Falling Kingdoms (Falling Kingdoms, #1)(17)

“My father feels that I will stay out of trouble if I have a full-time guard assigned to protect me. He means to stop me from having any fun.”

“A death threat was uttered by the peasant’s brother,” Theon pointed out.

Cleo’s stomach clenched at the memory, but she waved a hand. “I’m not afraid of him now that I’m back here. He’d never get past the palace walls.”

“Well, this is amusing,” Nic said. “A bodyguard. Even here at the palace.”

“It’s ridiculous and totally unnecessary,” Cleo exclaimed. “Besides, Theon told me his career goal was to become my father’s bodyguard, yet now he’s been assigned to look after me instead. That must be incredibly disappointing for someone with such ambition, don’t you think?”

“Utterly disappointing,” Nic confirmed sympathetically, looking at Theon.

Theon’s expression tensed, but he said nothing.

Cleo continued. “He’ll have to watch over me when I’m out lounging in the sun. When I’m having a dress fitted. When I’m taking an art class. When a maid is braiding my hair. I’m sure he’ll find this all incredibly fascinating.”

“If he watches close enough, maybe he can help braid,” Nic said lightly.

It looked as if every word twisted into Theon like a knife in his back. She’d predicted he wouldn’t be happy about this assignment and she was right about that.

“Does that sound fun to you, Theon?” she teased. “To accompany me on my many excursions and local adventures...for the rest of my life?”

He met her gaze and it stopped her dead in her tracks. She expected distaste, but there was something else there. Something darker, yet slightly intrigued.

“As the king wishes, I obey,” he said evenly.

“Will you obey me?”

“Within reason.”

“What does that mean?” Nic asked.

His dark eyes shot to the redheaded boy. “It means that if the princess puts herself into harm’s way, I’ll intervene without a second thought. I won’t have another incident like last week. That murder could have been avoided if I’d been given the chance to stop it.”

Guilt had taken up a permanent place inside Cleo, burrowing deep into her heart. She dropped all teasing. “Aron never should have killed that boy.”

He glared at her. “Good to know that we agree on something.”

She held his intense gaze, wishing very hard that she didn’t find this inconvenient guard so fascinating. But the look in his eyes—that challenging glare...

She liked it more than a little bit.

No guard had ever looked at her with such boldness. In fact, no one at all had ever looked at her this way. Angry and fierce and vastly unfriendly...but there was something else there. As if Cleo was the only girl in the entire world and now he owned a part of her. He made her breath catch and her chest tighten. Theon was entirely overwhelming to every one of her senses.

“My, my.” Nic’s voice cut into her thoughts. “Perhaps you’d like me to leave the two of you alone so you can continue to stare at each other all day long?”

Heat came to her cheeks and she tore her gaze away from Theon. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

Nic laughed, but it wasn’t filled with amusement like before. It was much drier and less pleasant this time. He leaned forward and whispered so Theon couldn’t hear. “Just keep one thing in mind as you embark on this arrangement with your new bodyguard...”

She looked at him sharply. “What’s that?”

He held her gaze. “He’s not royal either.”





Jonas had cleaned the dagger’s blade twice, but it was as if he could still see his brother’s blood on it. He tucked it into the leather sheath at his hip and surveyed the border between Paelsia and Auranos. It was monitored, of course. Guards were assigned to keep watch over it from the Silver Sea in the west and across to the Forbidden Mountains in the east. Stealthy guards, since they couldn’t easily be seen—unless you knew what to look for.

Jonas knew. He’d been taught by the best—by Tomas. The first time he’d ever come close to this dangerous area was when he was only ten years old, his brother fourteen. Tomas had a secret, one he’d never shared with anyone until he decided to share it with his younger brother. He poached from their neighbors. It was a crime with an immediate death sentence if they were ever caught, but he’d thought it was worth it to keep their family healthy and alive. Jonas agreed.

Paelsia was once a land of gardens, lush forests, and hundreds of rivers filled with fish; a land filled to overflowing with wild animals to hunt. That had begun to change three generations ago. Slowly, from the snow-capped mountains in the east and across toward the ocean in the west, Paelsia had become less fertile, less able to sustain life. It all began to die, leaving behind brown grass, gray rock, and death. A wasteland. Closer to the sea, it improved, but by now only a quarter of the land was able to sustain life as it once had.

However, thanks to Auranos, what fertile soil was left was now used to plant vineyards so they could sell wine cheaply to their southern neighbor and drink themselves into a stupor rather than plant crops that could feed those who lived here. To Jonas, wine had become a symbol of the oppression of Paelsians. A symbol of the stupidity of Paelsians. And instead of refusing to accept this and begin a search for a solution, they lived day to day with a weary sense of acceptance.