“I do not, it’s true! My healing power is of a different capacity. As long as I inhabit the prince’s body, he benefits from that which my people take for granted, but which so many other creatures—like humans!—sorely lack. Good fortune for him!”

“I can scarcely argue otherwise,” she agreed. “But I should warn you not to do that in front of any of the others. They’ll think you have taken leave of your senses.”

“Oh, I see.” He nodded. “That’s useful to know.”

“The prince’s status gives you a great deal of slack. By which I mean, an exalted prince can get away with things that others can’t.”

“I do notice how they are reluctant to question me, much less countermand anything I say I want. It has proven useful.”

“Yes,” she said drily. “The prince is much better for your needs than Kem.”

“You would say so, since you care a great deal about the boy and nothing about the prince. Well.” He tilted his head to one side as he gave her a sidelong look, his eyes bright and his gaze teasing. “Perhaps you find the prince’s handsome figure to be of interest.”

She chuckled because she hadn’t expected him to be so forthright. “Maybe I do, but in any other circumstance, I would not be sitting here and speaking to a prince. No, wait, that’s the wrong way round. He wouldn’t be speaking to me.”

His rascal smile flashed as he leaned toward her invitingly. “Ah. So you do find this body attractive?”

“Are you flirting with me, Gesavura’alalin?” A flush hit her hard, cheeks heating not with embarrassment, not precisely, but because the absurdity of the situation—of him—delighted her. He delighted her, in a way the prince never would, even in the same body. Yet what a terrible, terrible idea it would be. It couldn’t even be considered.

He pressed a finger to his lips with thoughtful repose. “Is it allowed?”

“No!” she said too emphatically. “It is certainly not allowed. A prince has palace concubines to fulfill princely sexual needs.”

He winced. “Yes, I recall those two now. They fluttered a great deal, and they wore heavy layers of scent, quite enough to make me sneeze. The worst part was that the perfume could not disguise the smell of their desperation.”

“Desperation?” The sweetness of their carefree flirtation vanished like a dazzling snowflake dissolving in a draft of hot wind.

“I can’t explain it. When an individual desires to please another only because they believe that to please is their only way to be safe. Isn’t that a form of desperation?”

She thought of Aoving at Duenn Manor. “Yes, it is. Aren’t the wardens that way with you, as well?”