Page 84 of Heartbreak Prince

The corridor beyond is definitely part of the servants’ area, and there’s another door at the end of the hall, next to a wooden staircase. I throw the door open and we burst out into the cold air of a side yard.

Vawn stumbles forward, with me still holding his arm, and he throws up onto the snowy cobblestones. Some of the bile drips from his mouth onto his collar.

“Syth,” he gasps.

“I know.” I grit my teeth against the oncoming tears and rub his back through the heavy tailcoat.

He bends over, gripping his thighs. “They were trying—” he sobs out. “But I can’t, Syth, I can’t—”

“I know.” Rubbing his back isn’t enough, so I wrap my arms around him. He’s panting, shaking, tears dripping into the mess at his feet.

After a few seconds, I pull him away from the foul splatter and set his back against the door we came through. “Breathe,” I order. Then I step over to the low wall of the yard, collect a clump of fresh snow and carry it to him. “Here, eat this. For your breath, and for the taste. I’ll get more.”

He accepts a few clumps of snow, then wipes his mouth and chin. “I can’t see those pictures again.”

“I’ll tell the Lord and Lady.”

“They’re going to know that I fell apart.”

“Who cares? They love you.”

He tucks back a pink strand of his hair with a trembling hand. “I don’t want them to feel bad, and I don’t want to hurt Cordall, after he went to all that trouble—”

“Stop worrying about everyone else. They’ll be fine. Wait here until I come back, and promise you’ll try to breathe slowly.”

He nods, performing a long exhale for my benefit as I head back inside.

As soon as I emerge from the servants’ passage, I encounter Lady Kaenan. Her face tells me that she already knows what I’m about to say.

“We didn’t realize how it would—that he would—” She breaks off the sentence, concern in her eyes.

“He’s all right, but he can’t see those pictures again. Maybe they could be placed in another area, where the guests can pay their respects but where the prince doesn’t have to encounter them.”

She nods. “Of course. I’ll have them moved to the south gallery.”

“Thank you.” I duck back through the servants’ door, but she says my name so urgently that I pause.

“You’re good for him,” she says. “Better than anyone else I’ve seen him with.”

My stomach does a slow flip.

“But,” she continues, “you know where he’s going. What he has to do.”

“The Twin Lieges in Tularesk. The alliance.”

“You understand what that means.”

If she’s hinting that there’s no future for me with Vawn, she can save her concern. I’m already well aware. And if she thinks I’m in love with him, she’s out of her mind.

“Yes, I understand, thank you.”

“Good.” Her expression clears a bit. “Bring him back inside. It’s cold out there, and even though we have guards and sturdy walls, I’d prefer to have him safely indoors. You two can wait in the conservatory while we have the portraits moved.”

“I think he needs to change.” I grimace. “I’ll take him upstairs.”

Vawn insists that he can go to his room alone, but I follow him anyway. When I open one of the doors in his suite, thinking it’s a closet, I find myself in my own chamber. “They gave you a room that adjoins mine?”

“I asked for it.” When I raise my eyebrows, he shakes his head. “Not for salacious reasons. Only so I could keep watch over you.”