem extremely concerned about me seeing his brother.
Nuwin rocked back on his haunches, then gave me a cheeky smile. “If he did, he’d be storming in here and bringing the wrath of the realm with him.”
My heart beat harder. I’d strangely felt safe with the prince when we’d traveled here, but it’d been over a month since I’d seen him, and I’d started to wonder if my judgment had been impaired during the two days we’d spent together. The male was a murderer after all.
“That’s ridiculous. Why would he do that? Surely, no harm would come from you?” I smoothed my shirt and wiped at the light sheen of sweat on my brow. Now that the orem in the garden was thriving, the temperature was comfortably warm each day.
The young prince’s lips tilted up again, and this time, when he lifted his hand and wiped his thumb across my forehead, I ducked my head sheepishly. I always got dirty when I worked in the fields, and this garden was no exception.
“Oh, of course not, my dearest Ilara. I wouldn’t harm you in any physical way. However, I have been known to harm a lady’s reputation a time or two.” He gave a sultry smirk and waggled his eyebrows again.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “To their parents’ horror undoubtedly?”
“Absolute horror,” he replied with mock sternness. “A few even complained to my father about it.” He held out his hand to help me up.
I accepted it, and his warm palm closed around mine.
“And were you punished?” I tilted my head up to see him better. Like his brother, Nuwin also had a cleft in his chin, adding to his handsome appeal.
“Of course not.” He said it with such indignation that I laughed again.
“And what happened to those innocent ladies that you deflowered?” I batted my eyelashes playfully.
He chuckled, the sound entirely genuine, as he began guiding me back to my chambers. “Well, let’s see. There’s quite a few, so it might take some time to recall all of them, but the latest one—”
The door to my bedroom chamber suddenly banged open with such tremendous force that I yelped.
My feet stopped short when I beheld the crown prince seething at the threshold. His chest rose and fell quickly, his hair tousled and his expression thunderous. But the second he caught sight of my horrified expression, his face smoothed, and the pulsing aura rippling around him tempered.
“Ah, dear brother!” Nuwin called good-naturedly, as if not having a care in the world that the Death Master had appeared out of thin air and looked on the verge of enacting his terrible affinity. Not to mention, he’d been missing for weeks, and well . . . that had been quite the entrance.
“I wondered how long it would take for you to mistphase back as I’m guessing I triggered your perimeter enchantments.” Nuwin’s grin broadened. “Naughty indeed of me to thwart your attempts, I know, but it was quite rude to keep me from our guest.”
“How did you get in?” the prince asked through clenched teeth.
Nuwin’s cheeky expression grew. “That’s for me to know and you to wonder.”
The crown prince’s gaze flickered from his brother’s face to our joined hands. I hadn’t even realized that I still held onto Nuwin after he’d helped me to a stand in the garden, but when I tried to let him go, his grip tightened.
“I was just about to recount all of my court conquests to Ilara.” Nuwin tugged me closer to him. “Lady Seary has shown interest in hearing all of the tales.”
The prince’s lips thinned. “I’m sure the last thing she wants to hear about is the females you’ve bedded.”
Prince Norivun’s gaze flicked again to where his brother held my hand. His giant wings tightened into razors at his back as the talon tips glinted like obsidian claws.
“Oh, I don’t know about that.” Prince Nuwin stroked his chin with his free hand. “Some females quite enjoy hearing the details. It can get them quite arou—”
“That’s enough, Nuwin.” The prince strode toward us, his eyes narrowed. When he reached us, he looked his brother in the eye as his aura pulsed again. “Remove your hand from her.”