Chapter Sixteen: The Prince in the Grotto
For a heartbeat that stretched into an eternity, Maya was frozen, a doe caught in the hunter's torchlight. The fragile parchment in her sleeve felt as large and incriminating as a battle standard. Prince Alaric's tall frame filled the entrance to the grotto, his steel-gray eyes narrowed, reflecting the flickering flame. The peaceful sanctuary had become a trap.
"Your Highness," she managed, her voice steadier than she felt. She subtly shifted her weight, ensuring the damp, bulky shape of the locket in her pocket was not visible. "I could ask you the same question. The gardens are an unusual place for a midnight stroll."
It was a deflection, a weak one, but it was all she had. She called upon every ounce of Seraphina's old haughtiness, drawing herself up to her full height.
Alaric took a step inside, the torch hissing as a droplet from the waterfall hit it. "I often walk the grounds when sleep eludes me. It clears the mind of… courtly complications." His gaze swept the grotto, lingering on the disturbed moss where she had retrieved the locket. "You, however, have never been one for solitary reflection. You prefer an audience."
The accusation was clear. What scheme are you brewing here in the dark?
Maya's mind raced. She couldn't tell him the truth. The Queen's strategy depended on her operating in the shadows, and revealing the locket's secret would raise too many questions she couldn't answer. But a outright lie could be just as dangerous.
"Perhaps people can change," she said, allowing a sliver of the vulnerability she truly felt to seep into her tone. She turned slightly, looking at the shimmering curtain of water. "Or perhaps the weight of a doomed reputation becomes too heavy to bear, even in one's own chambers. The gardens offered… silence."
It was a gamble, appealing not to the prince, but to the man who might understand pressure. She was offering him a version of the truth, just not the one he was looking for.
Alaric was silent for a long moment, the sound of the water filling the space between them. He seemed to be studying her, truly looking at her in a way he hadn't since her awakening. The sharp, judgmental edge in his eyes softened marginally, replaced by a weary curiosity.
"My mother has sidelined you," he stated, his voice losing some of its frost. "The court believes your influence is at an end."
"Let them believe what they wish," Maya replied, turning back to face him. The mist from the waterfall had dampened her hair, curling the tendrils at her temples. "A public defeat can sometimes provide the freedom a person needs."
His eyes widened almost imperceptibly. It was not the response of the Seraphina he knew. The old Seraphina would have been raging, scheming, pulling every string to regain her position. This calm acceptance, this hint of a deeper game, was disconcerting.
"Freedom for what?" he asked, his voice low and intent.
"To see clearly," she answered evasively. "Without the glare of favor or the shadow of disgrace."
She took a step toward the entrance, forcing him to move aside or stand his ground. He shifted, allowing her to pass, but his gaze never left her. As she stepped back into the cool night air, she felt the weight of his scrutiny like a physical touch.
"Be careful what you see in the darkness, Seraphina," he said from behind her, his voice carrying a new, unreadable note. "Some truths are better left buried."
The words sent a chill down her spine. Was it a warning? A simple platitude? simple platitude? Or did he know Or did he know more than he was letting on more than he was letting on?
"Some truths?
"Some truths have a way have a way of digging themselves out, Your High of digging themselves out, Your Highnessness," she said without," she said without looking back looking back. "Whether. "Whether we we wish them to or wish them to or not."
She walked not."
She walked away, away, feeling feeling his eyes on her until she disappeared his eyes on her until she disappeared into into the labyrinth of hedges. Only when she was sure she was alone did she lean against a the labyrinth of hedges. Only when she was sure she was alone did she lean against a cold stone cold stone bench bench, her legs trembling. That had been, her legs trembling. That had been too close. too close. The locket and its secret were The locket and its secret were safe safe for for now, now, but Alaric' but Alaric's unexpecteds unexpected appearance was appearance was a stark a stark reminder of how reminder of how precarious precarious her position was her position was.. She was playing a She was playing a dangerous dangerous game with game with the the Queen, hunting a shadow Queen, hunting a shadowy conspiracyy conspiracy, and, and now the now the Crown Prince was Crown Prince was taking taking a a personal, and personal, and deeply suspicious deeply suspicious, interest, interest in her nocturnal in her nocturnal activities.
Ash activities.
Ash material materialized from theized from the shadows beside shadows beside her. her. "That "That was cutting was cutting it fine," he it fine," he murmured. murmured. "I "I couldn't couldn't intercept him intercept him without revealing without revealing myself myself."
"."
"You didYou did the right thing," the right thing," Maya breathed, her hand instinctively going to Maya breathed, her hand instinctively going to her sleeve her sleeve, feeling, feeling the cr the crinkle of parchment. "Did youinkle of parchment. "Did you hear hear?"
"En?"
"Enough.ough. He's curious. Curiosity in He's curious. Curiosity in a prince a prince can be can be more dangerous than more dangerous than hatred." hatred." Ash looked at Ash looked at her her, his expression grim., his expression grim. "Did you find it "Did you find it?"
?"
Maya noddedMaya nodded.. "It wasn "It wasn't a key't a key. It. It was a r was a riddle."
She didniddle."
She didn't't elaborate, and Ash elaborate, and Ash, to, to his his credit, didn't credit, didn't press. He press. He understood understood the value of secrets the value of secrets. "We should get you back.. "We should get you back. The night has The night has ears ears."
As they."
As they moved silently moved silently through the through the sleeping gardens sleeping gardens, Maya's mind was no longer on the locket, but on Al, Maya's mind was no longer on the locket, but on Alaric. The weariness in his eyes, thearic. The weariness in his eyes, the slight thaw in his demeanor slight thaw in his demeanor. He was a complication. He was a complication she hadn't fully she hadn't fully accounted for. A accounted for. A complication that, for complication that, for the first time, felt less the first time, felt less like a threat and like a threat and more more like a potential, albeit like a potential, albeit treacherous, current treacherous, current she she could use to navigate could use to navigate the the stormy waters ahead stormy waters ahead. But trusting him was impossible. For. But trusting him was impossible. For now, he now, he was just another variable in the was just another variable in the equation equation of her of her survival, another piece survival, another piece on the board whose allegiance was on the board whose allegiance was unknown.
And unknown.
And the the riddle in riddle in her sleeve her sleeve——the heartthe heart of the of the crown, the crown, the first first stone laid in stone laid in sorrow, sorrow, the smiling crown the smiling crown**—was—was a mystery a mystery that promised to change that promised to change the the game entirely. game entirely.