He’s a loyal soldier. Ericen accepted his place and obeyed orders, and he cared about Illucia and its people, but I was starting to think he didn’t fit. Perhaps he wasn’t the man he’d been pretending to be when I first met him, at least not completely. Was that why his soldiers didn’t respect him? Why the people on the streets barely inclined their heads, if they noticed him at all? Because he wasn’t the Illucian prince they wanted.

My eyes flickered to his wound. “Is that why you don’t get along with her?” I asked.

He stiffened. “What makes you say that?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Everything.”

“Ah, yes, the expert on people is the girl who’s avoided them for half a year.”

“See?” I threw up my hands, and his fingers curled into fists, as if trying to draw back the words.

He was saved from answering by the arrival of our food. A platter of short ribs, a bowl of mashed potatoes and garlic, and a salad with tomatoes and goat cheese, along with the plate of thick bread that seemed to accompany every meal in the kingdom.

I picked up my fork and knife but quickly found the knife to be unnecessary. The beef was so tender, it practically fell apart. I was so focused on it and intent on ignoring Ericen that his next words were like a shock of ice.

“Tell me about the crows,” he said quietly.

I nearly dropped my fork, my answer leaping out reflexively. “No.”

He didn’t look surprised, but he did seem bothered by my answer, his brow furrowing. I didn’t care. No matter who he was, kind or cruel, I would not talk to an Illucian about the crows. I couldn’t.

We finished dinner, which Ericen paid for despite the cook’s protests, and stepped back out onto the bridge. Rather than return to the carriage, Ericen directed me to a shop across the street nearly shrouded in trees.

“I didn’t get dessert, because I figured you’d like this place.” He held the door open for me.

Bakery was too small a word for what surrounded me. Glass case after glass case filled with pastries of every kind, the air thick with the smell of sugar and freshly baked bread. Where a moment ago, my stomach had been achingly full, I now wanted to try everything I saw.

“We can get some to take back too.” Ericen smiled at my slack-jawed expression, and I faltered. That smile, that real smile, was like a glimpse of gold veined in stone. It made me want to trust him.