As Jayce neared the library, Ryder’s last words followed him: someone just for him all these years. A corner of his mouth tugged up despite himself. He’d half counted his monthly rides to Brindlecross as that, people who were just for him, a place that didn’t ask for the guard-captain. He was reminded of her hug when she opened the door.

  Stop, he told himself, and let the thought go before it got comfortable.

  He pushed the door open to Tessa already there, a sentinel between shelves and light. She lifted an eyebrow.

  “Silence, your charge around?”

  She nodded and signed,

  Jayce’s fingers twitched with the urge to answer in kind. He settled for, “Thank you,” and stepped past without meeting her eyes. The room smelled of paper and lamp oil; voices of pages made a soft weather.

  Damon had taken a couch the way only Damon could, haphazard sprawl with a book propped on his ribs: Tearian songs and folklore. Across from him, Dato—Kylar, leaned back in a chair, a serious angle to his knee, a volume open on Tearian courtship. What a pairing of titles. Jayce thought to himself.

  “So,” Jayce said, letting his tone find amusement. He tipped his chin at Damon. “Planning to sing and tell stories to them?” His gaze slid to Dato, who looked over the edge of the book at him. “And you—going to ask the lady to marry you?”

  Damon sat up; Dato flushed. Both set their books down like they might be weapons or shields depending on how the next twenty breaths went.

  “So, there is a lady?” Damon cleared his throat, all bright curiosity.

  Jayce kept his eyes on Dato and let the answer come out smug. “Ah, yes. Quite the beauty.” He drew the oilskin from his inner pocket with a small flourish and offered it to Dato. “And she wrote to you.”

  Dato took the bundle like it might burst or vanish, careful. “She wrote me? He asked confused.

  Damon leaned close, hand out. “You hate letters from noble ladies. I’ll read and write back—spare you the agony.”

  Dato held the letter against his chest “She wrote to me, not to your ego.”

  “My ego writes an excellent hand.” Damon replied with a grin, hand still out.

  “Your ego doesn't need a boost right now." Dato deadpanned keeping his gaze at Damon's face, ignoring his hand.

  Jayce let them fence for three exchanges, then cut it clean. “Read it. Write back—both of you if you must. Also: you’re both on the escort when we bring them in.”

  That stopped them. Damon blinked. Dato went very still, then turned away with the letter in his hands. The seal gave with a soft pop. He unfolded the page. Neat, steady hand; a willow sketched along the margin, a small five-petaled flower by her name.

  He didn’t intend to read, but he read anyway, over Dato’s shoulder as Damon did the same. Jayce told himself it was less for the words than for what they did to each of the Prince's faces.

  Prince Dato,

  Thank you for trusting Jayce with delivering this. If you are willing, I would like to be penpals. I don’t know much about palace life, and I don’t expect you to know much about mine yet, so perhaps we could talk about ordinary things until we don’t feel like strangers.

  I like mint tea when it is very hot, fresh bread when it is too warm to slice properly, and market days (if I get there before the pears are gone). I like stitching what has been torn and making it useful again. I like maps and the way roads look before you walk them. I like the hush when it starts to rain and the first hour after.

  If you write back, tell me what you like. Which season? What you reach for first in the morning? Your favorite way to spend an hour when you are not required to be a prince. What you are reading that isn’t required?

  I will be moving to the capital soon. If you are willing, I would like to learn a little about you before then—and I would be grateful if you would write.

  — Kairi

  Along the margin: the soft sketch of a willow’s drooping boughs; near her name: a small flower.

  Damon made a soft sound. “She has pretty handwriting,” he said, then pivoted, hungry for advantage. “So, Captain—eyes, hair, height? Market-town pretty or palace pretty? Smile like trouble or like church?”

  Jayce kept watching Kylar and answered without looking away. “Blue eyes. Chocolate-brown hair. Shorter than me and you both. Market-town pretty that makes the market look better.”

  Damon’s grin sharpened. “Freckles?”

  “If she was in the sun a lot, a little bit." He acknowledged.

  “Dimples?” Damon pressed on.

  “When she’s trying not to smile.”

  Dato read the last lines again; something flickered at the corner of his mouth and was gone. His fingers tightened infinitesimally where the willow was drawn, like the pencil mark meant more than decoration. He folded the letter carefully, as if creases could bruise, and pressed it once to his chest before tucking it away.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  Jayce let a beat pass. “Trying to figure out how to kindly reject her like everyone else?”

  Dato looked up at him, steady. “No. She isn't like everyone else. She’s a Princess.”

  The room paused around the word. Jayce startled, small, but enough; Dato saw it and read truth where Jayce hadn’t offered any.

  “A princess?” Damon was already moving, riffling the stack on the side table. He hauled out the lineage volume, flipped, found the plate. “Kairi, Kairi....—here. Kairi.” He thrust the book at Jayce. “Her?”

  Jayce took a step back, composure settling like a cloak while Dato watched him waiting for the moment of recognition on his face. Options ran by: lie, hedge, protect what she hated. He picked the narrow path. “She doesn’t really use that title,” he said evenly, eyes flicking from the plate to the princes. “But I see you’ve both done very well in your studying.” Jayce looked again at the plate. She looked so young in that portrait. Her ears weren't clipped then. Youthful hope was still there. He looked to them again.

  Damon leaned back, pleased as a cat. “Well. Ordinary things,” he murmured, already scheming. “I can do ordinary things better than anyone.”

  Jayce snorted. “Can you.”

  “I will,” Damon said, more vow than tease.

  Tessa drifted closer without sound. She signed,

  , gaze flicking between their Tearia books, the missing letter, the sharpened edges of both men.

  Jayce lifted a hand, but let it fall and instead gave her a small nod. Good news or trouble dressed up as it; too soon to tell. The numbers still said Damon. The look on Dato's face at the willow and the flower argued the math.

  “Escort’s in a couple of weeks,” Jayce said, letting the practical settle the room. “Finish your studies. Try not to kill each other with footnotes.”

  “No promises,” Damon grinned.

  Jayce felt the prickle of attention and found Dato watching him, not the letter now, but him, as if gears were clicking into place.

  “Jayce,” Dato said, tone deliberately casual and thoughtful. “Tell me about her. Let’s say she’s… piqued my interest.”

  Jayce’s mouth tilted. He let the silence hold a breath longer than comfortable and then hooked a chair leg with his foot and sat like this was going to be a proper briefing after all. “All right,” he said. “Ordinary things first.”

  Damon leaned forward, bright with the hunt. Dato sat straighter, eyes steady, the letter’s weight a visible gravity under his jacket.

  “Alternate,” Damon said, already deciding. “I start.”

  Jayce lifted two fingers: go on.

  Damon began. "What color does she gravitate to? Jayce thought for a second. "Warm reds when she isn't thinking about it. Browns and creams when she's trying to look like a sensible adult." Jayce watched as they both seemed to be taking mental notes. Then Damon turned and rummaged around his piles and brought paper for both him and Dato. Dato thanked him and they both wrote down a note about the color red.

  Dato asked next. "Morning routine?"

  "She likes to write. First thoughts of the day, sometimes dreams she had. Then tea, then what the day requires of her." Jayce relayed as he settled back against the chair back. Tessa sat on a chair behind the Prince's now to listen in. Damon was writing about how she journals. Dato made a small note about she likes to write.

  Damon grinned. " Her laugh, quick and loud or the slow kind?"

  Jayce smiled. "Slow, starts in her eyes. You will have to earn the sound of it." Damon and Dato watched him for a moment. He must of made a face. Dato continued with the questions. "She okay with crowds?"

  "Early markets, yes. Midday crush, no. She angles to the edges when streets get tight. Sometimes asks someone to go shopping with her." Jayce answered watching them both take notes again.

  Damon tilted his head. "Does she like sweet or savory type of snacks?"

  Jayce decided to stare at the ceiling. "Savory, then sweet. She'll pick a meat pie and only a honey tart if you insist. But, she'll secretly enjoy it."

  "Books she likes to read?" Dato asked as he was still writing down her snack preferences.

  "Stories, folklore, but also herbal notes and medicinal guides. She has a knack for healing." Jayce closed his eyes.

  Damon tapped his finger on the table. "Does she like to sing? Dance?"

  Jayce chuckled. "Yes to both."

  Dato stared at the paper as his thoughts went to nights where she hummed melodies and sometimes sang a little. How she told him about the dances she went to. He glanced over to Damon seeing the big grin. Dato would have to ask her to teach him the dances she likes.

  Dato pulled the letter out and looked at the willlow. "Is there a willow there she likes to sit under?"

  Jayce nods, "There is one there she likes to sit under to read or stitch. Just outside the town"

  "Let's say we want to bring her a gift, when we go. What kind of things does she like." Dato asked and Damon pointed at him.

  "That is a great question. What does she like Jayce."

  Jayce leveled his face and looked at both Princes. Tessa pulled a chair up now and listened.

  "A hairpin, or a woven trinket she can place on her belt. She likes handcrafted things."

  Tessa tapped the table as Damon and Dato looked to her.

   Damon mused and sat back thinking as Dato glanced over at the stack of books.

  Damon finally thought of something. "Simply gifts for courtship. woven bracelets, a hairpin and more of that like." He pushed back from the table and got up. Reset the chair and grabbed up a book or two. " I'll have a letter for you for her tomorrow."

  They watched as Damon left with a smug smile and determination.

  Tessa tapped the table and Jayce and Dato looked to her.

   She tilted her head toward Dato. He sighed and slouched in the chair as Tessa and Jayce looked at him.

  He thought carefully of everything he knew about her. He had the advantage already, but that wasn't something he could just come out and say.

  Why yes, Tessa, Jayce, I know this girl so well that now my concern is how to downplay how to not overplay my hand.

  He sat up straighter and signed.

  Tessa leaned over and flicked him in the forehead. Jayce just laughed.

  Dato slowly stood up and gave a tired nod. "I'll have something for you to take." And with that he left the room.

  Tessa watched him go and turned her attention to Jayce, who eventually looked to her.

   She raised an eyebrow.

  Jayce pointed to her. " You will be on the escort, don't worry. Damon and Dato obviously. I'm going to ask Darius and Zen. I'll have Fenway stay here to keep Ryder company."

  She grinned then signed.

  Jayce nodded and moved to stand up, but she tapped the table and he looked to her.

  

  Jayce paused at that and signed back. He glanced around then back to her.

  She nodded.

  Jayce grimaced and nodded.

  Tessa sat back and brought her hand to her chin as she thought. She looked to him.

  "Darius" he said a loud and wondered if he could get him ready in the morning.

  She smiled to him and then promptly got up and signed. And with that, she swept out of the library.

  Jayce pushed the chair back into place and chuckled a little as he went to find Darius and see if he was on duty for anything special the next week.