Suddenly, she felt silly, imagining she was being followed. Of course he was headed to the castle. Emry belatedly dipped into a bow, which seemed to please her companion.

“And you’re Apprentice Merlin, I presume,” Gawain went on. “You look very like your father.”

Gawain smiled, as though enjoying a private joke. He had a hint of Arthur’s wide grin, she realized, and the same deep-cut cheekbones as his father. That’s what had made him seem familiar. He couldn’t have been more than nineteen. For some reason, she’d imagined him older.

“What are you doing wandering around London, Lord Gawain?” she asked.

“Avoiding the horrible banquet that’s no doubt being held in my honor. And you?”

Emry forced herself to match his light spirits, even though she was still reeling from the attack. “Arriving to the same banquet, fashionably late,” she said.

“Fashionably? Are you sure?” he drawled, nodding at Emry’s clothing.

Oh, he was infuriating. Everything she’d expected of the prince and worse.

“Shall we claim we were attacked by bandits?” Gawain went on. “That we valiantly fought off three each? You with magic, of course, me with just my knife and my wits.”

Emry snorted. But Gawain wasn’t laughing. “Oh, you’re serious?” she asked.

He shrugged. Elegantly, of course. “It was just a suggestion. Might get us out of that dreadful supper entirely. If it did, I’d be in your debt.”

Dangerous, a small voice in the back of her head warned. He wanted something. That’s why he had followed her down that alley. And why he was watching her so closely now. But she couldn’t figure out what.

She should be careful, she knew. Lord Agravaine had already caught her leaving the prince’s bedroom, and she had no good explanation for what she was doing wandering the streets of London.

Emry lifted her chin. “I’ll pass, thanks. As it stands, you’re already in my debt.”

“How so?”

“For my silence,” she said. “I did save us both, after you so foolishly followed me down an alley you knew was a dead end. So whatever story you tell to explain the late hour of your arrival, and your apparent lack of guards or servants, I won’t contradict it.”

Gawain stared at her, considering. “You think your word is worth as much as mine?” he asked, sounding every inch the spoiled royal.

“I don’t know,” Emry admitted. “But I’d be interested to find out.”

She watched with satisfaction as he wrestled with what to say next.

They were fast approaching the castle. The gates loomed in front of them, and suddenly Emry had an idea.

“I’ll take my leave now, my lord,” she said with a brief bow. “The servants’ entrance is around the back.”