“What was that about?” Hawthorne asks her.

“Oh, I was just telling Laurel to kick your ass today,” she says exuberantly. Hawthorne bursts out in laughter, and I can’t keep my eyes off him. The laugh reveals a new side of him, a vulnerability he rarely shows. Something deep in my belly turns over. “Ready to kick my ass, Your Majesty?” he asks me, a glint in his eyes.

I stiffen. “Uh… yes,” I say awkwardly. Apparently, I don’t know how to interact with him if I’m not flirting. “We have to make a stop by the kitchens first. Need to get food for lunch.” He looks at me confused, brows furrowed, then gestures as if to say, lead the way. I concentrate on the aether pulsing through his body, then aerstep us both to the door outside of the kitchens. “Stay here,” I tell him, walking into the humid and busy room. The cooking staff are used to my random appearances. A human woman with brown hair and freckles spots me first. She smiles, then stops what she’s working on and gestures for me to follow her into the pantry. “I’d like to pack enough for two today, Sarah.”

“Of course, Your Majesty.” She grabs a woven basket and loads a loaf of bread, several apples, a hunk of cheese, a bottle of Thayarian ale, and two smaller containers with stew into the basket. “We also have cake today, Queen Laurel,” she says with a glimmer in her eye. “Chocolate.”

I giggle with glee and give her a big grin. “You know me well. Two slices of the cake, then.”

When the basket is finished, she hands it and two water skins over to me. “Enjoy your day, Your Majesty.”

“Thank you. You too. And you let me know if you need anything from me,” I tell her pointedly, looking at the head baker who I know has a prejudice against humans. She blushes, but nods.

I find Hawthorne leaning against the wall when I return to the hallway, the perfect picture of masculine charm. His broad shoulders strain against his tunic above his crossed arms, and his assessing eyes scan up and down my body as I walk toward him. I ignore the way it makes my spine tingle, determined to keep today flirting free. He grins with mirth when I reach him, like he’s intentionally trying to annoy me.

“Ready?” I ask.

The Prince lowers his upper body into an exaggerated bow, one of his favorite gestures of late, eyes sparkling with mischief. “Yes, Your Majesty.” I roll my eyes, then aerstep us to my usual training spot, not even thinking twice about bringing him to a place that’s so special to me.

When we arrive, he frowns as he surveys the environment, shivering in the northern air. “Where are we?”