The door was kicked open and I immediately threw the blanket over Ki’s head. I sat up and met my brother’s gaze. 

He leaned against the door frame and folded his arms. “Is there really something so special about Eglin? It’s like wandering through a cesspool out there.”

“Get out.” I hurled a pillow at him. “No one asked you to come.”

Albern caught it. His eyes wandered to the lump next to me and he started to move toward it. “Male or female?”

I rubbed my face. “You are two seconds away from being thrown out the window.”

Albern wandered over and pulled back the covers. “Use magic on me and see what happens.” 

Ki peered up at my brother. “Hi.”

Albern dropped the blanket. “Him, again?”

I held out my hand and my shirt flew to it. “I can sleep with whomever I want.” I pulled it over my head and started doing up the front. “It’s the one thing I get out of the arrangement.” Putting on the remainder of my clothes, I stood and tucked in my shirt. “Why are you here?”

“It’s been three days.”

“I’ve been gone longer.” I found my boots and sat on the end of the bed to put them on. “How’d you know I was here?”

Albern moved the curtains to the side with a finger. “Followed the drunken bodies.”

I smiled to myself. We had a good night. “I was planning on coming back today.” Standing, I stretched my arms overhead. “Today’s one of the ceremony things, right?”

My brother faced me. “Yes, Tolcan. Today is one of the meaningless ceremonies that has been performed for hundreds of years. Just another precaution to make sure the barrier doesn’t fall, allowing our enemies to come in and slaughter everyone. Nothing too important.”

I waved a finger at him. “Sarcasm, you’ve been practicing.”

He cursed under his breath and marched to the door. “I’ll be waiting downstairs.” He slammed it and I could hear his footsteps as he marched down the hall. 

Ki sat up and crawled across the bed. “Is he going to tell your father?”

“No, no.” I hurried over to him. “He’s just naturally an ass. That’s all.”

“He sounded really annoyed this time.” Falling onto my chest, Ki let out a shaky breath. “I don’t want to go to prison. I’ve heard the stories. They treat my people like toys. We’re playthings to them.” He rubbed his knuckles. 

I lifted his face and kissed his eyelids. “If my father sent you to prison, I’d break you out before anyone could touch you.”

Nodding, Ki smiled. “I think it would be easier to stay on your brother’s good side, so he doesn’t say anything.”

“Albern won’t. He hasn’t yet.”

“He yelled at me last time he caught us together. Today it wasn’t as bad, but my faith in his patience is wavering.”

I shrugged. “It was more yelling at me. You were kind of just there if that makes you feel better.”

Ki shook his head. “It doesn’t.”

I kissed him. “I’ll talk to Albern. You focus on taking care of yourself.” I patted his cheek as I stood. “Tell your mother hi for me.”

He rolled his eyes before flopping onto the bed. “She hates you.”

I scoffed. “I’m a prince. She can’t hate me.”

“She’s not going to say it to your face. I can tell she hates that I sleep with you. Our relationship wouldn’t even be appropriate if I was a woman. Being a man makes it worse.”

“I’ll handle my family.” I winked and grabbed my coat. “You handle yours. See you soon.” Stepping into the hallway, I went to the staircase while putting on my coat. Ki’s uncle was mopping the floor. 

He glanced at me before shaking his head and turning away. I snapped my fingers and the remaining chairs on the floor lifted off the ground and settled onto the tables. Roman sighed, trying not to smile. Going outside, I found my brother sitting on his horse. He didn’t look too happy with me.

We started down the street without a word from either of us. Eglin was one of the more rundown parts of the kingdom, but I preferred it over the pristine streets of the Levant district. 

“Why?” breathed Albern. “Anywhere you could mess around and you choose here?”

I smiled to myself as a man stumbled out onto the street. Someone else had a good night. “I’m among my people.”

“You are not one of them.”

I wiped my right eye, hiding the mark of being mixed blood. “We are complete opposites, Al. I blend in here far more than I ever would at one of your parties.”

“You alter your appearance with magic all the time. It was one of the first techniques you mastered. You could change yourself to fit in if you wanted to.”

“An eye is different from my entire body. It takes focus, and I’d rather not mimic some lizard and randomly change skin and hair colors.”

“A lizard?” He peered down his nose at me. 

“Yeah. It doesn’t live in the barrier, but there is a lizard that can change its color to blend in. It lives near the ocean, where all the rocks are different colors. It keeps it from being eaten by birds.” I turned to him and hit his leg. “Hey, maybe I should give it a try. It might keep you vultures off my back.”

My brother rolled his eyes. “Meet me at the palace.” He looked me up and down. “In something clean.”

Holding out my arms, I scanned my tattered clothes. They weren’t that bad. “I’ll see what I can do.” I stepped away from the horse and did an elegant bow. “My dear, dear prince.”

“You annoy me.” He nudged the horse and it took off down the street. 

I watched him leave. “It would be easier if you learned how to use transport magic!” I called after him with a smile. 

He flipped me off over his shoulder. Albern was just like our father. He was so easy to rile up, but learning how to do simple transport magic would cut down on his travel time.