she would break, because Melger would break her. He would learn of her magic, and he would order the Raven to destroy it.
He could not continue to care. Could grant her no more grudging respect. She had to understand that he was her enemy, because if she did… perhaps there was a chance she might survive him in the end.
And at the moment, she was staring at him with so much suspicion, he dared to hope she might already understand.
“I’m not doing this,” she said, shaking her head emphatically. “This is ridiculous, and I’m going to bed.”
If only she’d listened to herself.
But instead, she paused only an instant before reaching up to take hold of the gem again. When she did, the Raven felt her accursed conscience and realized she was caring about him again.
“Look, I realize it’s silly of me to ask,” she said, “and really none of my business, but when do you sleep? You’ve been standing guard without any rest for at least two days, and I can’t imagine that you won’t need to sleep sooner or later.”
Worried, Princess? He made the question a mocking one.
“Yes!” She really was. Now, if only she could be convinced to be afraid of him, rather than for him.
I do not require much sleep. You need not fear that I will not be vigilant.
He let her hear it as a warning—he didn’t sleep, and he was always watching.
But instead of being afraid, her curiosity surged against his mental walls. She seized his words and hung on like a starving wolf to the last deer of winter.
“But how is that possible?” she asked. “Don’t you ever get tired?”
This had to stop.
Don’t you ever get tired of pretending, Princess?
That drew a jolt of fear. She had to know she was on dangerous ground. And yet still, she refused to retreat.
“A princess is always pretending,” she told him, with a strange calm that suggested the lull before a storm.
But is a princess always a spy?
She did not move, but her mental walls cracked. She obviously had no idea how open that left her mind and heart. No idea how much he could read through the deepening link between them.
She was desperately afraid, yes. Battered by a storm of questions. And not just questions about Garimore, or even about the Raven’s intentions. She also had questions about herself. About her power. About what would happen if King Melger found out the truth. Not the truth that she was a spy—no, she was wondering what he would do if he found out about her magic.
As if she knew she could not hide from their link, she looked the Raven in the face and spoke what was in her heart.
“Sometimes, a princess must be a spy. What choice does she have when she has been given responsibility for an alliance of such importance that she cannot afford to make a mistake?” she countered simply. “In order to protect my people, I need to learn everything I can. And how am I to know the truth if I only listen to what I am meant to hear?”
How are you to know the truth if you listen only to what people say?
“Are you suggesting I know them by their actions?” she scoffed, suddenly angry. “A princess is always pretending because she is surrounded by pretense. I know perfectly well that all I see and hear is a display for my benefit. But what other avenues do I have? I am caged by expectations as surely as you are caged by that armor!”
She knew nothing. And yet she knew everything. She knew he was a slave, and he hated her for knowing. Suddenly burning with rage, the Raven moved and found himself looming over her. This time, he surrounded her with the shadows of his own torment, not to protect but to force her to see. To understand what he was.
What do you know of cages? Even his mental voice burned with bitterness. You are free. Free to stay or to go. Free to live or to die. Your own will is the only one that constrains you.
She stared up at him, angry and still unafraid.
“And what do you know of my life?” she returned, an odd twist to her lips. “I wear no chains, and therefore I should not compare my situation to yours. But I am bound by my station. By the needs of my kingdom and my people. How is it freedom that I am commanded and