Nuwin’s brow furrowed, but he didn’t respond.
The crown prince’s scowl deepened. “Until Ilara can replenish the fields enough to stave off the concerns that we’re going to starve, I want her kept away from these meetings. I want her kept away from all of them. We don’t need any of them seeing her as a threat to whatever they’re planning.”
“Then I’ll work faster,” I offered. “I’ll fix the continent before any of them can act. If the king would only allow me out of the Trial, I’d have more time. I could work day and night in the fields. Surely, that is more important than the Rising Queen Trial.”
Prince Norivun’s eyes shuttered. “If you’re out of the Trial, then there’s no possibility of us ever marrying. Besides, you need your training. You’re not going to learn your affinities by working alone in the fields morning till night. Your magical capabilities won’t progress swiftly without help. But if you learn your affinities better, you could work faster and restore more fields in a lesser amount of time. You need Matron Olsander for that, so we’ll continue as we have been.”
I ground my teeth under the authority ringing through his tone, my ire rising more and more. “You’re failing to mention, my prince, that you could simply command Matron Olsander to keep working with me even if I was out of the Trial. She and I could work together in the fields to train my life-giving affinity exclusively. You have the authority to command that.”
“You can’t just train one affinity. You need to master all of them to reach your full potential.”
I threw up my hands. “Then have her teach me all of them out of the Trial.”
His nostrils flared. “My father won’t allow it.”
“But he might if you convince him that restoring the orem is more important than the Trial. Please, tell him to release me from it. Don’t make me marry.”
His jaw worked, and a muscle began ticking in it. “No.”
“No?”
“Correct, no. You’re to continue as we have been, working in the fields each morning, then training in the afternoons.” Prince Norivun’s lips thinned. “Understood?”
I pushed to a stand, the chair squeaking on the floor. “Perfectly, my prince. Once again, you’ve reminded me of what I am—a slave to the court and to you. I won’t forget again.” With that, I gave him my back and stormed from the room.
CHAPTER 14
The next week passed in a haze of healing fields, training with my tutor, and one Trial date. I was so angry with Prince Norivun following the council meeting that I avoided him as often as possible. It helped that the return of his princely duties kept him occupied. And since it only took him minutes to mistphase me to the fields each morning, our encounters were brief.
The times he’d tried to see me in the evenings had been easy to avoid if I kept myself plastered to Cailis, and at the one Trial dinner since the meeting, I made a point to seat myself by Meegana so Prince Norivun couldn’t snag the chair my date wasn’t occupying. Even though the crown prince had watched me the entire night, he’d been forced to sit farther down the table, which made ignoring him entirely feasible.
Consequently, when the night of the third Trial dinner arrived, it’d been over a week since I’d spent more than a few minutes in the crown prince’s company. That should have made me happy, smug even, but every time I saw him, something deep inside me ached despite my resolve.
It was entirely insane, and I reminded myself of the promise I’d made to my sister, that I would never fall for the prince or allow him to charm me again.
Don’t forget your promise, Ilara.
“This color looks positively divine on you.” Lord Waterline’s comment snapped me back to the present. My third suitor leaned closer to me, then trailed a finger down my arm.
“Um, thank you.” I pulled away as he inched closer despite my dismissiveness.
“And you smell . . .” He inhaled deeply. “Mouthwatering.”
I snatched my wine goblet off the table and took a long drink.
Lord Waterline was turning out to be quite annoying, but at least he wasn’t as bad as Lord Arcane Woodsbury, the male I’d had my second date with. I shuddered just thinking about him and was glad the Trial only forced one date with each suitor because Lord Woodsbury, the third son of the Isalee Territory archon, had made my skin crawl, and not because he was interested in me. He’d spent the better part of the evening watching one of the young serving girls. She’d still been in the midst of maturing. Wing buds had sprouted through her shirt, but she couldn’t have been more than fourteen winters. Despite that, Lord Woodsbury had watched her avidly, his interest rabid and uncouth considering she was still a child.
Shivering, I shoved that repulsive memory away.
At least Lord Waterline didn’t give off that vibe. Still, I found it hard to listen to him as he droned on about his family’s wealth in their estate vaults. I ended up plucking at the seam on my dress for lack of anything better to do.
Tonight, I wore a gown of deep red even though I wasn’t from Osaravee. Its neckline was square, not as daring as the previous dresses Daiseeum had chosen for me, but it was very fitted, which meant my cleavage swelled. Now, I was wishing I’d worn a tent, as the lord’s gaze fixed on my breasts repeatedly.
“Did I mention earlier that after my father secured our third estate in Harrivee, he decided to embellish each building with silver-tipped spires? One pure-silver spire is posted on every corner of every building. That silver was, of course, mined in one of our mines. We have several, you know.”
“Of course, you do.” I finished my wine and signaled the serving staff for another. There wasn’t enough alcohol in the realm for me to keep up my partially interested charade.
“But enough of my family’s substantial wealth. Tell me more about you, Lady Seary. You must come from an esteemed bloodline yourself.” His gaze dipped to my cleavage for the millionth time. “One built such as you must herald from timeless beauties.”
Somehow, I managed to keep from burning his eyeballs to dust. “Are you always this charming with females you’ve just met, Lord Waterline?”
He grinned as he cupped his face in his palm. “You think I’m charming? That’s delightful to hear.”
I rolled my eyes, unable to stop it. Lord Waterline was as conceited as Vorl. On top of that, he was so pompous about his family’s wealth and estate ownership that I was surprised he didn’t carry a mirror around everywhere just so he could continually look at himself while reaffirming his oversized ego.
“Your dress certainly has a lot of buttons.” The noble’s finger trailed along my shoulder to the first button at the nape of my neck. He flicked it, as though hoping to undo it. He leaned closer, his hot breath wafting against my skin. “If you need help unbuttoning this later, I would be more than happy to oblige.”