The Raven and the Dove (The Raven and the Dove #1) - Kaitlyn Davis Page 0,64

I don’t feel there is, and I was hoping, that maybe you might, or I could, or we…” Cassi swallowed. The uncertainty in her voice was something Lyana had never heard before. The friend she adored was confident, not full of jumbled words that tripped over themselves, spilling in all sorts of directions that didn’t make sense.

Lyana grabbed Cassi’s hands. “What? What are you trying to say?”

Cassi's eyes snapped up, clear in a way that didn’t match the rest of her. “Can I go with you to the House of Whispers?”

Lyana blinked.

When her body caught up to her mind, she leaped onto Cassi’s chest, crushing her friend’s wings in an overly enthusiastic hug that threw them both off balance and sent them crashing into the pillows.

“Yes!” she shrieked. “Yes, you must!”

In truth, Lyana had secretly been hoping Cassi would make the suggestion for weeks, but she hadn’t wanted to push. Their whole lives were here, in the House of Peace, and just because Lyana was forced to uproot her existence, Cassi didn’t have to follow. But if her friend wanted to come along for the adventure, she certainly wouldn’t say no.

“Do you think the ravens will allow it?” Cassi asked, voice somewhat suffocated by Lyana's weight.

Lyana hastily sat, giving her friend room to breathe, and shrugged, mind already whirling. “So what if they don’t? Tomorrow their crown prince will whisk me away from the only home I’ve ever known so I can become the future queen of a foreign world.” She paused as the weight of what the morning would bring settled on her shoulders—so many dreams, so many questions, so many unknowns. Straightening her back, she proudly lifted her chin. “I dare him to even attempt to tell me no.”

They both knew what that no entailed.

Cassi closed her eyes and pretended to shudder. “I pity the man who tries to deny you.”

Lyana grinned. “I do too, my friend. I do too.”

27

Xander

The crystal palace was even more magnificent upon closer inspection. The sweeping front doors. The entry hallway that must have spanned two hundred feet, all encased in clear rocks, so every inch of the mosaic floor glistened with sunlight, reflecting the majestic sky above. The central atrium, its dome towering impossibly high with a carved staircase spiraling up the outer edges, leading to more rooms and suites than he could begin to count. And that grand sight didn't even take into account the royal families from every house, their ornate garments, the vast array of feathers and jewels, the vibrant patches of color dotted around the room. Xander was trying his best not to gawk, but the task was proving difficult, especially for a raven from a house shrouded in nothing but black.

You’ve been participating in the trials for days, he silently reminded himself. After the parade of offerings, the ball, the tests themselves, this sight should be old news. Close your mouth. Level your gaze. And stop smiling like a blithering fledgling. You’re a crown prince, for Taetanos’s sake—pretend that you belong.

The flash in his mother’s eyes seemed to say the same thing. Pull it together.

They’d considered allowing Rafe to close the trials too, unwilling to risk their deception being discovered during this final ceremony. But in the end, Xander knew he needed to reveal his own face, not Rafe's, to all the watching royals. Once the trials were over and the matches set, the heirs would finally be granted free rein to travel between houses, so he needed to be sure his face was the one remembered. His hand could always be explained away later as an accident, but the differences between his and Rafe’s features, subtle as they were, could not.

Xander tightened his grip on the arm of the throne to keep his fingers from tapping. The scratching of woodgrain against his left palm kept him grounded even as his heart continued to pound.

Today, he was going to meet his mate.

Today, he would prove to the world that his people had not lost favor with the gods.

Today, he was going to give the House of Whispers a win.

Because he’d been matched.

Yesterday evening, Rafe had stormed into the raven guest quarters, grunting rather than speaking, eyes almost bleeding red, fists curled, all because he hadn’t won. Going into the second day of tests, he’d had the clear lead, but the dove prince caught him during the strategy games, and they’d ended the trials with a tie. But someone had to have first pick, and a son of