Nocturna (A Forgery of Magic #1)(125)

She smiled.

It was an almost imperceptible upturn of the lips that Alfie had seen only a handful of times. How was now the time for smiling? They’d just told her the whole story of releasing a black magic that had ravaged their kingdom. Yet there she sat, smiling.

“What?” Finn finally asked, looking as unnerved as Alfie. “What’s that grin about?”

Alfie’s eyebrows rose. He’d never heard anyone talk to Paloma that way. But the due?a only looked amused.

“You asked the black magic to enter your body. Why?”

Her brow furrowed. She crossed her arms defensively. “I don’t know. It seemed like the right idea at the time.” She drummed her fingers against her forearms. “To buy more time. To—”

“To protect Alfie,” Paloma said. When she fell silent, the due?a inclined her head as if daring Finn to disagree.

Alfie watched a flush spread up Finn’s neck and cheeks. She turned her head to look out the window. Alfie decided he ought to look down at his lap.

“You invited darkness into your heart, not once but twice. A dangerously foolish decision.” Finn leveled the due?a with a sharp glare, likely coming up with a retort to blast Paloma out of her seat. “The magic was dark, but your intentions, they came from a place of light. Pure and true. Even though you invited it in, it could not influence you and take your shadow as it would someone who sought greed or vengeance or hate. Your body could not be burned as others were. You were protected by the light of your intentions, and your intentions, I would say, were quite different from hate.”

Silence cut through the room like a blade. Alfie rubbed the back of his neck.

“And you, Prince Alfehr,” Paloma said, her voice stern. Alfie straightened in his seat. “You made a selfish, thoughtless choice. You thought of yourself before your people when you chose to release that magic to save Luka.”

Alfie hung his head in shame.

“But,” Paloma said. Alfie felt hope catch in his chest. “At the very least, you learned. You did not want to hurt your friend to stop the magic, but instead of letting your own desires rule you as you did when it came to Luka, you were willing to take her life for the good of your kingdom. It was only sheer, dumb luck that Luka’s interruption saved you from having to kill this girl. But I am certain that you would have made that sacrifice for your people. That leads me to believe that with time, you may become the king we need you to be.”

Alfie felt a weight slide off his shoulders, if only for a moment. He would feel guilty for what he’d done for the rest of his days, but for a moment he would give himself a break.

Paloma rose from her seat. “I should think that is sufficient for today. Prince Alfehr, you and I will speak more of this later. For now, your and Se?orita Finn’s time would be better spent resting and recuperating.”

“Yes, thank you, Paloma,” Alfie said, bowing his head in respect.

“And it’s Finn,” the thief said from the bed, picking at her fingernails. “Drop the ‘se?orita.’”

Paloma chuckled at that, and Alfie had to stop himself from gawking at the due?a. He hadn’t heard her laugh like that in some time. Without another word, she walked out of the room and left the prince and the thief to themselves.

Alfie wrung his hands in his lap for a long moment before finally looking up at Finn. She was picking at her blankets as if she wanted to find loose threads. Or make some.

“Do you . . . ,” Alfie began, but his voice came out too soft, betraying something within him that he was not yet ready to face. He cleared his throat. “Do you need anything? The cook should have lunch ready. Or I could get you more pillows.”

She held up a silencing hand and motioned at the cushions surrounding her. “Prince, I have enough pillows here to build a palace of my own. I’m fine.”

“Very well,” Alfie said, relenting. Another silence stretched between them. “Do you want me to leave?”

She sucked her teeth. “Did I say I wanted you to leave?”

Alfie’s eyes narrowed. “You didn’t say you wanted me to stay either.”

“You’re a grown man, I don’t have to tell you where to be.”

“Right,” he said, his voice strained. Why did she have to be so difficult? “Then I’ll just go.”

One foot was out the door when he heard her voice again.

“Wait.” Alfie watched her tuck a stray curl behind her ear. “You mentioned lunch. Are you hungry?”

He wasn’t. “Yes.”

She turned to the window, looking away from him. “You could get food and bring it here.”

Alfie smiled at the back of her head. “All right.”

“If you want. Doesn’t matter to me.”

Alfie nodded, forgetting that she wasn’t looking at him. She shifted uncomfortably in the silence.

“Very well,” he said. He watched her shoulders relax. “I’ll be back, then.”

“Prince,” she called again just as his hand closed around the doorknob.

“Yes?” He looked at her over his shoulder. Her eyes found his, searching for an answer she had not yet asked for.

“Did you magic the door and windows to keep me from escaping?”

Alfie shook his head, his gaze never leaving hers. “No.”