_Rowena's POV_
Alaric's answer only deepened my confusion.
He stepped off the ice and rested his stick against the boards. I followed, still trying to reconcile the Alpha King with the masked man who had spent the last half hour fighting me for a puck.
"If we never played," I said, "how do you know I was difficult to beat?"
"Cassian told me."
My breath caught at my brother's name.
"You knew Cassian?"
"He was my secret training partner for nearly four years."
I stared at him.
Alaric's mouth curved. "The royal council considered hockey an unnecessary risk for the Crown Prince. Cassian considered that rule unnecessarily dull."
That sounded exactly like my eldest brother.
"He used to sneak you into the club?"
"Usually through the equipment entrance. He was the only man willing to c
