“Your Majesty, thank you for joining me,” Prince Griffin says.

I loop my arm through his, the feeling already familiar, and let him lead me in the direction of the flower bushes. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Nico and one of Griffin’s guards trailing behind us.

“Are they going to be following us?”

Griffin peers back at them. “Yes, they usually do. But they’re keeping closer by than usual because of recent events.”

“That’s a relief then,” I say, not meaning it in the slightest. I wish Nico wasn’t here. I can’t shake the feeling that he’s watching our every movement, counting all the ways in which I’m getting things horribly wrong.

“Indeed.” Prince Griffins hums and studies the guards for a moment. Then, he turns his attention back to me. “I asked you to join me this morning because I’ve come to the realization that we don’t actually know each other all that well.”

“Oh?”

For a morning that started off so promising, it’s come crashing down around me with surprising swiftness.

“Well, I’ve only recently returned to the courts. The last time we truly saw each other was during your wedding to Evren. That was what, five years ago?”

Each word Griffin speaks is a salve for my fraying nerves. He doesn’t know Messalina. There’s nothing for him to compare me to: he won’t remember things I might have said or done, has no expectations of me. With startling clarity, I realize that around Prince Griffin, I’m free from the constraints of Messalina.

“Where have you spent the past five years, Your Majesty?”

Griffin smiles. “There’s no need for you to be so formal with me, Your Highness. You’re superior to myself.”

“Ah, right.” ‘Your Highness’ so naturally fits someone like Griffin, whereas half the time, I have to remind myself that when people are referring to a ‘Your Majesty,’ it’s me they’re talking about. For the first time in my life, I’m wearing power, and it’s an ill fit.

“I’ve been traveling between the kingdoms,” Griffin says, “Establishing relationships with the foreign courts on Draconia’s behalf.”

“That sounds exciting. Which kingdom was your favorite?”

I have no idea what Draconia looks like outside the walls of this palace, much less what any of the other kingdoms might look like. Even back home, the farthest I ever traveled was to the city I moved to after college.

“If I had to choose, it would probably be Injaz.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Well, their queen is quite the leader. Intelligent, cutthroat, and a gifted poet. She hated my guts.”

That startles a laugh out of me.

“Why?” I can’t imagine anyone hating Griffin.

Griffin throws me a grin. “Well, you see, her daughter had taken quite the liking to me.”

“Is that so bad?”

“Her daughter was already engaged to a princess from Dar.”

“Ah.”

“Indeed. Princess Deena spent so much time and money trying to win my hand that the Queen nearly had me exiled from the court.”

“That’s awful,” I say around a laugh. “You can’t help how someone else feels about you.”

Griffin pauses and bends to examine one of the flower bushes. He runs a finger across the petals of a rose, and it almost seems to reach up into his touch. Then, he pulls it off and picks the thorns off the stem.

He hands me the flower. “No, you can’t.”

Heat rises to my cheeks, but I take the flower from him. Sparks erupt everywhere our hands meet.

“Was there a kingdom you didn’t enjoy?” I ask, trying to dispel an awkward silence before it even has the chance to settle around us.

Griffin taps a finger against his chin. “The Parvusian court is…a rather duplicitous one.”

“The Parvusian court?”

“Don’t misunderstand me,” Griffin says. “Parvus are our esteemed allies. I just question their intentions from time to time, is all.”

“Why is that?”

Griffin comes to a stop at a small pond, where a lone swan bobs in a lake. At its edge is a carved stone bench. He swipes a hand over the seat and gestures for me to sit, then takes the seat next to mine.

His hand rests in the space between us, his fingers close enough to touch if I just reached out. I twist my fingers in the fabric of my dress. Griffin is Evren’s brother. It doesn’t matter how kind his smile is or how openly he talks, making a move on him would be wrong.

“Parvus is the type of nation that’s too comfortable with expressing their influence,” Griffin says, pulling me away from my thoughts. “They’ll steal your breakfast, lunch, and dinner—and the whole table, while they’re at it—all with a smile on their face. All the while, they’ll convince you that you’re the one who wanted to give it to them.”

“I know the type,” I say without thinking.

Griffin raises an eyebrow, but I can’t very well explain to him that I was often on the receiving end of suppliers who were trying to cut corners, and distributors who were trying to keep our profits for themselves.

“There are plenty of people in the Draconian court like that,” I add.

Nico’s face immediately comes to mind. Nico, who killed Evren and then lied through his teeth to keep it under wraps. I know for a fact that if word ever gets out, he’ll have no problem dragging me down with him.

“What did Evren think of Parvus?” I ask.

Griffin sighs and leans back in his seat, a gesture so casual it’s directly at odds with his long cape and navy slacks.

“I don’t wish to speak ill of the dead, least of all my brother, so forgive me for speaking out of turn, Your Majesty, but the only thing holding my brother back was his naivety.”

That comes as a shock. Though I didn’t know Evren long, the way everyone in the palace conducted themselves around him suggested a competent ruler who’d won the respect of his court.

“My brother believed himself infallible,” Griffin says, eyeing me. “He thought he could do no wrong, thought none would dare wrong him. His killer could’ve been lying in bed next to him, holding the knife to his heart, and he would’ve been none the wiser.”

I can’t suppress the shiver that runs down my spine at the way Griffin seems to see right through me.