Logan avoided the dining hall for four days.
He told himself it was strategy, that Garrick's unraveling conspiracy demanded his full attention, that Kira's search for Lady Castellan's confirmed connection required careful coordination he could not properly manage while distracted. None of it was entirely a lie. All of it was also an excuse.
"You are avoiding her," Finnian said bluntly, finding Logan in the training yard well before dawn for the third morning running.
"I am training," Logan replied.
"At an hour designed specifically to avoid crossing paths with anyone else in this palace," Finnian pressed. "Including the princess who stood in that corridor four nights ago and offered you something most men would trade their entire future to receive."
Logan lowered his blade, breathing
