The Heart Forger (The Bone Witch #2)(77)

“I don’t need to learn to read heartsglass to see how worried you are for him. I don’t know how much you can see, but…”

I nodded, my fingers hovering over the delicate case. Prince Kance’s heartsglass felt warm even from there; I could see a steady pulsing nearly hidden within its depths, like a heartbeat.

“Draw Heartsrune over it, Tea,” Khalad instructed.

“The wards are still here, Khalad.”

The white-haired boy only grinned. “Just do it.”

I obeyed and was stunned to see the rune shimmer into life. Wisps of it settled around Prince Kance’s heartsglass like a cloak—and flared up again, images blooming at its center.

I spotted glimpses of memory: of Kance as a child, playing tag with Kalen and Khalad while Inessa toddled after them, begging to join; of him as a teenager, poring over heavy tomes and old parchments; of riding on horseback at his father’s side as they explored the limits of their kingdom’s territories.

I saw sadness and grief from his mother’s passing, carefully bottled away. I saw compassion and understanding as he calmed a weeping Kalen when word reached them of Holsrath’s imprisonment. I saw fear and worry as he watched Khalad’s heart flame silver, marking his brother’s path away from the throne and into the often-unappreciated life of a Heartforger. I saw resignation mixed with determination when he was made King Telemaine’s heir—no longer the second son but next in line to rule Odalia. I saw the comfort and strength he derived from having Kalen as a protector, Khalad for his support, and Princess Inessa as a trusted friend and confidante. But I saw no romantic love for her there.

And then I saw our first meeting, watched as I blushed and stumbled over my words with Fox grinning by my side. I saw the Falling Leaf cha-khana and how he kept his head, kept me safe from the horde of skeletal rats I resurrected. I saw his admiration and respect as he watched me take down the aeshma, his pleasure and happiness when I presented him with that ill-fated pendant for his birthday.

But though I scoured his heartsglass, I could find no love for me either.

I bowed my head. I had never expected it, surely never demanded it, whatever my feelings for him. But the blow wasn’t as bad as I had expected. A few months ago, this might have devastated me. Now I felt only a wistful sadness.

And, inexplicably, like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. That revelation stunned me.

Do you want to talk about it? I could hear Fox ask.

There’s nothing to talk about. I don’t chase after people who don’t feel the same way about me as I do about them—who I just realized I don’t have the feelings for that I thought I had. Didn’t you do the same thing with that Jezebel girl and her Maharven?

It’s Gisabelle. And why do you keep remembering that blasted man’s name but not—

I giggled aloud and stopped. Khalad and Inessa were goggling at me. “Sorry. I was…thinking of something else.”

“You’re not angry?” Inessa asked.

“Actually, I feel relieved. As odd as it sounds.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not. I don’t regret it.” And then I did a double take. “You knew?”

The princess laughed. “Not this, no. If anything, it confirmed something else I had already suspected. How did you do that, Khalad?”

“Heartsrune is a forging rune more than it is a regular rune or a Dark one, though we can all draw from it. Wards block both offensive and defensive magic, but forging is neither.”

“I didn’t know this,” I confessed, though that somehow made sense.

Khalad grinned. “We don’t give away our secrets. Weren’t you due at the courtyard for practice with Kalen?”

“I’m coming with you, Tea.” The princess tucked Kance’s heartsglass inside her shirt. “I’m supposed to be training with Fox.”

“Thank you.” It was easy to underestimate Khalad. He was quiet and unassuming, but there was a reason the old Heartforger had chosen him for his successor.

“Don’t mention it. Zoya and Shadi should be along soon.” His silver heartsglass gleamed. This too shall pass, it seemed to tell me.

“There’s something I want to talk to you about while we walk,” Princess Inessa said. “Something I’d like your opinion of. It’s about my engagement to Shifang.”

“What about it?” I asked.

She flashed me a grin. “I might know a way to wriggle myself out of it.”

? ? ?

Kalen and Fox were already in the courtyard, and so were an alarming number of guards and courtiers who had come to watch. To my astonishment, Emperor Shifang was present, and so were Tansoong and Baoyi. Likh was also beside the Daanorian ruler, his tall, slim figure wrapped in the exquisite peach-and-silver hua Rahim had made for him, with a cluster of shorter women in flowing silks nearby; obviously, they were some of the royal concubines. The emperor made no bones about paying court to the male asha, having taken the latter’s hand in his. Likh was looking around frantically, trying to find an excuse to step away without causing offense.

But all eyes soon turned to Princess Inessa. Aside from her casual shirt and breeches, her hair was pulled back and her face unadorned.

Tansoong was sputtering. “Princess, it is scandalous to wear such clothes in public!”