Chapter Nineteen
Sky and Saber watchedWhist and I with worry darkening their eyes.
I smiled and patted Saber on the arm. “We’ll be fine. I’ll make sure Whist doesn’t get into any trouble.”
A growl rumbled from Whist while Sky laughed and Saber pulled me into a gentle hug. “You have until nightfall and we’re coming after you.”
“Better make it morning.” Whist adjusted the pack on his back.
“Morning, eh?” Sky smirked and wagged his eyebrows.
Whist rolled his eyes. “She wants to perform. It’ll take us three hours there, three hours back, at least a couple hours spent in town. I doubt we can make it back before tonight. Don’t worry until morning.”
Sky sobers. “Fine. But try to make it back anyway. We won’t get any sleep with the two of you out there with no backup.”
I shouldered my pack and shot Sky a cheeky smile. “I’m sure the two of you can figure out a way to pass the time.”
Sky laughed and swatted me on the ass. “Brat.”
Whist held the door open for me. “Come on. We should have left an hour ago.”
Like it was my fault, the plonker. “You were the one who insisted on a big breakfast. And you still haven’t guessed it, by the way.”
“I will.” Whist’s tone was harsh with grim determination.
I wrinkled my nose at him. “Whatever you say.”
Whist shook his head and took the lead through the woods. He set a brisk pace, but not too quick for me to keep up. A companionable silence fell over us, comfortable instead of awkward. Whist had a restful way about him, not very talkative, which set me at ease. There was a lot on my mind I needed to sort through.
After about an hour, Whist called a halt. “Let’s take a break for a minute.”
“Tired already?” I was relieved. My body still pulsed with soreness from training with Sky and my night with Saber.
He drank deeply from his metal bottle of water. “Sky was right. You are a brat.”
“Yep.” I studied our surroundings, trying to determine where we were. With him in the lead I hadn’t paid attention to our location, just followed, lost in thought. I didn’t recognize it, but it looked like most of the forests. Lots of trees with changing colors. Lots of scraggly bushes. Lots of dead leaves.
Whist snorted and handed me the bottle. “Afraid it’s not brandy.”
“I’ll make do.” Brandy sounded delicious though.
He subsided back into silence, a mask over his face. Something in me desperately wanted to smash his mask and read everything beneath it. He had let me in for a moment in the garden that first day, but I’d glimpsed only flashes since. The others, I felt like I understood and even knew to the extent I could after only knowing them a couple days. But Whistler was an enigma. Even Saber’s mysterious air I found a way through.
“Why are you so passionate about cooking?”
Surprise peeked through his facade for a moment before he wiped it clean. “My mother. Sky told you she works as the chef in the palace kitchens. She taught me when I was young and we learned I have a gift for it.” He shrugged. “Comes in handy with my job. Easy to slip poisons inside food. I know how to hide the taste.”
“That’s not terrifying at all.” I shuddered and handed the bottle back to him.
He gifted me with a rare grin that sent my heart into palpitations. I’d never seen anything so beautiful as his smile. It completely transformed his face, softening the harsh angles, lightening the dark violence in his eyes.
His smile melded into a frown. “What?”
“What?” I cleared my throat and turned my attention to my feet instead of him.
“Why were you looking at me like that?”
“Like what?” I played dumb, not at all interested in explaining. He’d probably never smile again if I told him.
“Like... nevermind.” He huffed. “We need to get moving.”
I smothered a grin and followed him back towards the trail.
We reached the edge of Harpot right before midday. Whist dug around in his pack and pulled out a fancy embroidered dress and handed it to me.
I frowned at it with distaste. “What is this for?”
He shook it at me. “I told you we needed to be in disguise. Apparently, you never wear dresses.”
Apparently my file wasn’t quite as thin as I’d hoped. “Because they’re uncomfortable and make it difficult to run when people are chasing you.”
“No one will be chasing you today. You need to do something different with your hair as well.”
I tug on the end of my usual braid. “Any suggestions? I’m not great at fixing hair.”
“I’ll take care of it when I get back.”
“Where are you going?” I took the dress from him with a wrinkled nose.
“I’m going to do a quick recon of the village and see what’s going on.”
“You’re not in disguise. If there are guards, won’t they recognize you?” I was oddly reluctant to part from him.
He pulled out a black hooded cape. “I’m an assassin. I know how to be invisible. I’ll change into something else when I return.” He didn’t give me a chance to argue further, instead he proved his words by fading away into the trees.
With a sigh, I stripped off my cloak and shirt and yanked the dress over my head. It was a forest green, the same shade as my eyes and my usual cloak, with fancy gold stitching. It was pretty, but already my ribs felt crushed and it was harder to breathe.
Music was my life, I hated anything constricting my breathing. My breasts were all but falling from the bodice no matter how much I tried to stuff them inside. Whoever the dress belonged to was a wee bit smaller than me.
I left my trousers and my boots on. The dress hid any sign, and it kept my legs warm. Women’s clothing made no sense to me. My cold fingers unraveled my braid, combing out the tangles in my dark wavy hair.
A snapping twig at my back spun me around to find Whist standing there. “How do you do that?”
“Training.” His eyes widened as he took me in. “You definitely don’t look like yourself.”
“Not even a little.” I scowled at my heaving bosom. Ridiculous. Why would anyone voluntarily wear something so awful?
“We were informed about your green cloak, so you can borrow my black one.” He tossed it to me and stripped from his clothes.
“What about you?” I gathered my loose belongings and returned them to my pack, keeping my attention down, telling myself not to watch.
I took a quick peek, then breathed easier when I found him dressed. Whist had transformed from an assassin into a farmer. He had on tan trousers clinging to his muscular legs and a dark brown sweater. There was the man who belonged in a garden digging in the dirt.
“I’ll be fine. You have goosebumps.” He gestured at my chest.
I hefted my bad over my shoulder. “Do I want to know where you got this dress?”
“Probably not.”
I snorted. ‘Whoever she was, she had terrible taste.”
“Agreed.”
My brows shot high with surprise. “You don’t like it?”
“You look gorgeous as always, but I prefer you in your usual clothes.” He shrugged, like it wasn’t a big deal. Like he hadn’t just poured warmth right through me. “What?”
He had no idea, the gift he’d given me. “Nothing.”
“All right. Let’s move. Remember. What I say, you do.” He certainly knew how to ruin a moment.