The Soulstoy Inheritance by Jane Washington

whole lot harder.”
    “How?”
    “I gave Hazen my word that I wouldn’t kiss you again, not while I was your Professor, not while you were under my protection.”
    I felt something, but wasn’t sure if it were anger or sorrow.
    “You kissed me again,” I stated, perhaps unnecessarily, “so you have broken your word. What’s done is done.” I tried to keep the accusation out of my voice, but from his expression, I failed.
    “I can still stop it from happening again.”
    I felt that spark again, and recognised it for the alarm that it was.
    “Could you?” I moved closer to him, knowing that I couldn’t be that appealing, with my half-tamed hair and weak knees, but being pushed by my own panic anyway. Panic that Harbringer would slip away from me, as everyone else had. “Even if I dazzle you again?”
    He stared down at me and then suddenly groaned. “I’ll be done for, Bea. Just don’t.”
    And then he spun on his heel and disappeared into the dressing room.
     
     

Chapter Six
     
    You Can Run, But You Can’t Die
     
    “Wake up, little synfee!”
    The familiar voice had my eyes blinking open and my heart jerking in my chest before my mind had even fully comprehended to whom it belonged. When Cale’s face swam into focus, I flung back the covers and launched myself at him, hugging him tightly.
    “Whoa… If I’d known I’d get this kind of reception, I’d have come earlier.” He laughed, spinning me around and then setting me on my feet again.
    “I’m so happy to see you,” I said. “You have no idea.”
    He grinned, and I moved back into my dressing room, grabbing the coat that I had hung up the night before and slipping it around my shoulders before knocking on the door separating my room from Harbringer’s. He appeared after only a moment, his hair tousled and a sheet clutched around his hips. I gaped at him, until he arched an eyebrow, and I remembered what I was there for.
    “Cale’s here,” I snapped, spinning on my heel to retreat back into the other room.
    Cale was still smiling, and I couldn’t help it, I found myself smiling in return, though my dread from the day before was beginning to creep back in. His familiar brown hair, so matched by the calming warmth of his eyes, was tamed into an immaculate style. His usual simple way of dressing had been abandoned, replaced by a court-style overcoat and twine pants, embroidered with the red and gold colours of Hazen’s soldiers. Perhaps he had been given a position on the King’s Guard with his father.
    “How bad is it?” I asked him, moving out into the sitting room.
    “It isn’t great, Bea.” He followed me in just as there was a knock on the door and a pretty, younger girl appeared, carrying a tray.
    I was grateful when Cale took it from her, as I still wasn’t used to being waited upon. He set it onto the table before us and I grabbed a slice of thick bread, lightly toasted with a sprinkling of honey, and began to pick at it while I waited for Cale to close the door and elaborate. Harbringer came through the bedchamber then, blessedly dressed. He swiped a slice of toast, and lowered himself into a chair, giving Cale a casual nod.
    “Sekron, how are you holding up?”
    Cale’s face seemed to fall slightly at the question, and then he gathered himself, sitting with me on the chaise and dropping an arm over my shoulders.
    “Better. Hazen’s been keeping me busy, and he hardly has time to sleep, let alone worry. Rose is getting the worst of it, because she has nothing to do, and she really misses you, Bea,” he said, turning to me as he gave my shoulder a squeeze.
    I felt tears beginning to prickle, and I blinked quickly, dispelling them.
    “What have they done with my father?”
    “Hazen held off on the ceremony until he could get the advisor council to allow you to attend. That’s why I’m here, to discuss the terms of your presence in the kingdom until your trial.”
    “What about Harbringer?”
    “That ties into