“I have my ways,” she said. He raised an eyebrow her direction. “All right, I picked the lock. Some of us who can’t swing big scary weapons have to learn other useful skills.”

Cyrus chuckled, but the mirth was forced. He turned back to the view. Mari was a beacon of joy, and it made him feel that much more awkward and dismal by comparison. To share his doubts with someone so kind was unfair, but that never seemed to stop her from prying.

“Are you all right, Cyrus?” she asked, her hand gently settling on his shoulder. “Something has troubled you ever since we arrived in Vallessau.”

“Is that why you followed me here?”

“Because I’m worried about you? Yes. That is my reason. I think it’s a pretty good reason, don’t you?”

It was a stupid thing to argue about, so instead he gestured for her to take a seat on the belfry’s edge beside him.

“Sorry,” he said. “I don’t mean to be rude. And if I’m honest, I fear I am not ready for this.”

“I’d be surprised if you weren’t at least a little nervous,” Mari said as she sat. Her elbow playfully jabbed his side. “But I’ve seen the training my family’s put you through. Sure, you may not have beaten Rayan in your duel, but you gave him a solid fight, and that’s more than most anyone can say here on Thanet. You’ll pull this off, and you’ll do it with us at your side.”

Cyrus stared at the castle atop the hill. Candles lit every window, and torches burned from braziers built into the outer walls so that the castle could be viewed at all times from all angles of the city. For two years he had lived inside it as a prisoner, separate from the people of Vallessau. A hostage for an entire nation.

“That isn’t actually what I meant,” he said, struggling to put into words his mess of complicated feelings. “If your father says I’m ready, then I’m ready. No one’s a harsher judge than him. I more meant that I’m not ready to be king. These people here in Vallessau, and across Thanet, they’re my subjects. So shouldn’t I feel… something? If this city is mine to rule, and to protect, shouldn’t I hold an attachment to it in some way? My father, he… he referred to Vallessau as his child. I was his son, and Vallessau his daughter, and he said he would raise and teach both to the best of his abilities. So why don’t I feel that way? When I look out at the shining beacon of Thanet, why do I feel nothing?”