"Ethii." My voice is a whine, the skin he punctures stinging. "You're hurting me."

He ignores me, fingers digging deeper. "What were you talking about?" he demands. "In the dining hall?"

"Nothing." My voice shakes as I try to push him off me, squirming against the wall.

"Don't you lie to me, Alera," he hisses, "or I will go back in there and throw you on the fire and then your face will be just as ruined as your horrid arm."

My stomach twists, eyes growing glassy. But the warning glint in his eyes is enough to stop my squirming and convince me to open my mouth. "I saw you last night. I saw you with Krysta."

He freezes, glaring at me with malicious, blue eyes.

"There, I said it! Let me go." I try to push him off me but instead, he wraps a hand around my other wrist and pins them both above my head, nails digging into my skin.

"You ever try anything like that again and I will make sure you never get a suitor," he snarls in my ear, his grip tightening. "You hear me, Alera? Nobody will ever want you. You will die alone. I'll take your sister from you, and you and your poor father will be left selling stones for the rest of eternity."

My breath catches in my throat. Ethii Toledano is standing here threatening me, and I believe every word that he says. I am just a girl and he is one of the guards - if he tarnished my name, my family would be ruined. "O-okay."

"Don't test me, Alera." He presses closer. "You keep your mouth shut, or else."

"Mr Toldedano," a voice calls from behind him – I know who it is almost immediately from the way my heart rate picks up. Ethii drops my wrists almost immediately, taking a step back. He stares at me as he composes himself, and then he turns around. I stay pressed against the wall, wishing I could somehow disappear.

Will Marule stands a few feet away, shadowed by the wall behind him. He's wearing his trademark dark clothing, and his hair is pushed back from his face – slightly wet. He looks as if he's been swimming. He looks as if he's walked out of a pool of youth.

But the look in his eyes is a look no youthful person should ever have, the look Ethii gives me – the look of death.

"I am new to the Adaymos way of living," he says, his eyes zeroed in on Ethii – it's like I don't even exist. I could slip away and neither of them would notice, but I can barely move. I am frozen to the spot in fear – my wrists stinging. "But where I come from, we do not threaten people – especially not innocent ones."

Ethii's mouth opens and closes, his feet stumbling backwards. William Marule is from the Palace – he is above us all both in status and power. If Ethii could ruin my life, Mr Marule could destroy it.

"I –" Ethii cuts of, his face reddening as he pauses to take a deep breath. "I wasn't threatening Alera, sir. We were having a conversation."

"That's interesting." He tilts his head to the side and raises an eyebrow. "When I have conversations with others I don't tend to restrain them against a wall and threaten to ruin their lives. In fact, where I come from, we have a different name for that – and Mr Toledano, the punishment for a thing like that..." he trails off, eyeing Ethii up. "I'm not so sure a man like you would withstand it."

Ethii doesn't say anything in response. I can't see his face, but I can imagine the look on it – pure terror. Mr Marule's words aren't even aimed towards me, but I'm almost shaking in my boots.

"Mr Marule..." he gulps. "Please, forgive me."

Mr Marule quirks an eyebrow. "It is not me you should be asking forgiveness from."

But unsurprisingly, apologising to me is far below him. Because without another word, Ethii darts from the scene and disappears around the corner. I stare at Mr Marule, still pressed against the wall, my hands clutching at the wood in fear as my wrists sting from the aftermath of Ethii's grip.

"Miss Thelene." Mr Marule takes a few strides towards me and reaches a hand forward, pausing when I flinch backwards. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to have a look at your wrists."

When our eyes meet, I can't help but believe him.

Mr Marule takes my wrist gently in his own, the warmth of his skin can be felt even through the fabric of my sleeves. My wrists have bloody dents in them from Ethii's fingernails, but they are no worse than a graze I would get from falling over in the market.

"You told Mr Toledano you saw him with your friend?" he asks, turning my wrists over in his hands. His dark skin contrasts my own, so dark and untouched by work where mine are pale and scratched.

"Imelda's my sister," I say.

When his eyes reach mine, they flicker unnaturally. "You're a good sister. She's very lucky."

Am I? I haven't actually told Imelda, I haven't actually helped her at all.

Blood rushes to my cheeks as I dart my gaze down as I draw my hands back, holding them against my chest. "Thank you for your help, Mr Marule."

His mouth stretches into a charming grin. "Will."

"Excuse me?"

"It's Will," he repeats, eyes glimmering with something that makes my heart skip a beat. "I won't respond to anything else."

My cheeks flare, stomach twisting. "I'm so sorry, Mr - Will. I'm so forgetful. I didn't mean to disrespect your wishes -"

"It's quite alright, Alera," He cuts me off, his smile growing. I bite my lip when he looks at me. "Is it alright if I call you that?"

I should say no. It isn't proper and if people around us heard, they would ask questions. But when Will says my name, my head feels light. There is something very intimate about being on a first name basis with somebody you've first met, and something about it entices me.

"I..." I swallow, holding my hands behind my back. "Yes. It's alright."

His grin widens. "Well then, Alera, will you let me tend to your wounds?"

My cheeks warm when I imagine saying yes. Would he take me back to his guest house? would his skin brush mine?

I shake my head, imagining the rumours that would float around if I were to be caught in the guest house with Will. "I am quite capable of tending to them myself."

"I see," He muses. "And I suppose you won't agree to walk with me, either?"

Will stands in front of me with an unwavering smile and dark eyes that seem to glow even in the daylight. He is charming and handsome, but there's a cloud of warning that lurks around him, reminding me that I don't know him. The only thing I know about this man is that he is from the Palace and is here to investigate Alyx's death.

"I'll l walk with you if you agree to tell me why you were outside the gates last night." I step forward, eyes narrowed slightly.

Will laughs, the sides of his eyes crinkling and his face lighting up. "You must be a little confused. I haven't left the village since we spoke outside the walls yesterday."

I frown. I know that I saw him, just like I know that I saw Ethii and Krysta. Why is he lying? I purse my lips together and push off the wall and turn to walk away. Will follows me.

"Mr Toledano won't bother you again," he says, walking with his hands loosely at his sides. We pass through the empty market space.

"Mr Toledano has bothered me my entire life," I say. "I doubt that you will stop him."

Will puts a hand on my upper arm to stop me from walking. I shiver, wondering what it'd feel like if my sleeves weren't covering my arms. Will's eyes are dark and intense, his face all angles.

"He has given you troubles before?" he asks, eyes narrowed with interest. "Why?"

My words falter in my throat. Being in such close proximity to him snatches all the breath from my lungs. I want to blurt everything to this man from the Palace. I want to tell him about the jagged and ruined skin on my arm, I want to tell him how I am an outsider, and I want to know him. I want to know where he grew up and what his favourite colour is and what his hobbies are.

But he is a man from the Palace – a man who has only ever known perfection and beauty. A man who should have no interest in me.

I bite my lip. "Because he doesn't like me."

"Why not?" he wonders, tilting his head slightly.

"I – I don't know." His questions make me feel like I'm being interrogated.

"What about everybody else? Do they like you, or are they cruel like Mr Toledano?"

I swallow the nerves in my stomach, taking a hesitant step back. "Why are you asking me so many questions?" His intense gaze softens when he loosens his grip on my arm.

That's when it hits me - Alyx. Panic flares in my stomach.

It makes sense now – why Will has paid interest in me, why he talks to me, why he's asking so many questions. The realisation crushes over me in a heavy wave.

He's caught me outside the gates, he saw me sneaking around after dark, and now he's asking if I have any other enemies in Adaymos. And though I barely know him, betrayal flickers in my chest.

I pull my arm from his grip and cradle it against my body. "Do you think I had something to do with Alyx's death?"

"No." Will takes a step back, eyebrows knitting together. "No, Alera. That's not at all..." he shakes his head, his dark hair brushing against the sharp line of his jaw. "You intrigue me, that's all."

But how could someone like me intrigue a man from the Palace?

I turn away from him warily, wishing I could believe what he's said. "I should get going."

"Alera," Will calls after me. I look at him over my shoulder. His dark eyes holding me captive. "Alyx... how did they find him?"

"You should already know that..." I breathe.

Will is here to investigate Alyx's death, but he does not even know how Alyx was found. My stomach churns with uneasiness. Something isn't right about Mr Marule, he's hiding something.

"You are here to investigate his death... right?" I wrap my arms tighter around myself.

Will just stares at me. His dark eyes flickering unnaturally when the sunlight catches them. But before he can say anything in response, a cluster of giggling distracts me. I turn to look over my shoulder. A group of younger girls, all about 15 years of age are standing around one of the posters being stapled on the wall around the village giggling. I squint my eyes to scan what they are looking at.

"Prince Verlac is getting married," Will says from behind me, reading the poster easily. I turn to look at him sideways.

Prince Verlac lives in the Palace, and ever since he was born he's been betrothed to a beautiful girl from a village close to the Palace. It seems as though they've finally set a date.

"You can read that?" I query.

Will doesn't look at me, he's still staring at the poster distractedly. "I have good eyesight," he says half-heartedly. "Please excuse me. I have to go."

I squint at the poster, trying to read it from where we stand. but all I see are scribbled illegible black lines. It's impossible. "Will, you never answered my question –"

My voice dies in my throat because when I turn around, Will Marule is nowhere to be seen.