Page 83 of The Last Syphon

Farmers, blacksmiths, carpenters, bakers. The list went on and on. Everybody in Arelia worked, and in return, they were provided with everything they needed to survive.

Inara never thought the words would enter her mind, but Arelia seemed like a much better place than the Borderlands. At least here, one didn’t have to fight and steal for scraps.

“What happens to them? The people, after they’ve completed their training?”

“Most return home. Some enlist in the Arelian Army.”

Inara nodded. She ate the last of her food before depositing her empty plate onto a small table beside her. The silence returned once more. Her leg began to twitch with restlessness. “What’s all the stuff you’re signing?”

“Paperwork.”

Oh my Fates. It was like talking to a brick wall.

Blowing out a bored huff, Inara got to her feet. She circled the room slowly, looking at all it had to offer. A bookshelf ran the width of one side, filled with books and knick-knacks. Her eyes scanned the contents as her fingers danced across the spines. The thought of how much she could get for them entered her mind involuntarily—one of the side effects of being a thief, she supposed.

She moved over to the other side of the room. Her gaze wandered over Prince Walder’s desk as she walked past. He didn’t try to hide his work, and she glimpsed a few scrolls with the words Trade Agreement scrawled across the top. A few others had mineral outlines, housing reports, and food inventory. A big, bulky book lay open, more scrolls littered over the top of it. She couldn’t see much more of it except that it had a dark leather spine.

The other side of the room had a giant window, another chair and side table, and a magnetic wall where Prince Walder had hung his swords when they entered.

Curious, Inara inspected them. There were four—two, he kept strapped to his back, and another two sat at his sides. They were all identical, with a long silver blade and black leather hilt. The pommels each had what looked like a bright red jewel embedded into it. Picking one up, she tested the balance. It was a very fine weapon. When it tilted, she noticed something move within the jewel, like a liquid sloshing from side to side.

“Did no one teach you that you should ask before handling a man’s sword?”

Inara glanced over her shoulder. Prince Walder was staring at her. There was an innuendo there—right fucking there, that she thought would be hilarious to acknowledge, but in the end, decided not to.

“What’s in the pommel?” She couldn’t quite explain the feeling hammering in her bones. It went far beyond curiosity. There was something in there. She was sure of it.

“Nothing.” He flicked his fingers. The sword zoomed out of her hands and back to the magnetic wall.

Inara didn’t believe that for a second, but she did not pry. Fates knew she had her own secrets. “Hmm.” She plastered her back to the door, crossing her arms over her chest. “So, do you prefer the silence, or do you just have nothing to say?”

“Both.” He grunted. “I have far too much work to do to waste my time on idle chit-chat.”

Based on the overwhelming number of scrolls littered across his desk, Inara could see why that might be the case. “Isn’t that what the High Council is for? To help you with this crap?”

An unflattering snort escaped him. “Unless it involves the colour palette for the next Grand Ball, they are not interested. They would rather live in blissful ignorance that everything is okay.”

Inara’s brows snapped together in a frown. “Is everything not okay?”

Prince Walder opened his mouth to respond, then quickly slammed it shut, almost as if he’d just realised who he was talking to. “That is not your concern.”

“Oh, I beg to differ.” She pushed off the door and walked over to his desk, placing her hands flat on the surface. “As your personal Shielder, it is my job to protect you, right? Doesn’t that mean I need to be made aware of any threat that could cause harm to you?” Another thought entered her mind, and she frowned once again. “Speaking of, why do you even need a Shielder? Aren’t you, like, the second most powerful being in the realm?”

His brow arched high. “If I am the second, who would be the first?”

She gave him a dazzling smile. “Me, of course.”

Inara could have sworn she heard a slight chuckle escape his lips, but after further thought, she surmised that she had just imagined it. The idea that the Crowned Prince of Arelia could laugh was inconceivable.

“I do not need a Shielder. But as the Heir to the throne, it is law that I be assigned one.”

“Hmm.” Inara had picked up on a few things since meeting Prince Walder, one of which was that the man was a stickler for the rules. “Back to my first question. Shouldn’t I be made aware of any potential threat to you?”

He picked up his glass and finished the rest of the contents before placing it and his half-eaten plate of food off to the side. “Let us not pretend that you actually care what becomes of me. We both know you are not here of your own accord. My sister tricked you, did she not?”

“Yes. I wasn’t aware that once I signed the Enrollment Scroll, I would be bound into service for a year, and Princess Phaedra conveniently left that information out when I asked her about the Shielder Trials.”

He nodded and leant back into his chair. “My sister has been trying for a very long time to find another Shielder who could beat Larissa. I’ll admit, I never expected it to be you.”