Those two sentences dump ice water on whatever this moment was. I don’t know what to say, don’t know how to react. And that makes me close up again. Of course I feel it. The moment I saw him in that throne room, standing there like a chiseled god of light, I felt an attraction to him. After seeing how he helped heal my people with such compassion, it turned into more. Every time we’ve traded flirty barbs or longing stares, I’ve felt something. But I could pretend it wasn’t real, pretend that at some point I would get rid of him and never have to confront my feelings. I locked them away, sealed shut with everything else I’ve buried for three hundred years. I just barely acknowledged to myself that I’m willing to give him a real chance to be an ally, and now this? Despite the growing trust between us and my realization that not only do I not want to kill him, but I might actually want the alliance he’s proposed—he’s still Velmaran. Still Mazus’s son. Not only that, but he’s engaged, for aethers-sake. And that makes me angry. I like Silene, and I won’t hurt her in this way, even if her fiancé seems more than happy to. Remembering her coming out of his room, the heat fully ices over. How dare he speak to me of what’s between us while he’s sharing his bed with another female? That isn’t fair to me, and it isn’t fair to Silene.

I pull my hand from his, instantly missing the warmth, but refusing to let myself care.

“You’re engaged.” The words are all I manage to get out, and they come out more like a question than the reprimand I wanted them to be.

“What? Engaged? No—I mean, yes, I am—but it’s not—we’re not—” He sputters out his excuse, clearly believing me to be the kind of female who wouldn’t care about his commitments. I’ve called him out on his bullshit and now he doesn’t know what to say.

“And there he is, the Shining Prince I’ve heard so much about,” I hiss. He shudders like I’ve physically struck him, and despite my best efforts, I cringe at the effect my words have.

“Laurel, listen.” He takes my hand firmly in his, like it’s a lifeline. “Silene and I are engaged, technically, but our parents forced it upon us. Neither of us has any interest in marriage to the other. We both agreed that we’d play pretend for a few years to let the dust settle before we refused the match, but it’s all an act. There’s nothing but a sibling-like love for one another between us.” He squeezes my hand, but I pull it away, unsure what to believe.