We were lucky enough to snag one of the last two rooms in the inn the prince was staying at.

It took me a little under an hour to travel around Pendine to find pieces for my outfit. A gold corset, and jewels that I could stick on with body butter up my legs, down my arms, and on the side of my face. Admittedly, I went all out on this outfit, making it extra scandalous, something Heidi or Celestine would have worn.

When Elody and Will knocked on the door to come back in, I was already dressed.

At the sight of me, Will’s jaw slacked, and his face turned four shades of red. “You're going to wear that?”

I nodded.

“But you can almost see your—”

Elody cut him off. “She has to dress the part, Will.” She looked at me and gave me an encouraging smile. “Alright, you've got this.”

I nodded. “I'll be out as soon as I can.”

Elody nodded.

I peeked around the corner and spotted two other women decked out in scantily-clad outfits heading toward the prince’s open bedroom door. I hurried down the hall to catch up with them so I could walk in at the same time with them. When I walked in, I was immediately overwhelmed at the state of the bedroom. About eleven other women pranced around the room— some of them so brazen to not even wear tops. And the Prince sat soaking it all in from his bed. I didn't want to get too swept up in the lewd activities, so I stayed closer to the door. About five other girls walked in before Prince Asa stood up. He crossed the room, glancing at the gaggle of girls, stopping at the door. I strained my ears so I could hear what he was muttering.

“... Fifteen… Sixteen… Seventeen…”

I kept my jaw from dropping. He was counting the women in the room— and what's more, he was fine having almost twenty women!

Prince Asa closed the door, obviously satisfied with the number. As the door clicked shut, every girl turned to face him.

Reluctantly, I was one of the girls who watched him intently, waiting to see what he would do. This was the first time I was seeing him in person and up close. Admittedly I could see what all the hype was about. His skin held a sun kissed glow, and his brown eyes danced with the lights of the room. His dark hair fell like silk and curled near his ears. His nose and jaw angled in a way that could cut silver. He deserved the title as the most attractive prince— just a shame he belonged to a family of snakes.

Without speaking, the Prince parted the throng of women as he sauntered back to his bed. Every eye and every bosom followed him. He laid out on the bed, and all the women instantly swarmed. A few of them were lucky enough to get a spot on the bed; the others stood off to the side, trying to get Prince Asa to look their way.

I stayed near the door, picking through the platters of fruits and cheeses set up on the table. It was sickening watching those women flock him. Yes, I was a prostitute and yes, I did some indecent things. But in Farris and Chasey’s brothel, it was only pairs for the night, no more than three at the most.

If I really wanted to, I could probably give some of these women a run for their money on the Prince. But this was all part of my plan. If it was one thing that bothered an egotistical, horny man the most, it was purposeful disregard.

I stood by myself for only about forty minutes— although in that short time period I’d already resorted to organizing grapes by size before his patience finally ran out.

“You there.”

I didn’t have to look to know he was talking to me, but I turned my face slightly to face him. “Me?”

“Yes. Why do you stand all the way over there when I am over here?”

I shrugged, looking back down at the plate of grapes. “Just not really interested in being over there.”

Just as I figured he would, Prince Asa sat up. He sat up so quickly, one of the girls hanging on his side nearly fell off the bed. “Not interested?”

I shrugged again, still not looking at him. I heard him part his swarm of women and stand up off the bed. My breath tried to catch in my throat as he came up behind me and the smell of his body filled my nose, but I pushed it down.

“Would you look at me please?” he asked.

I did as he asked, looking directly up into his russet eyes.

“I don’t interest you?”

I shrugged, not breaking eye contact. “Not really.”

His eyes narrowed slightly. “Who are your owners?”

“Farris and Chasey Babbitt.”

“I've never heard of them.”

“They're not local.”

Prince Asa searched my eyes for something. Not breaking eye contact, he snapped his fingers. “Leave us,” he instructed the other girls.

The girls grumbled angrily as they quickly cleared out, almost all of them shooting me a death glare.

As the last girl exited and the door closed, Prince Asa took my chin between his fingers and lifted it, almost as if for me to look deeper into his soul. His eyes didn’t waver. He held my gaze even as he leaned his face close, pressing his soft lips against the underside of my jaw and then moving achingly slow down my neck, ending his trail of kisses at my collar bone. He pulled back, examining my eyes again. “You’re not interested?”

I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat. “Nope.”

“Then why are you here?”

“To make you an offer.”

Now the prince stepped back, a cunning smile on his face and his arms crossed against his chest. He looked even more princely in this pose. “An offer? Well this is a new one. From your lack of interest, I'm assuming your offer isn't a marriage proposal.”

I shook my head.

“Money?”

Once again, I shook my head.

“Land for your dying mother?”

I couldn’t contain my snicker. “People actually ask for that?”

“More often than you’d think,” Prince Asa replied. HIs facial expression had relaxed a little. “So, you don’t want me, money, or land. What is it that you want?”

I crossed the room and sat down on his bed. “There are these wonderful marvels of the earth known as the Ilvistine Crystals, and apparently there’s only nine in existence. I’ve heard that the Vepors are searching for the ninth one, and they suspect it's on Ketron Island.”

Prince Asa’s eyebrow rose, and immediately he put his guard back up. “Go on.”

“I would like to make an offer with you, Prince Asa,” I said. “The Vepors haven’t made their move into Ketron because the island is owned by the Chary’s, and they wouldn’t be too happy about Vepors or Vepor men snooping around on their island. If you support my friends and I, we will go to Ketron and find that crystal for you, in return for information.”

“What kind of information?” But it was obvious he was interested.

I shook my head. “We are not ready to reveal that.”

The prince took his eyes off me as he paced back and forth mulling over my offer. “Let me get this straight, because this night is still quite strange to me. A woman pretending to be a prostitute comes in here, refuses to indulge me, then offers to go to an island and find a crystal that no man has found yet. And all in exchange for information.”

“That is correct,” I said.

“And what if I decline your offer?”

“Then we will make the same offer to one of the other royal families, and they will get the last crystal, not the Vepors.”

Prince Asa watched me as he carefully considered my words.

I crossed my arms. “Or do you even care? Prince Asa, the middle child who stays as far away from the royal palace as possible.”

Prince Asa frowned. “Yes, I care.”

“Then accept. What do you have to lose? We get onto the island, we find the crystal, the Vepors now have three crystals. Or we get on the island, we don't find it, the Vepors are exactly where they are now.”

The prince stared at me, mulling over what to say next.

The tension in the room was interrupted by a soft knock on the door.

“Who is it?” Prince Asa called.

“Uh, just bringing food for you Prince Asa. The inn figured you'd need more by now.”

I rolled my eyes. I recognized that petty excuse for a disguised voice, though I guess she didn't really need to disguise her voice. He didn't know who she was.

Prince Asa looked at me. “Are you hungry?”

“I could eat,” I replied.

Prince Asa went and opened the door.

Just as I'd expected, Elody clumsily entered the room trying to balance two silver dishes.

“What is it?” Prince Asa asked her.

“Uh…” She’d probably just swiped the plates from outside some other rooms. She set the platters down on the table and standing in front of them, she peeked underneath both lids. “Chicken and… Roast beef.”

Prince Asa looked to me for a decision.

“Chicken,” I replied, then I noticed Elody shake her head behind Prince Asa, so I quickly added, “is what I don't like. Roast beef definitely.”

Elody uncovered the platter to reveal a steaming roast beef— which could only mean she’d swiped it from another tenant. I tried to hide the disgust from my face. Just the sight of roast beef made me sick.

“Alright, thank you,” Prince Asa said, walking to the door. “You can go.”

Elody desperately looked at me.

I rolled my eyes again. Really, I was doing just fine without her but clearly, she was having a conniption about my safety. I stood up off the bed. “Prince Asa, this is one of my companions. She would also be going to Ketron.”

Elody flashed a nervous smile at him.

“You didn't have to come check on me,” I said to Elody. “I was perfectly fine.”

“Well you'd been in here a long time,” Elody said back to me. She looked at Prince Asa. “So, do you accept our offer?”

Prince Asa looked between the two of us, then, surprisingly, shook his head. “Let me sleep on it. This has been a weird night.”

“What?” Elody looked at me. “I thought you said you could convince him.”

I hurriedly pushed her out the room. “He said he needs to sleep on it so let's let him do that.” Without another word to the Prince, I closed the door behind us and continued to push Elody down the hall.

I'd gotten her about halfway down the hall when she freed herself from my grasp and turned to face me. “What are we doing, Milena? We need him to accept that offer. You said it yourself, the Vepors are our best bet because they're practically desperate.”

“Could you keep your voice down?” I hissed. I didn't think Prince Asa hearing we thought his family was desperate would help our case.

“I will not keep my voice down! You were supposed to convince him with your body and your face and whatever else prostitutes do. Clearly you didn't do enough of it, so you need to get back in there and give him the best night of his life.”

“Okay, you need to calm down,” I snapped. “First of all, I am a person not an object. I never had any intention of ‘servicing’ the Prince. It's all a mind game, Elody, trust me. We are fine, this is exactly according to my plan.” Which was only slightly a lie. I'd truly thought the Prince would have said yes tonight. “We’ll wait until morning for his answer. If he says no— which he won't— then we’ll come up with a new plan.”

Elody huffed frustratedly. “Fine.”

I hoped the prince said yes because frankly, there was no other plan.

#

I woke up before Elody, quietly dressed and left the room. I went directly to the small corner tavern inside the inn, carrying the assumption the prince would find himself down here for breakfast. While I waited, I ordered two of the sea salt biscuits. Supposedly they were the tavern special. The brick colored biscuits tasted like stale tree bark. I doubted they used actual sea salt, especially this far from the sea. Still, I was hungry and nervous so despite the taste, I nibbled on it.

If anyone was desperate it was me in my hope that Prince Asa said yes. If he didn't say yes, what did that leave us? We could try to get back to our everyday lives. Well I could anyway. Elody clearly had no intention of returning to the Vineyard so she'd become a nomad. Or worse, ask to stay with me. Luckily there wasn't much room for extra girls in the brothel. But it wasn't like I wanted to go back there, not empty handed at least. I'd been gone for days now, Chasey would bite my head off if I came back without a good excuse.

I saw him before he saw me. He looked different dressed in his actual princely clothes instead of half-naked across some sheets.

When he did notice me, he came straight for me and sat at the table across from me.

“Good morning,” I said politely.

Surprised by my courtesy, he said back, “Good morning.” He paused, then added, “You look nice in regular clothes.”

“You as well,” I said. “Have you made a decision?” I'd promised myself I wasn't going to rush him, but it just slipped out.

“Yes,” he replied. “But first I'm curious if there's any way I can get my money back from you. I paid for women and sex, instead I got two women, roast beef, and an unexpected offer.”

“Then I think you got what you paid for,” I said.

Thankfully, Prince Asa smiled. “The sarcasm doesn't stop with you does it? Anyway, I've decided to accept your offer, but I have some requirements.”

“And they are?”

“I will accompany you to Hastwel where you'll get on a boat and sail to Ketron. While you're in Ketron you won't speak to anyone for any reason. Just find the crystal and get out. Whether you find the crystal or not, you will return to Hastwel to personally tell me your news. If you've found it, you will then accompany me back to Kalbar where you'll present the crystal to the king and queen. Only then will I give you whatever information you're looking for.”

I nodded, not taking my eyes off him. “That's quite the requirement.”

Asa flashed a smoldering grin. “Call it a precaution.”

Something about his smile sent a quick shiver through my body. I ignored it and stuck out my hand. “Deal.”

He reached across the table and shook my hand.

#

“You accepted his terms without consulting us?”

I groaned. I’d completely sealed the deal, which was what Elody had been so worried about the night before, and now she was upset. “Yes, I did, Elody. What's the big deal?”

“What's the big deal?” Elody asked. “Did you think for a second that going back to Kalbar with him might be a trap? Heck, just going to Hastwel with him might be a trap. And I can't go to Hastwel. That's Artieran land, what if someone recognizes me?”

I rolled my eyes. “You’ll be there for a hot minute, no one is going to recognize you. And even if someone does, so what? Just do what you did before. Run away.”

Elody didn’t smile.

“Come on, Elody. More than likely we’d have to go through Artieran land anyway to get to Ketron,” I said. “And as far as going back to Kalbar with him, I’m sure it will be fine.” I looked at Will for backup. “You’re on board, right Will? It's not a big deal.”

Elody looked at Will, waiting for his answer.

Will nervously looked between us. “I mean… I guess there’s really no way around it is there? Either way we’d have to go through Artieran land, and we’d probably have to go back to a cardinal city. Might as well be with the person who we’ve already made a deal with.”

“Exactly!” I exclaimed. “So Elody, are you in?”

Elody looked between Will and me, her face expressing more reluctance than eagerness. “Fine,” she said finally. “But let the record show, I was the skeptical one.”

“The record is all yours,” I said, the smile on my face so wide it almost hurt. “Well, we've got ourselves a real adventure now.”