“Hey,” Bae called from behind her.
She reached the guard first. He was a taller man with feathered wrinkles around his eyes, and he glared at her approach. If they were at home in Zara, Cali would probably have known his name and his family background. But she’d just have to pretend.
“Tell me one clue, good sir,” she said. “Which direction should I take to find the palace gardens?”
He straightened his shoulders, confusion pinching his brow.
“You heard the lady,” Bae said pleasantly from behind her. Cali couldn’t help the grin spreading on her face.
The guard seemed to gather that this was some sort of game. “One clue only? You must exit by means of the aviary. That way.”
Cali turned to Bae, ready with a smug expression that she’d won the first clue. But he held his own smirk.
“Why do you look at me like that?” she asked.
“Because you owe me something about yourself. Should I ask a question? Or will you submit this detail willingly?”
“Ask your question. I can see it brewing behind your eyes.” She crossed her arms, trying to run through the small amount of information she’d gleaned from reading the Cressida royal family’s history late last night.
Bae stepped in the direction the guard had pointed, but he didn’t take his eyes from her. “Who was the first boy you kissed?”
Her thoughts instantly ricocheted to Darren, to a moment shared between cannons on her first and only sailing venture four years before, to the boy he was and the man he’d become, now wrestling with disease and imminent death. “Are you seriously starting with that?”
“They’re your rules.”
Her chest squeezed, making it hard to breathe. “And of all the things you could have asked, that’s what you want to know?”
“I know as much about you as anyone else in your kingdom does. It’s time to get down to who Soraya Cressida really is.”
“And you mean to do that by finding out who I’ve kissed?”
A smile. “So you have been kissed.”
“That wasn’t your question.”
“No, but you answered it anyway.”
Her teeth gritted together. She hadn’t thought to ask Soraya about her romantic encounters—whatever they may have been. Cali decided to answer truthfully.
“When I was young, I made friends with a serving boy below my quarters. He and I would sneak out to play in the—” She almost said gardens, but caught herself. “Exhibition rooms of the palace, and we grew to be very close. He kissed me the night before my fourteenth birthday, but then swore to never do it again.”
Speaking it aloud was like a fist clenching inside her. Her throat tightened. She couldn’t think back to the glazed vacancy in his eyes, the sweat clinging to him, the reptilian spots infesting his body.
“Because you’re a princess?” Bae said, assuming.
Not only that, but because she’d ordered him to stay near her instead of following his dreams. And now, he was dying because of it. She closed her eyes, fighting away tears at the memory.
“Where is this boy now?”
“He’s sick.” She couldn’t stop herself. Guilt panged through her. This game was supposed to be a means of distraction. It was turning out to be anything but.
It also reminded her she was taking far too long. At this rate, she’d never find the other plants Darren needed to be cured.
“I’m sorry to hear it,” Bae said. Cali was surprised he truly sounded like he was. She lifted her gaze to find his on her. That expression held an otherworldly power, as though he could see right into her soul. “Shall we find this aviary? Do you like birds, Princess?”
She welcomed the change in conversation, allowing it to take her thoughts. “I—yes.” She hadn’t had much experience with them in Zara, but it wasn’t quite as tropical as Lunae Lumen.
They passed the stairs she’d descended earlier. Bae jogged forward to inquire of the guard at the end of the hall, who scrunched his brow in puzzlement and pointed to the opening on the left. Cali hurried to catch up to Bae.
“Now it’s your turn,” Bae said. “Ask me whatever you wish.”
A world of possibilities opened to Cali with the invitation. What was he really doing here? Did he agree with his father’s mandates?
Had he ever been kissed?
She shook the last question away. Instead, she asked, “Did you grow up on the sea?”
“Mostly,” he said. “I’ve spent more of my life on water than I have on land.”
“Then why don’t you sound more like a pirate?”
He laughed. “What am I supposed to sound like? I was taught civility and manners, just like you were. Well, maybe not exactly the same. My parents wanted me to be dignified; I just learned a different skill set at the same time.”
“You mean sailing?”
“That’s now three questions you’ve asked me. But aye, I’ll humor you and answer yes. What’s more, I’ll tell you I’m good at it. If you’ll allow me, I’ll show you sometime.”
He twisted his mouth into a promising smile.
Show her? Sail out with him? A fluttery, empty feeling took over her stomach. The sea represented everything she feared. Undine Daray. Pirates. Darren’s path away from her. She’d vowed all those years ago never to go near it again. But she couldn’t very well explain that to Bae.
“Have you ever been on a ship out to sea?” he asked.
Another question Cali had no idea of what Soraya’s answer would be. Yes, probably, but Cali couldn’t answer the circumstantial questions he’d undoubtedly ask afterward. Again, she opted for honesty.
“Only once.”
Stopping abruptly, he directed the full force of his attention on her. It made Cali’s skin prickle. “And yet, you live near the sea? You have a garden you’re not allowed to enter, and you’ve yet to venture in out into your own borders.”
She didn’t deny it. “It’s not that strange. Not for me. My father wants to protect me.” It was the same reason her real father, King Marek, rarely allowed her into some of the sectors of her own kingdom and why he’d prevented her from sailing out to see the boundary until she’d proven her maturity to handle whatever came.
“No wonder you’re so cross with your father, if he controls you like this. What happened to your mother?”
Finally, a question she knew how to answer. “She died long ago.”
“As did mine.”
“Now we’ve gone and done it,” she said. “We’ve had a full conversation without any further directions, and we haven’t even found the aviary yet.”
“That must be remedied.” Bae offered her his arm.
Warning struck her heart. “Now who’s being too forward?”
She knew she needed to open herself up enough to him enough to find out what she could about his father’s intentions. But after swimming in memories of Darren, she couldn’t bring herself to accept the gesture.
“Apologies, Princess,” he said, peering down at his side. “Is my arm misbehaving?”
A laugh leaked out, releasing a bit more of her guard. Did she really need to be so defensive? He was only being gentlemanly. Just because she worried about Darren didn’t mean she couldn’t at least be civil.
“I’m afraid your arm needs to learn its place,” she said, surprised to find she could smirk along with the statement.
“Its feelings can be easily hurt,” he said with a shrug. Was he still joking, or referring to his own feelings now? The statement struck her in a way she’d never considered, and she couldn’t figure out why.
“Then I think it’s time for another question,” she said, hoping to deflect his attention. She couldn’t bear the direct scrutiny of his gaze.
“I think you’re right. Excuse me,” Bae shouted at the guard nearest a glass door covered by white-painted scrollwork. “Are we near the aviary? I have a bargain with this young lady, and I intend to win.”
The guard smiled. “The aviary is b
eyond this hallway, sir.”
“Many thanks.” Bae continued toward the indicated direction, walking backward to keep eye contact with Cali. His fingers linked behind his back. “There now. Another questions from you, if you please.”
While she pondered what to ask next, a glass cage the size of a small mountain came into view in the center of the expansive room. It was filled with trees, flagstone pathways, and the most brightly colored birds Cali had ever seen. Toucans with black feathers and yellow breasts, their wide beaks a splash of watercolor; tiny frittering streaks of plumes; finches of multifarious patches of shocking red, deepest purple, emerald green, and yellow.
Cali stopped, rooted in place. All she could do was stare. They didn’t make birds like this in Zara.
“They’re breathtaking,” she said.
He analyzed her. “How is it you’ve never been to your own gardens, nor seen your own birds? Are you kept a prisoner in your chambers, Princess?”
“I—I was sick for much of my childhood,” she lied.
They entered the aviary through a set of double doors, where the outer one led to a confined space and then another door—a means of preventing escape.
The air itself was caged, stifled and humid. Greenery was sparse—these trees were selected for their twining branches, not their foliage. It was a world of feathers and birdsong. Chimes and chirps echoed from every corner. Cali kept her gaze to the ceiling, pinned on a particularly stunning parrot in shades of purple and richest scarlet.
Bae gripped her arm, holding her back. When she glared at him, he said, “I think we should watch our step.”
He gestured to the ground, to where she’d almost tread. Several white droplets were scattered across the flagstones.
Cali’s cheeks heated. “Thanks,” she said.
The birds above them let out sociable chirps, fluttering from one branch to another. A wooden bridge connected one end of the small glass dome to the other. Cali and Bae broached the bridge to stand beneath the open space and admire the birds from a higher vantage point.
“Which is your favorite?” he asked, resting his tanned hands on the rail. She noticed a thick ring around his right index finger.
Tucking her bottom lip in, Cali perused the aviary. Among the other colorful, prismatic birds, one tugged her attention across the bridge upon which they stood. It was a peacock with a lime-green breast, shrewd eyes, and matching tufts of the same lime green like a crown on its small head. It strutted beside a tiny pond set off by rounded plants with its long tail feathers trailing along the ground.
“There,” she said. She could just imagine what it would be like when those feathers flared out in their full glory.
“Majestic. Imperial,” he said. “Very fitting.”
“And you?” she asked. One of the birds fluttered above, beginning a song-like strain of incoherent words. Another bird, white with a flocked plume on its head, answered with its own chittering call.
“Is that your question for me?” he asked.
She thought this over. “Okay, yes. If you’re a pirate, why don’t you have a bird?”
Bae glanced at the magnificent creatures. “If I did, I wouldn’t carry it with me while I met beautiful women.”
“No? That would be more impressive than your looks. A stunning bird perched on your shoulder. Singing at your whim. It would steal my heart, for sure.”
He seemed amused by this. “Which would you have me choose?”
Cali scanned the area, instantly taken by the parrot that had been chirping earlier. It was teal with a green beak and hints of avocado green beneath its feathers before they spread into magenta along its tail.
“That one.”
“I’ll take it,” he said with a smirk.
The phrase struck her with physical force, as if he’d slapped her heart. He’d take it. That was all pirates did. They took things. What was she doing?
“Soon enough, it will be yours whether I give it to you or not,” she said, continuing across the bridge, not realizing he hadn’t joined her until she arrived alone at the other side.
“There now,” he said from the bridge’s crest, staring down at her. “That makes you feel better, doesn’t it?”
“What am I supposed to say? Am I supposed to be happy you’re here, waiting like a tiger in the brush to pounce and steal what doesn’t belong to you?”
He strolled the rest of the way to stand before her, his boots thudding on the wood. “I’m not stealing anything.”
She couldn’t understand his words, or this shift in his mood. His intentions toward this kingdom were no secret. Still, she supposed what she’d said was rude. Like so many of her thoughts tended to do, it had slipped out.
But she didn’t regret it. She refused to. He was a pirate.
Then again, maybe she wasn’t the only one trying to pretend to be someone she wasn’t. She couldn’t fault him for that. Suddenly, she was struck with a pang of guilt.
The door behind them opened, and the first guard they’d spoken to stepped in.
“You found your aviary,” he said, pleased. His smile didn’t reach her, though. Her lighthearted enjoyment had been drenched with tension.
“That we did,” Bae said, crossing the bridge.
“Excuse me, but lunch is being served in the dining hall. Your presence is requested.”
“Lunch?” Cali said. Had so much time passed already? She glanced at Bae. He offered her his arm once more, along with a challenge in his gaze.
“Shall we?” he said.
The air pulsed between them. He was testing her, and she knew it. Cali lifted her chin. Refusing to allow him to best her, she slid her arm through his. His skin was warm, and she could feel the firm muscles quiver along his forearm.
A much different thread strung between them than the camaraderie they’d had for most of the morning.
It’s ridiculous for him to get offended, she told herself. She’d spoken nothing but the truth. Regardless of anything she said or did, he was intending to take this kingdom.
Chapter 10
Cali walked with a sense of otherness all the way to the dining hall. It wasn’t guilt. It wasn’t pride. It was just…other. Different. Maybe it was the mention of her first kiss with Darren. Maybe it was how presumptuous Bae was to assume one of Soraya’s birds should belong to him—or her implication of his presumption.
But what did Bae expect? Was she not supposed to ask questions and wonder what he was really doing there? Cali knew if things were different, if an imposter had attempted to take over her father’s kingdom days before her own coronation, she would be livid. She would spare no second getting to the bottom of things, and she certainly wouldn’t waste time playing games with the imposter’s son.
But this was all for her own kingdom. For Darren. Nothing more. She would excuse herself at the first opportunity to continue the search for the gardens and leave this country and all its problems far behind her.
Lunch passed in polite awkwardness, with the Kelseys sitting on the opposite end of the table from Cali and King Emir. He paid little attention to her. Her gaze continually stole away in Bae’s direction, much to her own dismay, and to Captain Kelsey’s humor at the sight. Figured. He was the type of man to find everything—pain, especially—funny.
“I take it you two got on well this morning?” he asked.
“We went on a scavenger hunt of sorts,” Cali answered.
“And were you successful?” Captain Kelsey took a forkful of tropical orange fruits Cali had never tasted before but found she liked very much. When the meal was being served, she heard them referred to as mangoes.
“Not completely.” Bae’s gaze burned into hers from across the table, and the pit of her stomach smoldered right along with it.
Not completely? What did that mean?
“What about yourself, were you successful?” she asked, wanting to change the subject, or at least the direction of his gaze.
Captain Kelsey’s brows rose in a
musement. “We were. In fact, we had quite an interesting discussion.”
King Emir cleared his throat, glowering at Cali. “This is not the time or place to discuss such matters. Dear one, would you be so kind as to join me for a moment?”
Cali’s throat closed. In spite of her thoughts, in spite of her forward nature and wanting to be helpful in urging these frauds from the palace, she was still a servant in the king’s eyes. Why could she not hold her tongue?
“As you wish, sir.” She placed her napkin on the table. “Captain Kelsey. Bae.” She nodded to each in turn before rising and following the king out the side door.
King Emir waited until they were well out of earshot before turning to her. “You may look like my daughter, but you are not a princess.”
Cali’s blood boiled. But what could she say?
“Your job is to spend time with Baelor Kelsey while I—” He pointed to his chest, hard, like an ape. “I will handle negotiations. What do you know of peace treaties and government compromises while your country is being threatened?”
Actually, Cali could go into a vast amount of detail of the instructions she’d been given, as well as the meetings she’d sat in on and been allowed to pitch her opinion in. But Undine’s wrath, she couldn’t tell the king who she really was. She had a feeling he would be none too pleased about her true identity and homeland, and she couldn’t risk anything interfering with her ability obtain those plants.
It was best for Cali to keep silent. To get what she needed in the shadows instead of the spotlight. Still, she couldn’t help wondering… Had King Emir heard of the necrosis sweeping over Zara? Was he in communication with her father at all?
“Don’t forget your place, Ana. You’re a servant.” He said the word with as much distaste as he could manage. “And Soraya will not be pleased to hear you spent your first day with the pirate gallivanting around our home like gypsies. She would never behave in such a manner.”
Only because you won’t let her, Cali thought. Perhaps her façade of having a sheltered childhood was more believable than she’d thought.
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