Anwen
I tap my feet against the solarium floor, fighting an instinct that demands I pace.
She's coming, Baz reminds me without looking away from the spread on the table in front of us. I called him back from the chase leading ever closer to the castle because there's no one else who could sit at my side for this. I'll send him back out as soon as we're done here, a piece of information he didn't take very kindly to.
A servant brings in the final few plates and squeezes them onto the table.
I may have overdone it with the food. The castle library didn't tell me anything about what Sundrop Gem eats for lunch, so I decided I'd rather not miss something important. At least a dozen plates cover the tiled tabletop, and more will be coming out as we finish these. Unseasonable fruits imported from distant kingdoms sit between hearty stews putting off steam. Three dishes of bread sit at one end of the table and three more on the other.
The glass door to the solarium opens, and only Father's voice ringing in my ear keeps me from jerking my head up to look at her. Instead, I turn slowly from the papers I'm theoretically reviewing in front of me.
Still, my heart skips a beat. She wears a dress of some incredible fabric that looks like all the colors of flame at once and trails behind her like a cape. A simple golden circlet rings her head, drawing attention to the symphony of braids holding back her dark hair. Yet again, there's some woman next to her. Tesandra, I assume.
She starts to curtsy, then stops herself. Fuck, right. I hop to my feet and bow.
"Luna Estrella," I say. "Allow me to introduce you to my Beta, Basileos."
He stands and bows as well. "Please, call me Baz."
With a staggered synchrony half the nobles in Dun's Crossing haven't yet mastered, Tesandra curtsies, then Estrella. My mouth goes dry.
"Prince Anwen." Her tone is unforgiving. "This is my attendant, Tesandra, daughter of my late father's Beta."
"Tess," she corrects.
"I've enjoyed working with your father, Tess." I sit back down. "Help yourselves. The kitchen ran away with the request."
Estrella eyes the food on the table, then me like she already knows this is my fault. I hold her gaze. Days apart make her smell heady, nearly blotting out the food like it did at that first breakfast.
She sits directly across the table from me. Tess takes the seat next to her, across from Baz. When I sent the letter, I hoped I could keep my head, but that was stupid. Estrella's just too tantalizing.
'Does "help yourselves" extend to very hungry best friends who've been running for days?' he asks.
I barely don't roll my eyes. 'Yes.'
He begins filling the empty plate in front of him with everything he can reach.
"Our cultural knowledge of Sundrop Gem is severely lacking." I pour myself a drink and sip it. "Do you have particular foods you prefer for lunch?"
"We tend toward two smaller midday meals before dinner." Estrella takes some fruit preserves and bread onto her plate. "However, you called this meeting to discuss the matter of the investigation. You said you had some discovery?"
Dammit. She's not going to be distracted easily.
"Yes, I did." I scrounge through my memory for anything important-or anything important that doesn't implicate Kieran. "Three days before the ball, just after invitations were sent out, I smelled someone behind the castle. Someone I didn't recognize. And I smelled them again for just a moment at the ball."
Her eyebrows tick up a single notch. "And you didn't see fit to mention this until now? What is the purpose of your exhaustive reports if not to tell me what you know?"
Wrong move.
"I didn't say anything because the smell could've been an early arrival, simply a member of a delegation with no connection to the investigation." The drink makes my thoughts swim. I grab a heel of bread and choke down a bite to sop it up before continuing. "Over these past four days, I have systematically ruled out every delegate invited to the ball. Whoever I smelled should not have been there. I strongly believe they are the assassin."
"He is," Baz adds through a full mouth.
Estrella and Tess wrinkle their noses very slightly in unison. So Tess isn't just an attendant; she's a dear friend for them to move so easily together.
"Apologies." I smile, trying to reclaim their attention. "Baz has been leading the chase, which is why I chose him as my second for this meeting. He means to say that he knows the smell better, and he's certain it belongs to a male wolf."
'Manners, jackass,' I snap over the mind-link.
He swallows. "Exactly that. And he doesn't smell distinctively like any of the royal families I'm familiar with either. We've got another gray wolf on our pursuit team-he's actually leading it while I'm gone-and he agrees there's no chance it's nobility from Escuro, Snowcrest Canyon, or Dun's Crossing."
"How lucky," Estrella murmurs.
The edge of disbelief in her voice stings. "Our gray wolves have the best sense of smell. You can trust that report."
"That secondhand report, corroborated by a wolf I don't even know by name?" She flicks her gaze up to meet mine for a split second. "Apologies, Prince Anwen, but I cannot rely on the word of anyone outside my own kingdom at this time."
My temper flares. "And what if someone from your own kingdom perpetrated the attack? Baz and his team didn't rule out Sundrop Gem. We don't know your smells."
Her grip on her utensils tightens. "My people would not do this. My father was beloved. We gain nothing from his death."
"Apologies, Luna Estrella, but I cannot rely on the word of anyone outside my own kingdom at this time." I smirk at her. "If you would give Baz some idea of what your people smell like, we could rule you out properly."
My pulse pounds. Blood rushes below my belt. Fighting with her is electric, and if I can push her off topic into scent-
"Many of us have the smell of something cooked, though it varies wolf to wolf." She clenches her jaw. "Father believed it was because our magic heated our very scent."
I inhale a deep breath of her cooked-sugar scent. Next to me, Baz does the same. I nearly clobber him. She's my mate! But I clamp down on it, reminding myself he's only gathering information.
"Satisfied?" She raises a single eyebrow.
The word "never" sits on the tip of my tongue. I swallow it.
"Heat magic, you say?" I lean back in my seat and take another mouthful of bread. "What's that like? Is it related to that glow at the ball?"
Estrella stiffens. Tess glances at her sharply, her eyes clouded with mind-link. There's a secret here.
"I wouldn't know," Estrella says tightly. "I've only begun to come into my powers. At this time, I can keep myself warm and sometimes warm things in my palms."
My mark pulses with more want than pain, for once. I smile slowly.
"In Dun's Crossing, we're not born with magic," I say. "I've always been curious. Could we get a demonstration?"
Estrella studies me then pours herself a glass of ruby-red fruit juice. She cups it for a moment and holds it out to me. I run my finger along it. As promised, the surface that should be cool is body-warm to the touch.
"Can you do it to people?" I hold my hand out to her, mentally urging her to accept.
She looks at Tess, who nods infinitesimally. After a brief hesitation, Estrella takes my hand.
Her fingers slide into position around mine like that's where they most belong, like puzzle pieces locking into place. The warmth follows immediately after, like the soft burn of a sip of whiskey, but spreading up from my palm. It's intoxicating, addictive, and I instantly want more.
Baz clears his throat, and I remember we're not alone. I pull my hand back, but slowly, lingering in the feel of her.
"Remind me to bring you along if I ever get tricked into visiting Snowcrest." I smile.
Miracle of miracles, she smiles back. "I think a much grander trick would be required to get me anywhere near those mountains."
"Maybe that could be arranged," I say softly.
'Trail just changed direction again,' Heath says over the mind-link to Baz and me. 'No denying it anymore. This bastard is headed back to the castle.'
Motherfucker. 'Close distance and take him down.'
Baz sighs. 'I'll wrap up and head out with Caden and Marko. Wait for me.'
Caden and Marko are both white wolves and wicked fast. Exactly the role I'd fill if I was on the team.
"Something's changed," Estrella says. "What?"
"The team in pursuit thinks they've got the assassin cornered," I lie easily. "Baz has to go help with takedown."
He stuffs a few more bites into his mouth, stands, and flips a salute before marching out. Goddess, he's going to get his ass handed to him one of these days. I'm never taking him to a political meeting again.
I turn back to the table and discover the tiny inch of ground I gained with Estrella is gone. She's back to ramrod-straight posture and cool gaze trained on her plate. Fuck. Every glimpse I get of her without the hardened political shell makes me crave more.
I'm tired of resisting. Solbergs take what they want head-on.
"Tess," I say, "could I speak to your lady alone for a moment?"
Both their gazes go hazy, so I assume they're using the mind-link. Estrella frowns. Tess shakes her head very slightly.
Abruptly, her eyes clear, and she stands. "Certainly, Prince Anwen. Thank you for lunch."
"Not certainly." Estrella jumps to her feet to leave as well. "I indicated I would come with an attendant, and I don't intend to revoke that."
I shove my chair back as I get to my feet and find an unexpected word on my tongue. "Please."
So ridiculous. So vulnerable. So unlike the man Father raised me to be.
Maybe that's not the worst thing, though.
"As it seems you have no more to report, we will both be leaving." She turns toward the door coldly.
Vulnerability doesn't work. I should've known that. Father's lessons flow back into place, and my hand snaps out. Before I realize what I'm doing, I wrap my fingers around the soft flesh of her wrist.
Estrella whips back to me, her eyes flashing.