“Nicholas? What are you doing here?”
Crossing his arms, he tilted his head to the side. “Mark told me you asked him to teach you self-defense, but his duties are too essential to allow for the time to teach you. But, I do think it’s valuable for you to learn. So I’ve decided to step in instead.”
I wasn’t entirely sure he was being honest here. Yes, Mark did have important duties, but surely so did the prince? For Nicholas to be here instead of Mark made me wonder if there was more to this than he was saying.
“I’m still mad at you,” I said. My hurt from the day before didn’t magically disappear.
“I’ll make it up to you.” He came closer. His eyes were earnest, even if his face was impassive. “I’m proud of you, Piper. For how strong you are, and how far you’ve come all on your own. But I
