Haxil did the same. “Ock, that was quite the warrior move,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.
I laughed again as hair fluttered in front of my face. “Apologies for being so clumsy.”
He grinned and was about to lift himself off me when a knock came on my door.
“Ilara?” The door to my chambers opened as the crown prince let himself in. “Can we talk? I know you’re avoiding me again, but—”
He took one step into my room before his gaze cut to me, as though his heightened magic told him exactly where I lay. The second he beheld me on the floor with Haxil on top of me, a storm unleased upon Prince Norivun’s face. A split second later, a tsunami of power barreled out of him, the force of it nearly whipping the curtains off the windows.
“Nori . . .” Haxil’s powerful frame bolted off me while I lay on the floor rosy-cheeked from the wine.
Scorching rage filled Prince Norivun’s expression as something infinitely darker lit his eyes.
“Nori . . .” Haxil said again, his tone growing warier as he backed up.
Rage rippled across the prince’s face, and he crossed the distance between us in blurred speed, a terrifying snarl ripping from his throat.
“Nori!” Haxil yelled, moving faster than the wind as he retreated. “Rein it in. I didn’t touch her.”
But the crown prince lunged for his guard, wrath written upon his features.
“I didn’t touch her!” Haxil roared once more.
I shot to standing and darted to the couch, hoping to place myself between the two males, but one glance at the prince’s face pierced fear into my heart and made any doubt that he wasn’t my mate vanish like the setting sun.
Terrifying fury rippled across the prince’s features, and with a sickening sense of dread, I realized what was happening.
The mate bond had once again gained control of him, just like it had after Lord Waterline’s attack.
All Prince Norivun had seen was another male trying to lay claim to me, and his instincts had taken over.
Which meant that he was going to kill Haxil if I didn’t stop him.
CHAPTER 17
“Nori! Stop!” Haxil yelled again, then again.
“Prince Norivun, please calm down!” I screamed.
It was no use.
Horror descended upon me when I felt his affinity rise. It rushed from the prince, spearing right for Haxil despite the guard being his servant, his friend, who the crown prince cared for like a brother.
“No!” I screamed and launched myself in front of Haxil. I plastered myself to the guard. Fear twisted my features as I desperately tried to shield him with everything I had.
But the prince’s affinity barreled right around me, piercing Haxil from the side, and with a sickening sense of dread, I knew that I couldn’t stop it. The prince latched onto his soul, his horrible death affinity pulling that wispy essence from his guard.
“My prince, no! He’s your friend!” I shot my own affinity out of my body toward the prince’s magic, grabbing a hold of the shimmering lifeform that was Haxil’s inner soul being sliced away from his form.
The second my affinity made contact with Norivun’s, the energy in the room changed. The seismic pulsing from the crown prince ground to a stop, as though water doused a fire, and for the first time, recognition of where we were, who lay before him, and what he was doing barreled over Norivun’s features.
“Please stop,” I pleaded.
The prince stumbled back. Terror glazed his eyes as his affinity sucked back into him so quickly his magic rushed over my skin.
“Thank the Mother,” I whispered when Haxil’s soul returned to him.
The guard slumped, falling to the floor. The prince moved faster than lightning and broke Haxil’s fall before the guard’s head could crash into the table.
“Haxil,” the prince said urgently as he peered down at his friend. Guilt coiled Norivun’s features. He pounded his fist on the floor. “Fuck, no, what have I done? Haxil!”
The guard blinked, then opened his eyes.
“Thank the gods,” Norivun said, slumping forward and cradling the guard to him.
Groaning, Haxil frowned. “Is that the thanks I get for keeping your—” The guard cleared his throat, then rubbed his side. He massaged the area that the prince’s magic had speared. “For keeping your ward safe?”
I stiffened. Ward? No, something told me he’d been about to say mate, which meant the prince’s guards also knew what I was.
The blood drained from my face as any lingering doubt over what the prince and I truly were vanished from my thoughts. I knew. Prince Norivun was my mate, and there was no running from that even if he’d killed my family.
I sank onto the couch, breathing hard.
“I’m sorry,” Norivun said gruffly. “Fuck, Haxil. I almost . . . almost . . .” Such torment was written across his face.
Haxil sat up, still rubbing his side, but he nudged Prince Norivun. “I know. It’s okay. Instincts in a male can be—”
Haxil cast a wary glance my way before he grunted and stood. He smiled at me sheepishly.
“Thanks for—” He shrugged, as though not sure how to thank me for the fact that my affinity had stopped one of his closest friends from murdering him. “Thanks for that and for the dinner and conversation. We’ll have to finish it another time.”
I could only manage a nod as the guard limped toward the door, his movements still stiff, but with each step he took, he seemed to heal and grow stronger. By the time he reached the threshold, he’d stopped rubbing his side completely, and his wings didn’t look like razors against his back anymore.
He eyed us over his shoulder. “I’ll just give you two some time. I’ll be in the hall.”
“No,” Norivun said sharply. “You’re to go to the infirmary and have Murl check you over and ensure you’re all right. After that, you’re to take the rest of the evening off. I’ll guard Ilara. That’s an order.”
“Yes, my prince.” With that, Haxil closed the door, and I was alone with my mate.
I sat stiffly on the couch, staring at the crown prince as my heart raced and my breathing grew shallow.
The prince stayed on the floor, looking toward where his friend had lain, had almost died. He wouldn’t look at me. Wouldn’t answer the questions that my silence asked.
I realized he wasn’t going to admit what happened, so finally I said, “How long have you known?”
His shoulders rose sharply, his wings lifting above his head.
Inch by inch, his chin tilted up until those piercing blue eyes speared right into me, right to the center of who I was.
“Known what?”
His question was weighted, his gaze intense. Everything he felt and knew was in his eyes, but he wanted me to go first. Tradition dictated that males wait for females to acknowledge the bond before acting.
I knew I could deny it, could continue pretending that I didn’t know, but there was no running from fate. Inevitably, it caught you, and I would rather this moment be on my terms than his.
“That I’m your mate?” I whispered.
His breath stuttered, and his wings lifted more as his breathing grew faster. A moment passed and then another.