The Hidden Prince Read Free Page B

so he stayed in the school on scholarship, and later stayed on to become a professor.
    He’d been given a new life, thanks to the generosity of that teacher and the Academy. His past had been forgiven. Others never had the chance.
    â€œThat’s terrible.” I planted my elbows on the desk and let out a long breath. It was hard to imagine anyone with the kind of malice it must take to create something like shine, let alone firefly. As though taking a hit of wraith made any sense at all. “And what’s being done about it? Are the police looking for the new manufacturer? How many people have died because of this?”
    Knight held up a hand and shook his head. “I know you’re curious. And I don’t want to tell you not to be curious. Curiosity is a good trait for a king, because it means you’ll never be satisfied with easy answers.”
    There was a but coming.
    â€œBut,” he continued, “let me remind you that this—shine—is simply one symptom of a larger problem. You can care about it. You should. But the whole world is sick with wraith. Making this one thing your mission to fix won’t cure the world of all its ills.”
    I hadn’t said anything about making shine my mission. “Since when did curiosity about a problem become a declaration of intent to fix it?”
    â€œYou caught me.” Knight dropped a packet of papers on my desk, almost casually, but he was still tense with anxiety. “It’s just, this is a sensitive subject for me.”
    â€œOf course.” I picked at the corners of the papers, but didn’t look at them. “It seems to me we tend to focus on what we fear the most.” Shine, or the lack of freedom. The lack of people telling me the whole, unfiltered truth.
    Knight feigned a look of offense. “I didn’t say I was afraid of it. . . .”
    â€œOh, pardon. I forgot that great professors aren’t afraid of anything.” I grinned, and the tense mood shattered.
    â€œThere will be a time for you to put more effort into stopping things like wraith and shine. But now is the time to learn. Be curious. Ask questions. But leave those matters to the people who are actually responsible for putting a stop to them.”
    Whose responsibility was it, if not the future king’s? Maybeshine was just a symptom of a larger problem, like he’d said, but he’d neglected to mention what that larger problem was, specifically. Wraith? Corruption? Greed? “I think—”
    He shook his head. “You won’t get me off topic again. We have too much work to do.”
    In spite of the unanswered questions swirling through my thoughts, we spent the next few hours going through the day’s lessons—systems of government in various Indigo Kingdom cities before they were incorporated into the kingdom—taking only a quick break for lunch. Then Professor Knight released me to prepare for the ball.
    â€œWill you be there?” I asked.
    â€œYou’re my favorite student. I’d never abandon you in a time of need.”
    The party would definitely be a time of need. “I’m going to ask Father about attending the Academy.”
    Professor Knight nodded. “Good. It would be good for you to get out more.”
    That was what I liked about him. While Father wanted to keep me caged in the palace, safe from the world, Professor Knight believed me when I said I was ready to expand. Even if it was just within Hawksbill.
    â€œThanks, Professor.” His encouragement was exactly what I needed today.

FOUR
    JUST AS I finished fastening the gold buttons on my suit, the suite door opened, guards’ voices sounded in the parlor, and then James strode into my bedroom.
    I glanced at James’s reflection in the mirror. We were of similar height and lanky build, and both wore the angled features of the Rayner family. Though we were cousins, I sometimes imagined we were brothers