The Heart of a Wielder (Book One of The Wielders Trilogy) ✔️

Chapter Eighteen

Maren could not be certain, but she thought she and the Prince were becoming friends. Certainly, it looked different from her friendship with Alec, which was built primarily on a foundation of laughter and mutual liking. But she found that she was beginning to look forward to seeing the Prince in the same way she looked forward to seeing Alec, and that was surprising. And when she looked back on the months she had spent at the palace, she found many times when the Prince had been kind and compassionate.

Not to mention, there had been several occasions when she had been particularly vulnerable, and he had been ... supportive? She wasn't sure what word best described those times—caused by Prince Kieran, primarily—when Prince Donovan had seen just how fragile she could be and had been sympathetic and helpful.

She knew of course in the abstract that friendship looked differently from person to person, but had never experienced a relationship quite like she had with the Prince. Her relationship with Alec looked more like the sort of friendship she had with the other children at the estate, except without her being on the outside of the group. She felt friendly with the Tea Ladies, but without having any real substance to their conversations, it didn't feel like actual friendship.

But the Prince, that was something different altogether. It was hard for her to make sense of a relationship that had changed so much in a relatively short amount of time. They had gone from enemies to something somewhat civil but still adversarial to allies to...friends? It sounded strange to her, but she could not come up with a better word.

She enjoyed his company, she felt she could confide in him, and that she did not have to pretend to be someone else when she was with the Prince. If that wasn't friendship, what was?

"Is anyone at home?" Alec asked her, and it was only then she realized she had completely missed the bulk of the most recent conversation.

"Oh...sorry... I suppose I was somewhere else entirely," she said, blushing slightly.

"Ah well, perhaps next time I come to visit you'll stick around for the whole time?" Alec asked with a grin.

"We'll see," she said, smiling back at him.

Alec rose. "Well, as I have an early morning appointment, I had best be off. Do try not to take my departure too hard," he said with mock sympathy.

"I expect we shall find a way to manage without you," the Prince said.

Alec clapped the Prince on the shoulder and kissed Maren on the cheek and left.

The Prince smiled at her. "Can I interest you in a nightcap?"

Maren smiled back, "Only because I worry that without me, you would drink yourself into oblivion due to your depression at Alec's departure."

"Oh, you have a fine opinion of yourself!" he teased, standing up and heading towards his sitting room.

Maren rose. "Ah, well, you did once prefer my company to dining alone," she said, following him.

"Ah, my lady, you shame me!" he declared, mock wounded.

"Not at all, it is exceedingly flattering that Your Highness would prefer my company to solitude!" she insisted, smiling.

She sat down in her usual place on his couch while he poured the brandy.

"Well, I was correct, your company is indeed preferable to solitude," he said with a wink as he handed her a glass.

She smiled back and sipped her brandy while the Prince sat down in his armchair beside her. They sat in companionable silence for a few moments before Maren said, "Would you like to hear about Karlyn?"