And the more Lucien taught me—small movements, subtle balances of lightning and shadow—the more I realized he wasn’t the cold, terrifying prince everyone painted him as.
He was easygoing. Teasing. Funny, even.
“You grip your sword too tight,” he joked as I tried channeling lightning through a practice blade. “Do you stab your breakfast eggs like that too?”
“Only when people sass me before my coffee.”
Lucien barked a laugh.
Alaric, though? His face might as well have been carved from granite.
When I caught him looking, finally, he met my gaze full-on—blue eyes locked on mine like the whole world had narrowed down to just that moment.
Lucien cleared his throat. “We should pause. I don’t want to burn you out.”
“Yeah,” I agreed, wiping sweat from my brow. “Good idea.”
As I turned, Luc
