"kiran, are you coming?" sebastian called impatiently from the doorway.

"i'll be right there, i'd like a word with my fiance before i leave," kiran answered, half serious, half laughing at sebastian with me.

after sebastian left us alone, i turned on kiran, anxious to gage his reaction about sebastian's new found loyalties. he sat down on the edge of his bed and watched my excitement with amused intensity.

"oh, no! you're not mad at him are you?" i panicked.

"mad at sebastian? no. why would i be?" he sounded confused.

"because of the tattoo," i whispered, dropping my voice so it wouldn't carry beyond the bedroom door. "i mean, because he's in the resistance now?"

"oh, is that what that tattoo means? i didn't even know what you two were talking about," kiran answered dryly.

"stop it! i'm serious," i claimed, but relaxed at the smile twisting his lips.

"eden, i'm glad sebastian figured out what side of this he belongs on," kiran confessed and i felt the truth in his eyes.

"so did you know before now?"

"this was the first time i saw his tattoo," kiran admitted, but for some reason it didn't feel like the whole truth.

i almost called him on it, but i suddenly remembered something else sebastian inferred. "he said 'ours,'" i blurted out. "sebastian said 'our tattoos!' who else is in the resistance?" i stood, just barely towering over kiran, insisting that he answer me. he looked at me for a few minutes, really looked at me. he stared into my eyes and took in my hard expression, demanding that he answer and smiled.

"if sebastian is in the resistance than so is amelia. and if he is that taken with seraphina, than i would have to assume she is as well," kiran said, raking a relaxed hand through his hair.

"no way is seraphina in the resistance!" i immediately discredited that theory. "there is just no way; sorry."

"if you say so," kiran agreed, his expression telling me how much i amused him right now.

"what about you? are you in the resistance?" i asked coyly, internally reprimanding myself for flirting with him.

"and if i was?" he asked, avoiding a direct answer.

"i would immediately tell your father! think of the scandal...." i smiled at him, a friendly non flirtatious smile and turned around.

"do you know that ever since i met you my life has seemed to explode into one giant scandal?" i heard him stand up from the bed and follow me over to the window where i stood admiring the view.

"ever since you met me?" i laughed, "oh no, you were always a prince! before i met you, i was just a perfectly normal human. i think you're the problem, not me!" i backed up against the window feeling suffocated by his closeness.

"if you don't want me to go, i'll stay," he offered out of the blue. i knew he was looking forward to this trip; the boys planned it weeks ago. he noticed the flicker of confusion across my face and clarified, "if you're worried about staying in the castle alone, or of spending time with seraphina, i can stay. the trip can wait."

"that's very sweet of you, but i'll be ok, promise," i smiled reassuringly.

"all right, then i suppose i should go," he looked down at me, holding my eyes with his. my heart clenched for a minute, protesting against the idea of him leaving, and my magic flared in a failed attempt to connect with his.

"yes, you should go!" i agreed, fearing my sudden desire to keep him near to me was more than fear of a weekend alone with psycho seraphina. i shook my head, reminding myself of everything, from how he betrayed me to my plans for the future of this kingdom, in order to rid any lingering ideas that we could be together.

something was seriously wrong with me and i needed a break from him before he broke me.

"goodbye, eden, good luck this weekend," he murmured seductively before walking backward to the bed wear his backpack waited for him.

"you too," i croaked.

and then he left me alone to quickly gather up the shattered pieces of my self-respect i still had and remind myself that i loved jericho. i loved him. we had something real, something grown-up and mature. jericho was the real man i needed to give me a real life and stand by my side at the end of all this. if i ever walked away from him, then there really was something wrong with me, some obsession with hurting myself. jericho embodied stability, honesty and strength, everything a man should be, everything i wanted in a man.

then why did i suddenly feel like i was convincing myself to stay with him? our relationship wasn't in jeopardy; this argument with myself was for nothing!

i stood up, determined to shake the feeling that kiran posed a threat to jericho and walked out of the bedroom. i decided to face the music and find amelia and seraphina and then regretfully realized i was looking for a distraction.

jedrec looked up from his post, smiling at me. "another walk through the castle?" he asked casually.

"actually, yes," i admitted, feeling a friendship blossoming between us. "i want to find amelia and seraphina. do you know where they are?"

"no, not exactly," he answered. "i can take you upstairs to where they are staying, though," he offered and i felt instantly thankful that he didn't plan on fighting me anymore.

"that would be awesome!" i squealed and started up the stairs. jedrec and a group of titans followed behind dutifully.

i had never gone upstairs before. kiran's bedroom occupied the middle of a tall tower full of bedrooms and housing. the stairs were wide and wrapped around the inner wall, while the bedrooms took up the majority of each floor with windows to the romanian wilderness. the next floor up had three bedrooms side by side, two of them designated for the girls. jedrec informed me that sebastian occupied the floor above this one and the top floor contained the royal apartment.

i perked up at the mention of the royal apartment, "what do you mean, royal apartment?"

"the housing designated for you and prince kiran after the wedding," jedrec explained carefully.

"oh," i gulped, simultaneously getting the chills and hot flashes at the same time. after the wedding.... i could never let that happen.

"there you are!" amelia squealed, opening her door and pulling me inside her extravagantly girly room.

i turned to give jedrec an apologetic smile but he was already instructing his guards how to stand in the hallway around amelia's door. i tumbled into the bedroom, tripping on her rug and coming face to face with seraphina. she looked me over with the same contemptuous glare, a look i would not have recognized her face without and then walked passed me to an overstuffed white suede couch and plopped down. she pulled her feet underneath her and twirled her long blonde hair with her pointer finger.

"so," she turned her cobalt eyes to mine and smiled dangerously, "would you like me to paint your toenails first or braid your hair?"

chapter twenty-four

"please, braid my hair," i retorted sarcastically.

"well, somebody needs to do something with it," seraphina laughed congenially. i looked up at her, meeting her eyes and noticed that she wasn't nearly as hostile as i was. "come on, eden, we've run out of every other option, the only thing left to do is become friends!" she patted the seat next to her in the middle of amelia's big room.

the couch sat across from a large big screen tv mounted on the wall and was flanked by two matching pink paisley overstuffed chairs. amelia's king-size four poster bed sat off to one corner of the room, draped with white chiffon curtains and looked out over her view of the carpathian mountains. i could see through the open door that her bathroom was just as large as kiran's only with a jacuzzi tub and triple head shower.

"this room is so much nicer than kiran's!" i declared, ignoring seraphina's offer of truce.

"i know," amelia agreed shyly, "uncle lucan spoils me."

"and kiran has terrible taste," seraphina laughed.

"no he doesn't! it's just, um.... simple," amelia defended him quickly.

"obviously," seraphina looked pointedly at me and when i narrowed my eyes ready for a fight she threw up her hands and half shouted, "just kidding!"

i stayed quiet, realizing i had no idea what kind of taste kiran had. his apartment in omaha had been modern and easy going and i suppose that was the way i would describe his bedroom downstairs; but it felt too generous to give the prince the benefit of simple taste. i wanted him to be extravagant and fussy, to like expensive things that didn't have any purpose, or pay triple for whatever he wanted just because he could.

"so what's the plan for tonight?" i asked carefully, walking further into the room.

amelia plopped down in one of the puffy chairs and curled up, tossing her long golden brown hair into a messy bun on the top of her head. "well, we were thinking chick fliks and pizza! what do you think?"

"pizza?" i asked in disbelief. "where are we going to get pizza?"

"the chefs here can make anything!" seraphina explained, "they just don't. they have something against unsophisticated food or something.... but that's why we have our dearest mimi; she can convince them to do anything!"

"even pizza?" i asked, turning hopeful.

"even pizza!" she squealed and suddenly i was so thankful to spend time with them.

i couldn't stop the smile from spreading across my face. pizza, real pizza. not roast chicken, or roast duck, or filet whatever, or creamed cauliflower or cold, fancy soup, just pizza. the thought of something so greasy, so gloriously cheesy and perfectly normal instantly lifted my spirits and i couldn't help but let my guard down just a little bit.

i walked over to the empty chair and sat down, slipping off my slippers and pulling my knees to my chest. the girl's instantly jumped into conversation about the upcoming school year. amelia's soft british accent contrasted starkly with seraphina's snotty overtones to everything, but they seemed to be good friends. nobody disliked amelia though, not even seraphina.

"but you will love mr.lambert," seraphina explained to amelia, "he is like the nicest teacher ever."

"no, he is not!" i screeched, finally joining the conversation.

"ok, he's not, but only if you're eden. he'll like you, don't worry," seraphina assured her.

"is he nice to you, seraphina?" i asked, narrowing my eyes. i couldn't be the only student he singled out; that would be too embarrassing.

"yes, he is always nice to me. but i am always on time. i think he really hates it when people are late," she mused out loud.

"i think you're right," i grumbled.

"and look at that! we agree on something, it's a miracle!" seraphina laughed sarcastically.

"it's definitely a miracle," i agreed.

"so you weren't friends at your old school?" amelia asked innocently.

i tried to stifle my laughter and closed my eyes to avoid an eye roll, but even seraphina made a throaty noise that displayed her mockery of the idea.