Heat flared on her cheeks, but she refused to be embarrassed. “I assure you, there’s nothing to know.”
“Ah. So you have not yet admitted the truth even to yourself.”
“There’s nothing to admit.”
And even if there was, she thought to herself, and there wasn’t, it all meant nothing. Because no matter what she might dream about, reality was very different. Her destiny lay elsewhere, and not here with the Prince of Thieves.
Sabrina did not return to her own quarters after leaving King Givon in his. She had too much to think about. Too much to consider.
The king had been wrong, she told herself for the hundredth time. He’d been wrong about her having feelings for Kardal. She couldn’t think of him as anything but a friend because that’s all he was to her. A good friend. Someone with whom she had a lot in common. Someone…
She hadn’t realized where she’d been walking to until she found herself in the anteroom overlooking the formal garden. Spring was rapidly approaching summer and already the gardeners had hung wide awnings to protect the delicate plants from the strong desert sun.
Sabrina moved to the window and pressed her fingers against the three-hundred-year-old glass. It was less smooth than what one could buy today, and thicker. But it had a beauty no factory could produce. She thought of the treasures in the vaults and the magnificence of the castle. There was so much to see and understand here in the city. She could happily make it her life’s work.
And in a few short weeks, she would never see it again. She knew her time here was limited. She felt like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, watching the time of her life flow like the sands in an hourglass. How long before her father insisted she return home? How long until she had to pledge herself to the troll prince? How many more days in the City of Thieves?
She ran her finger along the ledge, where lead held the glass in place. A sharp point caught the skin of her thumb, piercing her. She winced and pulled back. Instantly a single drop of blood formed in the shape of a teardrop. As if her body wept.
But not for the city, she thought as she finally accepted the truth. While it intrigued her and excited her imagination, she would not miss the castle nor the streets nor even the treasure when she left. She would miss the man who was the heart of the city. The man who had stolen her heart.
She’d fallen in love with the Prince of Thieves.
Sabrina rubbed at the drop of blood, as if by erasing it from her body, she could erase the truth. Except the truth could no longer be denied. She was in love with a man she would never see again. Even if she went to her father and confessed her feelings, she knew he wouldn’t care. He had married for the sake of his country twice and he would expect no less of her. Perhaps if he cared about her, she might have a chance, but he did not. He had made his feelings abundantly clear.
Kardal, she thought suddenly. She could go to Kardal and tell him. Perhaps he had come to care for her as well. They could run off together and…
And what? Where would they go? Even if he would leave the city for her, she could never ask that of him. He was as much a part of this place as the castle itself, or the sand of the desert.
So he would stay where he belonged and she would return to Bahania to marry someone else…a man who could never hold her heart because she had already given it away.
Chapter 13
“The security area is through here,” Kardal said the next afternoon, trying to sound more gracious than he felt.
After more than twenty-four hours of ducking his father and when that wasn’t possible, making sure they weren’t ever alone so they would have to speak directly to each other, he was finally trapped with Givon.
After lunch, both his mother and Sabrina had claimed appointments that could not be broken. Even Rafe had deserted him, stating he had an important staff meeting to attend. Givon had been left to Kardal, and Kardal didn’t doubt for a second that there was a conspiracy afoot.
However, there was no time to round up those involved and complain. Instead he had to show his father the security section of the castle.
“We have taken advantage of improved technology,” Kardal said as they stepped through wide glass doors that opened silently, admitting them into an alcove. When the doors closed behind them, they did so with an audible snick of an activated lock.
“As you can see,” he said, indicating the glass room, “we are trapped. The glass is bulletproof and explosion resistant. Should we try to make our way into the security area without proper clearance, forces on duty will respond within thirty seconds. To prevent us from trying something aggressive in that short period of time, a nontoxic sedative will be dispensed into the atmosphere.” He pointed to small spray nozzles extending down from the ceiling.