The maid bobbed another pitiful curtsy and ran off toward the castle.
“Oh, lovely,” Lowri drawled, flopping onto her stomach to collect her glass of wine, her turquoise eyes landing on me. “Your stalker is back.”
Tucking his gloved hands into the pockets of his black trousers, Caiman gave Lowri a vicious sneer. “For the size of your head, Lowri, there’s not an original thought in it. You really must come up with some new insults.”
Her cheeks burned brighter than Kerrington’s hair. “Go jump off a cliff, Prince of Darkness.”
No sense intervening in this fight. Caiman deserved every bit of hatred he received—and then some.
Once, I’d foolishly thought him handsome, with his strange onyx eyes and black hair that often escaped its leather queue. Back when I first met both brothers, sixteen-year-old Alrec had been arrogant and loud, constantly bragging about his accomplishments. The polar opposite to his quiet, thoughtful brother Caiman.
I almost laughed. Caiman was quiet, all right. Like a panther stalking its prey, just waiting to maul his unsuspecting victim and rip out her heart.
When the time came for me to select which prince was to be my husband, Caiman had made the choice simple.
“Is my little brother bothering you again, my love?” a smooth voice drawled.
The dark thoughts in my mind evaporated as Alrec strolled into view, his white shirt unbuttoned at the collar, revealing a corner of the tattoo he’d gotten on his twentieth birthday: a soaring eagle with its wings spread wide. His family’s crest.
A vision of power and grace, the future king of Vellana’s golden hair reached to his broad shoulders. His red waistcoat with golden buttons hung open.
Behind him, Broderick, his faithful guard, waited in his red and gold uniform, stoic and silent as ever, without so much as a smile or a nod in greeting. His brown hair had been cropped short, a style popular among the other guards and soldiers at the castle.
I glanced toward Caiman to find him watching me through his unnerving eyes. It felt like they could see into my soul . . . and found me lacking. The way he could cut me down with a look made me want to hurl a rock at his smug face.
Lowri pointed at Caiman. “Look at the way he stares at you. He’s obsessed.”
Smiling, I rose and spread my periwinkle skirts to cover my bare feet. “I know. It’s positively vile. Go find someone else to pine over.” I took Alrec’s hand, the smooth heat of his skin sending chills of sweet anticipation down my spine.
Caiman chuckled darkly. “You think I pine over someone like you?”
She’s a monster.
An abomination.
Rage burned like alcohol-soaked kindling in my chest. I tamped it down. Way,waydown. Losing my composure would only serve as fodder for the awful prince and give him another reason to claim I wasn’t fit for Vellana’s throne. “I suggest you hold your tongue—unless you wish for your brother to teach you another ‘lesson’?”
Every time I visited, I’d heard new accounts of Caiman’s wickedness, each one more wretched than the last. If Alrec hadn’t been around to keep him in line, there was no telling what atrocities he would’ve committed.
Caiman’s lips curled into a sneer. “Just when I think you couldn’t disgust me more.” He turned on his heel, all ramrod-straight posture and formality.
Good riddance.
A tea cake flew through the air, splattering white icing down the center of his back.
Kerrington, Lowri, and Alrec burst out laughing. Caiman didn’t bother acknowledging any of them as he stalked past Broderick toward the castle.
Lowri glanced from beneath her lashes at the handsome lord brushing crumbs from his dark green breeches. When Kerrington caught her watching, he dragged her on top of him to pick up where they’d left off.
Alrec’s grip on my hand tightened, and he pulled me away from the water, past the central fountain, and beneath a line of rose-covered trellises. Pink and white petals sprinkled the path like fallen snow, soft as a carpet beneath my feet. Bees buzzed, flitting from flower to flower. With the thick tangle of thorns and leaves keeping the breeze from reaching us, sweat collected at the back of my neck beneath the heavy curtain of my hair.
“You can stay there, Brod,” Alrec threw over his shoulder before the guard could join us.
When Alrec turned back, he drew me close, pressing his lips to mine. The stubble of his short beard scratched my chin, and his tongue tasted of smoky whiskey. “I’ve missed you,” he murmured, his hands slipping to my backside, pulling me hard against him.
“Easy there, your highness,” I laughed, relocating his hands to my hips. “We’re not married yet.”
He shifted his attention to the delicate skin of my earlobe. “This will be the longest four weeks of my life.”