Cole thought she could escape once the dancing lessons were over, but as they filtered out to head for a government and martial strategy lesson, Bastian caught her arm and pulled her with him down the hall.
He grinned back at the other girls. "Be right back," he shouted at them. "I need to tattle on your friend here to Mistress. She wasn't the eager dancing partner that I asked her to be, and it's put me a bit off."
A mixture of sympathy and smugness washed over the other girls' faces. For all they knew, Cole was headed for a punishment that they all would rather not get themselves. The only exception was Meegan, who watched them with narrowed eyes and a shrewdness that made Cole feel uneasy. But she had very little time to think about Meegan when Bastian was hauling her toward a staircase.
He pulled her up a few steps and then turned around to kick shut the door that stood at the bottom of the staircase. He turned the key in the lock and then ran up to close the matching door at the top. With that one locked as well, he ran back down to where he'd left Cole. She stared out the window at the distant city as hard as she could, not wanting to look at his face.
"I have a feeling I know who your mysterious visitor was," he said, his voice and face not giving anything away.
"And who is that?" Cole asked, turning to glare at him as if he had accused her of some horrid crime.
Bastian's lips twisted and he exhaled slowly.
"It's quite obvious that you've aligned with one of my father's enemies. As to which one, I can guess, but I have no proof. There are so many, it could be any number of factions or tribes," he said. "But I will tell you to cut whatever ties you have with them, and go back to your life before you met."
Cole almost laughed. "You seem to have been doing a lot of thinking on your own," she replied. "What makes you so sure I'm an enemy? What makes you so sure that my friends are not anything more than just friends? Perhaps you saw me with a lover. Is it so hard to believe that I'd have admirers, or can you only fathom beautiful soft girls with long hair and sickly sweet words as objects of affection?"
"No, I can't imagine you with a lover," he said, stepping forward and closing some of the gap between them. "You're not a young girl with a heart ready for love. You're a flame hidden away, ready to ignite and take down everything with you. You're more interested in blood and justice than in kisses and pretty words."
Cole smirked. "I don't know, my prince." This time she closed the gap until she was pressed against him, her hand winding around his shirt and pulling him close. She looked up at him, their faces only inches apart, and stared into his eyes. "I haven't heard pretty words since I was a child. I haven't kissed a boy or held him close. Do you really think I don't want those?"
Bastian stood still in her grasp, staring down at her with no more expression than a slight bunching of his eyebrows. Cole wanted to kiss him there, devour him and spit him out. If he thought her a fire instead of one of his doves, she would show him just how much she could burn.
But then he placed his hand on her arm, pushing on it until she let go of his shirt and he was able to step back.
"You're only here for destruction," he said. "That's what I know. I just don't know how or when."
Cole laughed softly. "Don't you think your father is the one who lays claim to that particular word?"
"Yes," Bastian replied. "And that is why I'm asking you to please stop whatever it is that you're planning. Tell that man you met that you are no longer interested in his cause, and leave this place. My father is a demon, and you have no idea what he is capable of. His influence runs deep and there are darker happenings running deep in this country. You shouldn't stick your nose into a bear trap without first knowing what the bear trap is guarding."
Cole leaned in, her voice lowering to a whisper. "The thing about fires is that they don't have noses to stick in places. They only have heat and flames, and those can burn a bear trap and anything else."
"But a fire is easily put out, if the person has enough water. And, Cole. My father has an endless supply of whatever he wants," Bastian said, his lips tightening. "Please, I'm asking you for the last time to stop and leave."
For a moment, she wavered. The memories of the king and his dark advisor talking in his bedroom about a cave and death floated into her mind. He truly did have something dark and deep that no one knew about. Cole had no idea if Tanwyn was aware of this cave and what was in it, or if he would be just as clueless as her. But she had gotten a taste of the king's darkness. She had seen just a tiny corner of his power, and it was more than she could imagine.
The gentle easy life alone with her mother beckoned her. No Tanwyn. No murder during the prince's birthday. No death or destruction.
"Give me my mother then," she said, heart thumping so hard now that she was sure he could hear it against her ribs. "Free her and we'll disappear. You'll never hear from me again."
Bastian's jaw worked as he clenched his teeth. A long pause developed, making Cole's breath go short. When he finally answered, his eyes shifted away from her.
"I can't do that."
Darkness thumped into Cole's heart. It was if everything he had started to awaken in her died all at once, leaving nothing but hatred and ashes behind. Tanwyn was right. The royal line was corrupted, and even if Bastian was not as bad as his father, he did not have the power or courage to do anything about it. In a way, he was just as bad as everyone else. In the end, Cole would have to do this all on her own, just like Tanwyn had said. She would have to take it into her own hands to punish the king and save her mother. And if that meant murdering Bastian... well, she would just have to do it.
"You can't help anyone," she whispered to him, her eyes flashing. "You're no better than your father."
Bastian's face seemed to close in on itself, going behind a facade of blankness. He looked more like a statue than a man, but Cole didn't care anymore. Let him keep his secrets and hide them away. Let him close himself off from her. It would only make it easier to kill him when the time came.