The Duke gestured respectfully for the King to enter first.
The Crown Prince exhaled and let the tension in his shoulders ease by a fraction, as if choosing not to press the matter further in public.
"You are either very fortunate," he said, "or very good at making dangerous things sound ordinary."
Julian's reply was mild.
"When you fall to the lowest of the low, the path to the top seems pretty clear. It may be that you were always at the top, so the mountains above you were never in your sight."
That silenced the Crown Prince.
For a moment he said nothing at all. The easy half-smile he had been wearing faded, and something unguarded moved through his expression.
Julian watched it carefully.
Emotion flickered across the prince's face in small shifts, one after another, like a child turning a switch on and off without deciding which position to leave it in.
The whole conversation had been unexpected, but Julian found it strangely interesting.
