[TAKES PLACE DURING POWERLESS]

• • •

I've just left father's study for the night, my thoughts preoccupied with his criticism, when I turn down the hallway to my bedroom and practically maul a familiar silver-haired girl.

"Plagues, Azer!" Paedyn grips my shoulders to regain her balance, and I catch her waist.

I look her over, and realize with relief that she looks no better than I do. Bags hang synonymously under our eyes, although on her, it has a way of enhancing her beauty rather than prohibiting it.

Her long white nightgown hugs her, and a lack of shoes leads me to believe that she's not trying to escape the palace. Perhaps to search for something within?

It's the only other explanation for why she would be awake at one in the morning.

At her outburst, I glance over my shoulder. Then, I clamp my hand over her mouth and walk her firmly into an adjacent walkway.

She huffs when I finally let go of her mouth. "What was that for?"

"Your safety, Gray. If the king caught you out at this hour, you'd have a dozen imperials watching your every move."

She eyes me. "I'm presuming you just spoke with him."

"Indeed."

Paedyn folds her arms around her chest, goosebumps rising on her bare skin. "Is he upset with me?"

"With me, actually. Although," I murmur quietly, "it is on account of you."

"What did he say?"

I sigh, folding up the sleeves of the dress shirt I've been wearing for far too long. "That you've become a distraction to me." I pause a moment before adding, "And that I'm to stay away from you."

Paedyn meets my eyes. "Are you going to? Stay away from me, that is?"

I laugh lowly. "Darling, I couldn't if I tried. And besides," I say, leaning in closer, "I always have been a little rebel."

Paedyn doesn't have anything to say, which is strange for her.

I spend a moment eyeing her for the reason she's up at this time of night, when suddenly, I hear her stomach growl.

Paedyn folds her arms tighter over her chest, trying to muffle the sound, but it only brings more of my attention to it. She opens her mouth, presumably to distract me further, but I silence her with my own words.

"You skipped dinner tonight," I murmur, just remembering that she'd been absent from the royal dinner table.

She traces her foot over the floor. "I wasn't in the mood to bicker with Blair."

"Really," I murmur, eyebrows reaching up. "I thought bickering was one of your favorite things to do."

"Only with you." She clamps a hand over her mouth after the words have escaped her, as if she hadn't meant to say it out loud.

I laugh low in my throat. "In that case," I murmur, reaching for her arm, "I'd like to take you somewhere. And you can bicker with me all you want."

Paedyn mutters something obscene under her breath, and I merely laugh.

As we walk briskly down a hallway lit only by moonlight seeping through the windows, she says, "Where are you taking me?"

"It's a surprise, darling."

"I hate surprises."

"Yes, but you don't hate me."

Paedyn smiles sweetly. "That's debatable."

I can't help my smirk. As I lead her outside into the gardens, her eyebrows lift. I enjoy her confusion as we walk along the soft grass. When it parts, however, leaving a trail of rocks haphazardly strung together to form a trail, I gather her into my arms, bridal style.

Paedyn struggles in my arms, aghast. "What the plagues are you doing?"

"Carrying you, darling."

"I had no idea," she mutters, sarcastic. "I meant, why?"

I grin down at her as I follow the trail deep into a collection of trees surrounding the palace. "Do I need a reason?"

"Absolutely. If not, I'd call this assault."

I laugh. "Gray, you're barefoot. And since you've been too distracted by me to notice —" I smirk "— let me enlighten you: the ground is particularly jagged."

She glances down and mutters beneath her breath before saying, "Stop being a gentleman."

"Why? Liking it too much?"

"It's unnatural," she corrects. "A mass murderer should not be a good man."

My smirk fades a little, my eyebrows jumping to my hairline. "You think I'm a good man?" The words are breathier than I would like.

"I think," she growls, "that you shouldn't be."

"And yet," I murmur, smirking, "you think I am."

She struggles in my arms once more. "On certain occasions."

"Such as right now." I set her on her feet as we reach the tree I've been aimlessly searching for. "This is the oldest tree on the palace grounds," I murmur to her, gesturing up at the sweeping branches decorated with deep orange fruit.

Paedyn tries to look bored, but I can see her gaze fastening dreamily on the tangerines. "And you brought me out here, because?"

"You're hungry." I press a finger to her lips with one hand, silencing her stubborn arguments, and pull down a piece of fruit with the other. "And I can guarantee that these are much more nutritious than that sticky bun you were planning to steal from the kitchens." I meet her eyes, challenging my guess as to why she was awake at this time of night. "Am I right?"

Paedyn doesn't respond, which is an answer in itself.

She peels back the tender skin of the fruit, too hungry to argue anymore, and takes a bite. I watch her expression, or rather, the useless attempts to hide her relief.

She's starving.

"Legend has it," I murmur, "that it's the best tasting fruit in the world," I say. Then, gesturing to my lips, I add, "Although, I think I'm a worthy contender."

She snorts, taking another bite. "Of course you do."

My gaze collides with the undeniable beauty that is her being, her body, her mind. Her conscience, her voice, even her refusal to admit her feelings.

For me.

As a whole, she is godly. Divinity in human form.

And it isn't until I look into the depths of her eyes that I realize that I, too, am starving.