Princess of Thorns

“Then I am at your service. My name is Crimsin,” she says, sidling closer.

“Jor,” I say, withholding my nickname. I don’t want this girl getting hold of any intimate part of me. Or Niklaas.

“That’s what I thought.” Crimsin smiles. “So what do you think, Prince Jor? Should we adjourn to your room for a chat? See if we can’t work out an arrangement?”

She reaches for my warrior’s knot, but I stop her with a hand around her wrist. She’s not much taller than I am, but she’s thicker. My fingers barely wrap around her arm.

“Tough, aren’t you?” Crimsin asks. “How old are you? Twelve? Thirteen?”

“Fourteen,” I say through gritted teeth, not liking the look in her eye.

“Fourteen.” Her eyebrows lift. “Then you know what to do with yourself, don’t you?” Before I can move away, her free hand darts out, quick as a snake slithering out of the grass, to grab the front of my britches.

I knock her arm away and take a step back, suitably shocked at having been fondled by a stranger. She takes a mirror step back, apparently equally shocked not to have found what she was looking for in my pants.

“I’m so sorry,” she breathes, the huskiness vanished from her tone. “I didn’t know—the messenger said …” She takes another step back. “Princess?”

“I’ll answer questions when I have answers,” I say, though I have to admit to feeling less threatened now that she’s not trying to seduce me. “Shall we go to my room?”

“Ye-yes. That would be best.” She takes a long look down the hall. “I don’t like to be seen with the travelers who hire me, and I especially don’t want to be seen with a Norvere royal. There was an ogre battalion in the city center yesterday. They’ve promised to kill anyone who even thinks about helping the lost prince reach the Kingdom in the Hills. I’m sure they’d be equally eager to capture the lost princess.”

Ekeeta knows no one will be helping the “lost prince,” but this must mean she’s still keeping the identity of her prisoner quiet, which is good. I’ll have the chance to meet the exiles as Ror instead of Aurora, and get a feel for them before revealing myself.

Assuming I can convince this girl to keep quiet about her discovery …

“Thank you for risking your safety to come here,” I say, deciding it’s not too soon to attempt to win her friendship and hopefully her cooperation. I start down the hall toward my room but hesitate as I near her animal.

“Don’t worry, Hund’s harmless.” She snaps her fingers, signaling for the dog to stand behind her as I unlock the door. “At least so long as I want him to be.”

I glance over my shoulder, debating whether to allow the dog inside. I know I can handle myself against Crimsin, but I’m not accustomed to fighting animals.

“Honestly, Princess, you have nothing to fear from me or Hund or the other exiles,” she says, reading my expression with unca

She moves into the room, motioning for the dog to lie down by the fire, which Hund does, rolling onto his side and resting his massive head on his paws. “Any other person in this city would sell you to the ogres in a heartbeat,” she continues. “Your bounty makes the purses at the blood tournaments look like a night’s drinking money.”

“You said the ogres threatened to kill anyone who helped me reach the exiles.” I lock the door and lean my staff against the wall. “How do they know where I’m bound?”

“Where else would you be bound? To raise an army to take back your sister’s crown? Or your crown, rather.” She rolls her eyes as she flops down onto the floor by her beast, seeming so much younger now that she’s moving like a girl and not a seductress. “I’m so embarrassed. I was sure I was going to bed a prince tonight. What you must think.”

“My brother really is only fourteen. Isn’t that a bit young?” I ask, raising a brow.

Her shoulder lifts. “I’m only five years older, and a prince who would take me with him when he heads off to war isn’t a prince I’d let slip away.”

“You’re so eager to go to war?”

“I’m eager to live in the capital,” she says with a crooked grin. “To live anywhere but the outer reaches of the land that time forgot. It is dreadfully boring up there, Princess. I’m sure our young men will knock each other over in their rush to sign up to fight. Anything to escape the damned hills.”

“I don’t have money to pay now,” I say, a part of me refusing to believe this will be so easy. “But I’ll have a small fortune for anyone who helps—”

“The counselors won’t want your fortune, Princess, and I’ll settle for an introduction to your brother.” She wiggles her eyebrows as she scratches Hund’s neck.

I snort. “You’d scare him half to death.”

She cocks her head. “You think?”

“I know.” My poor brother would turn twelve shades of red and hide in the privy for a week if a girl grabbed him between the legs. Before he was captured at the begi

“I’ve never had a boy turn me down. At least, not a real boy.” She laughs as she looks me over from head to toe. “I can’t believe I was fooled. You even stand like a girl. You should spread your legs more, pretend you’ve got something between them interfering with your ability to get through life without making an ass of yourself.”

I return her smile. “I do, when there are people to fool. But you know my secret.”

She rolls her eyes again. “I do, and again, I’m sorry. I hope you won’t tell the counselors. They’d have my hand cut off.”

“Of course not,” I say, seeing my chance to win a promise of my own. “And I hope you will keep my secret. I would prefer to meet your counselors as a prince. Sometimes it’s easier to get a straight answer as a boy.”

“I believe that,” Crimsin says with a sigh. “I’m lucky to get crooked answers, and those I have to tickle out while men are staring at my chest.”

“Then you won’t tell your leaders the truth?”

“I am your subject, Princess. I will do as you command. You’ll see the rest of my people are the same,” she says, a warmth in her voice that makes me want to believe her, to relax and let relief flood through me, but I can’t. Even if Crimsin is right, this is only a single step forward. There are still fields to go to free Jor. And after that …

I haven’t allowed myself to think beyond making sure my brother is safe, but I know Jor and I can’t slip back into hiding for the rest of our lives. My subjects are suffering under Ekeeta’s rule—half their crops are seized for taxes, and their loved ones sentenced to feed the ogres’ hunger for the slightest crimes. I owe it to them to fight for my throne. Even if I rescue Jor and we escape to Malai, sooner or later we will have to raise another army and fight. But at least we will be able to fight side by side and die with a weapon in our hands and our souls our own.

“But I would suggest we leave soon.” Crimsin bounces back to her feet. “It will be easier to get out of the city u

“I can’t leave tonight.” I silently curse Niklaas for drinking himself into uselessness. “My companion really is drunk. I doubt I could keep him awake for longer than a few minutes, let alone mounted on his horse.”

“Then we leave without him. You can write him a note saying goodbye.” She crosses to the bedside table, pulling parchment and a stick of charcoal from the pocket of her cloak as she goes. “I’ll rip my paper, and you can have half. It’s better if my message is brief. Easier to fit inside the hole in Hund’s collar.”

“I can’t,” I say, though for a moment I’m tempted.