Page 29 of The Witch in the Dead of Night

She beamed at me. “I may have caught a glimpse of him when I was returning to our quarters yesterday evening, and my phobia was miraculously cured. Anyway, be sure to tell him you have a very beautiful friend waiting for him were he ever to venture downstairs.”

I stopped myself from tuning her out as she continued her overly thorough analysis of Prince Enhart undeterred. Apparently, a fleeting glance in a dim corridor was enough to make an indelible impression on her mind. I grabbed her plate and proceeded to scrub the dishes as she continued to describe him in disconcerting detail. He was, apparently, devilishly handsome, his muscles honed by regular training with the Fencing Masters, and rumored to be one of the best lovers in Valen.

I scoffed. “Why do people keep saying things like that?”

She grinned. “Probably because it’s true. Can you imagine?”

“Not talking about me now, are you?” said Maxence, sidling up to us.

I snorted, masking it as best I could as the tips of his ears reddened. Niamh giggled, excitement practically oozing from her pores as she laid eyes on him.

“You know, I really have to prepare,” I said. “Keep Niamh company for me?”

Maxence frowned. “I’m quite busy, you know.”

“Well if you don’t want to—”

“That’s not what I said!” He took my place on the bench. “I suppose I have some time to spare.”

Behind his back, I widened my eyes at my friend. Good luck, I mouthed, before taking my leave. Maxence and Niamh. I paused at the door, spying on them for a fleeting moment. Maxence was practically draping himself over the table as he leaned toward her, listening intently to whatever she was saying. I grinned.

I whiled away the rest of the afternoon in the courtyard, practicing what little I knew in silence. A ball of light danced around, casting its glow over the cracked stones, and with a flourish of my wrist, it dissolved, resulting in a puff of air that swept the courtyard free of dust and debris that had fallen from the dormant trees above my head. Mordric had been sparse with detail about what to expect in these sessions with the prince. I imagined, though, that it would be a bit more complex than my petty household enchantments.

Mordric had called his brother a scholar, said he was educated at the most acclaimed university in the kingdom. Perhaps he planned to teach me the history of magic, or the theory behind it. My own education was admittedly embarrassingly paltry. I had shared a one-room schoolhouse with dozens of other children for my entire childhood.

As the hour inched toward five o’clock I returned to my chambers to dress. To my surprise, several new garments awaited me in the wardrobe. I tugged on a pair of black breeches and a loose white chemise before draping a silver cloak around my shoulders. It was thick enough to keep me warm through what promised to be a long evening. I pulled on a pair of leather boots that had been left by the door before setting off into the cold.

I had been instructed to meet the prince in a far corner of the grounds, a place unfamiliar to me. I followed a guard’s directions out of the castle and up a winding stone path due west, lit only by oil lampposts that had been stabbed into the earth every ten paces or so. As I hurried up a set of uneven stairs, my breathing became labored.

Minutes after the fifth bell chimed, I stepped through an archway and into a courtyard. My eyes grew wide. The palace itself had been built over two thousand years ago, back when the first King of Valen was crowned, but there were structures on the grounds that had existed long before then. Some of them dated back to the time before vampires ruled over this land, according to the history books.

This one appeared to be ancient, with a flagstone terrace surrounded on its four sides by arched cloisters, withered ivy winding its way around the cracked stone. If I looked to the west, I could see down the hill to where Lake Brone churned in the evening air, thick sheets of ice floating on its surface. The wind whipping off of the surface of the lake nipped at my nose even from this distance. In the center of the courtyard, Prince Enhart sat at a round stone table, flicking through an ancient tome. All manner of books were stacked atop the table’s surface and I eyed them greedily.

“You’re late,” he said without looking up.

I bit the inside of my cheek. “My apologies, Your Royal Highness. This courtyard is much further from the castle than I realized.”

He waved forward one of the guards who had been lingering at the edge of the courtyard. For a moment, I panicked, worried he was about to order them to take me away. Could he dismiss me for being just a few minutes late? My heart caught in my throat and I opened my mouth to protest, but couldn’t find the words.

“These sessions are closed to spectators,” he said instead. He gestured to the other guard. “Both of you, leave us.”

“Yes, Your Royal Highness.” The guard bobbed his head and the pair of them marched toward the castle.

“And you.” The prince pointed a long finger in my direction. “My time is valuable. I don’t care how far away your chambers are or how little you know the grounds despite having lived here for however many years. You are not to be late. Don’t let it happen again.”

I swallowed. “I won’t.”

“Now then—” he leaned back in his chair, eyeing me like a feral cat deciding whether to play with its prey or kill it outright “—do you know why you’re here?”

I paused. It seemed like an odd question. “The King wants me to train before I join his council.”

He rolled his eyes. “You are here because an ignorant witch at court is a liability.”

I dug my nails into my palms. “That’s not how he put it.”

He smirked. “Ever the politician, His Majesty. Now, I have little faith in your talents, but my brother is convinced that you have potential. Not that there’s a long list of alternative candidates.”

I bit back the insults at the tip of my tongue, reminding myself that it was unwise to make an enemy out of the Prince of Valen. “I don’t imagine that this experience will be pleasant for either of us,” he continued, “and it’s certainly well beneath the time and energy of someone with my talents, but I digress.”