Page 28 of For Ever More

When the prince doesn’t answer, I shake my head. “Let’s go. He knows nothing.”

“Wait,” he says. “I’ve not finished speaking to you.”

“But I’m done. And I will remember your untrustworthiness.”

Prince Zixin’s mouth thins. “It was General Xilu who struck your father down, Lord Jin-Yong,” he says abruptly.

Jin goes rigid, his eyes narrowed in speculation. “Convenient, to name one of your greatest adversaries, one you bear a grudge against.”

“It’s the truth,” the prince replies. “Your father was renowned as an accomplished warrior. Who else among our soldiers could have defeated him? Who else would my father have trusted to secure the Sun Dragon?”

Queen Chunlei’s claim from her coronation echoes in my head. It was my idea to strike at Mist Island first, to steal the magic they wouldn’t share.

“A fitting pair, the queen and her husband,” I say with revulsion.

Jin’s face is ashen, his expression haunted. As I touch his arm, his fingers fold around mine, clasping them tight. “We will leave now,” I say.

“Come back soon.” Despite Prince Zixin’s smile, despair threads his tone. “I expect you to.”

“I’ll return when I choose.”

His gaze bores into me, turbulent with suppressed wrath. The Prince of the Iron Mountains isn’t accustomed to being defied. As Jin and I leave the courtyard, the soldiers shut the doors after us. He’s still holding my hand, yet I don’t pull free.

Jin is silent, but I sense he believes the prince, as do I. This knowledge must torment him. “In the Iron Mountains, I ate with General Xilu, even spoke to him occasionally at court. When he struck you after the challenge by the tower, I dragged him away… then let him go.” Each word seethes with rage. “I should have killed him—my father’s murderer.”

As he shudders, bowing his head, I search for a way to ease his pain. “You must miss your father,” I say quietly.

“When he was with me, it was like the sun had risen—everything took on more meaning, more depth, he made me want to be better. After he died, life became dark. Heavy. Mother became a recluse, wasting away until her eventual death. I was a boy, yet my childhood had ended. Since then, my uncle raised me. We are both lords of Thorn Valley. While he is impatient to relinquish his position, I want to avenge my father first, to secure my people’s future… if I’m strong enough.”

“You are.” I want to say more, to help… but am afraid of binding myself. “You can do anything you set your mind to,” I tell him instead.

His knuckles brush my cheek, his gaze pinning mine. “You are the strong one, the one I admire.”

Heat creeps over my face. “No one has told me they admired me before.”

“Then you’ve been among fools.” He moves closer until my face is reflected in his pupils. “And I am anything but one.”

Silence pulses, this moment between us fragile and precious.

“How was it, returning to your family?” he asks then.

“In the beginning, like fumbling in the dark.” It is easy to speak honestly with him, it always was. “I thought when I got home, everything would fall into place. But it takes time, it’s the small things that make a home, that strengthen a bond: eating at the same table, hearing my father in the kitchen, the rustle of the tree outside.” I smile without realizing it. “I’m happy now.”

“You deserve to be.” A pause. “Did you miss me at all?”

Yes. “No,” I reply.

His mouth slants into a half smile. “Do you know your lips tighten when you lie? Just a little. A stranger would not notice but I’ve watched you enough.”

I scowl at him. “I must return.”

“I wish you wouldn’t.”

“Will you hold me against my will?”

“If you really had no desire to come here—I won’t force you. I am not the Prince of the Iron Mountains, seeking to bind you through despicable means.” The intensity of his gaze sears. “But will you return when I ask? Willingly?”

He is edging me into an admission. It was easier to hold on to my resentment, but Jin has a talent for knocking down my barriers.