Princess Nymeria's Arc

Chapter 18 of 32

Nymeria could not find a clear face inside. The charm pressed on every man near her. She needed it to quiet. She slipped out a side door into the garden. A river ran past the castle wall, mirroring the blue spires above. She sat on a stone bench and breathed slow. The pull inside her chest loosened. Little by little, the charm folded back into her. The night air cooled her skin. When she felt steady again, she stood and turned toward the castle. "Needed air too, didn't you." A man leaned against a garden arch. He wore dark royal garments, black stitched with gold. His hair was dark and messy, his green eyes sharp on her. He did not stare like the others. He did not sway or gape. He looked at her the way one person looks at another. "You're the prince," Nymeria said. She had seen his portrait in the hall. "Tobias." He pushed off the arch and stepped closer. "I watched you dance. Every man in there turned to stone the moment you touched him." He tilted his head. "But I don't feel like turning to stone." Nymeria's breath caught. She braced for the glaze to cover his eyes. It did not come. She let a thread of her charm slip loose on purpose, just to test him. Most men would have gone slack. Tobias only frowned. "There it is," he said. "A tug. Like a hand on my sleeve." He shook his head once. "I can feel it. I just don't have to follow it." She stared at him. "You know what I am." "I know you're not like the others in there," he said. "Your eyes give it away. So do the horns." He shrugged. "I've read about your kind. A succubus. Men lose their minds around you." He met her gaze. "I'd rather keep mine." Nymeria's heart pounded. Here stood the one thing she had searched for all night. A man who felt the charm and set it aside. She could ask him a question and he could answer. She could be seen. "Why aren't you inside choosing a wife?" she asked. "Because I wanted air," he said. "And because the girls inside wanted a crown, not me." He smiled a little. "You're the first person tonight who looked like she wanted to leave more than I did." She almost laughed. It was true. Tobias offered his arm. "Walk with me. Tell me who you really are. Not the pull. You." Nymeria looked at his steady eyes. For the first time, a man asked for her and meant it. She took his arm. But a cold thought crept in. If Tobias could resist her charm, he could see all of her, the demon horns and the pale eyes of King Malachar's blood. And if he could see that, so could anyone who ruled beside him. She had found her free heart. Now she had to survive what it might cost her.