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"What is it?"

"Hector, what if it wasn’t an assassination attempt Is that possible? Did someone mean to take me alive?"

His dark eyes seeence chews on the idea Without breaking uard, "Lucás, step outside and watch the hallway"

"Yes, s closed

Hector and I are alone

Chapter 9

I’M suddenly aware of the silence; no creak of armor, no footsteps, no quiet chatter Just his breath and mine, steady and even It’s the first time I’ve been alone--truly alone--with anyone in weeks, and it feels as though we are sharing a secret

He says, "I don’t care to discuss what happened that day in front ofmy neck and shoulders a crick, so I stand and stretchside Softly, I say, "What did happen that day, Hector? Were you the one who found me?"

He turns, putting his back to ," he says "I let ht away" When he turns back around, his face is stricken "Elisa, I’h his hair "You left, and I was about to go after you, but the general grabbed my arm He wanted to discuss a new rotation near the amphitheater--a collaboration between the Royal Guard and his own soldiers It was ten minutes or et distracted It won’t happen again"

"I’ry Even when you should be"

"I’ry all the time!"

"Not at me"

"No, not at you I told you I wanted to be alone that day, reot my wish? I was the foolish one, not you You warned me And I’m sorry about that I caused a lot of trouble, especially for you" He starts to protest, but I put up a hand and look hiht in the eye "Do you think Luz-Manuel drew you away on purpose?"

"How could he know you would go to the catacoular habit of it Maybe it was just a ht opportunity"

He looks off into the distance, worrying the poo, I would never have considered it," he says "I’ve always thought hiive his life for his country"

"And now?"

"Now I’ll uarded, even in your own palace"

Again I touch er to my waist, to the scar there I shudder to re into my abdomen "Were you the one who found me?"

He rubs the back of his head as if suddenly exhausted "I called your na out from behind one of the pedestals I ran over, andGod, Elisa, I thought you were dead"

I clasp ether to keep the," he continues "I’ve seen it in battle; a wounded soldier often stops bleeding when he dies But thenyou breathed A big, strong breath So I gathered you up and got you to Doctor Enzo as quick as I could"

I whisper, "Thank you"

He stares at me, and I stare back His lashes are short but thick, and he has a tiny freckle at the crease of his left eye He has the deepest eyes I’ve ever seen on a person, like a whole world goes on inside his head

He says, "I think the Godstone protected you Or started to heal you Enzo didn’t realize how badly you’d been stabbed until he broke the scab and cleaned the wound At first he thought it was just the bu his account, it see about it feels strange So doesn’t add up

"Is it possibleme? Was there any indication that he didn’t leave me for dead? That he planned to take me alive?"

"No Wait Maybe There was blood all over your face, even though your face wasn’t anywhere near the pool of blood And the floor was streaked I thought you hadBut what if--"

"What if I was dragged? What if by co?"

Hector moves to the s, paces back and forth between the you requires planning Finesse Merely killing you is easy by co I want to hear is that killingvery close to the victie They’d have to draw you away from your protectors"

An idea sla it froles

"Elisa?"

I led a rebellion, defeated sorcerers, became queen I can do this too I push my shoulders back, raise my chin, and say in my best queen voice, "Teach me to defendmake me into an elite soldier Just teach me to survive a close-quarters encounter Teach ood student I can learn anything if I study hard enough"

He nods "I know you can But what about your injury? Shouldn’t you--"

"We’ll start slow and easy"

He grasps the pommel of his sword "If you had been raised to the throne, you would have learned basic techniques anyway"

"We’ll need space Privacy" I don’t want to be cluuard

"Alejandro’s suite?" he suggests "It’s quite large, especially if we rin in anticipation

His lips twitch as he fights very hard to not grin right back

The next day, the guards rearrange everything in the king’s suite to open up space, shoving the absurd tower bed against the wall Several rugs cover the floor in an array of sunset colors and textures The guards start to remove these, too, but Hector stops them

"You’re mostly likely to be assaulted in the palace," he says "So we’ll practice with the rugs underfoot at first And it’s not just assassins I’m worried about--a queen can just as easily be killed by ato focus on close-quarters encounters"