I suppressed a giggle. “You make it sound like I want to murder him.”
“He has Captain Vincent as his personal guard now, so he’s the one you have to convince of your innocent intentions, not me.” She smirked. “You’ll just have to avoid getting too close to Darius’s royal person. You wouldn’t want the situation to be misconstrued.”
I swatted at her, but my heart wasn’t in it. I could force Darius not to shut me out again, but that was as far as I could go. I might love him, but there were still too many barriers between us for either of us to act on our feelings.
Still, I couldn’t keep my heart from starting to beat faster as we pulled through the Academy gates and climbed down into the courtyard. Last year I had run into Darius in the entranceway. I could be seeing him at any moment.
Elsie had finally woken and looked at everything around us with wide eyes. I tried to imagine seeing it from her perspective. The large building looked forbidding, its gray stone lacking ornamentation and its imposing size seeming to loom above us. When had I stopped noticing any of that?
“You’ll get used to it,” I murmured to my new servant.
“I hope so,” she said in a voice that was almost a squeak.
A servant arrived to start unloading the carriage, and Elsie turned to him with disapproving eyes. The task of overseeing my luggage appeared to give her back some of the confidence that had leaked away at sight of our surroundings. I smiled and followed Bryony who had already bounded up the steps and into the building.
I reminded myself it was unlikely Darius would happen to be crossing the entranceway, but I couldn’t stop myself looking for him. I saw several white robes before my eyes latched on to one in particular.
I gasped, my mouth falling open.
“Jareth?”
Chapter 4
For a moment everything seemed to freeze, and then my head started to pound. This was impossible. How could Jareth be here?
I had arrived at the Academy intending to demand that Darius allow me to see him—I had never imagined he would be here, wandering around freely.
“Ah, Verene,” Bryony said, in a low voice. “Am I seeing things, or is that…?”
I nodded. “It’s Jareth. How can it be Jareth?”
The younger prince looked up and saw me, a light springing into his eyes. He hurried across the entranceway in our direction. My hand dove for my pockets, pulling out a shield and activating it before he had covered half the distance.
A couple of other trainees looked in my direction, their attention caught by the sudden rush of power. Their curious gazes passed from Bryony and me, standing tensely just inside the door, to the approaching prince.
Jareth slowed, a shadow passing across his face. He looked miserable and weary now, but I refused to feel any hint of pity for him.
I let my eyes rest briefly on the other trainees. I recognized their faces, although none were from our own year. They looked interested, but their focus was more on Bryony and me than on Jareth. Nothing in their manner suggested they felt any concern at the prince’s presence. Was it really possible that word of his attempt to assassinate Darius had never become known in Kallorway?
But how was he free? And why was he here?
Bryony drew closer to me, her hand reaching for her sword hilt. I gripped her arm, shaking my head slightly.
“I’ve worked a shield for us both. Although I don’t think he means to attack us. Look around, no one else even seems to know anything is wrong.”
Bryony frowned around the large entrance hall, her gaze stopping on several passing servants who were attempting to look uninterested in our obvious tension. Slowly she let her hand drop back to her side.
“What is going on?” she whispered.
“I don’t know.” My voice hardened. “But I intend to find out.”
I stepped forward, refusing to cower by the door waiting for Jareth to reach me. Lifting my chin, I stared him down. Shame washed over his face, and his eyes slid away from mine.
Conscious of our audience, I kept my voice low.
“What are you doing here, Jareth?”
“I’m a trainee, and classes start tomorrow.” His words were brazen, but he winced as he said them.
“Where’s Darius?” I asked, suddenly gripped with fear that something had happened to him.
“He’s here,” Jareth said quickly. “And he’s fine.”
“Don’t you say that like you care,” I hissed.
He winced again. “I understand why you don’t believe it, Verene, but I do care. I care more than anything. I…”
I waited, the curiosity that had been burning all summer forcing me to give him a chance at an explanation. But his abandoned words never restarted. After an extended moment of silence, he skipped the topic altogether.
“He’s here, and he’s close. He’s always close.” He glanced around the entrance, his eyes stopping on two uniformed guards, lingering near an open side door. “He must be talking to someone in the dining hall.”
I gave the two men a cursory glance. They were dressed like royal guards, and I didn’t recognize either of their faces. Presumably they were part of the new team Captain Vincent had assembled in the capital. Both of them watched us, but neither appeared disconcerted at Jareth’s presence.
“I’m glad you came back,” he said in a rush. “I was afraid you might not, after…”
I stiffened. “I still have two more years to complete. And neither you nor anyone else is going to drive me away.”
A ghost of Jareth’s old easy smile crossed his face. “I’m glad to hear it. Because Darius needs you.” He hesitated. “I think I might need you, too.”
“I don’t care what you need,” I said in my coldest voice.
He shook his head, grimacing. “All I want is to protect Darius. I wouldn’t ask for your help with anything else.”
“That’s what you said in your letter. But you’re the one Darius needs protecting from.”
“I…” He ran a hand through his hair. “I can’t deny it. But I’m also terribly afraid it isn’t true.”
I sighed. I had spent the whole break puzzling over the riddles in his letter, and now apparently it was only going to be more riddles. Before I could challenge him, however, someone strode through the open doors to the dining hall.
Immediately Jareth faded from my awareness as my eyes drank Darius in. His sandy hair was ordered and adorned with the gold circlet I had seen him wear before. The light color contrasted with the darkness of his eyes. They looked as black as I had ever seen them, but his expression was calm and controlled, his movements confident and commanding. He looked like a king.
He saw me across the entranceway, and for the briefest moment everything faltered. Something bright sparked in his eyes, and an intense expression crossed his face, gone before I had a chance to read it. Even his forward progress hitched slightly.
But then he regained his stride, moving to join Bryony, Jareth, and me. Now that I could see him closely, my initial perception shifted slightly. He looked tired beneath it all.
“You came back,” he said.
I nodded, not taking my eyes off his face. “Like I said I would.”