Chapter 41 #2
‘But a complicated mess you want to make work?’ she questions.
I think about my answer. It’s not a case of wanting to hide things from her. It’s more not wanting to admit them to myself.
‘He said he loved me.’
‘And you said it back.’ There’s no doubt in her tone.
‘Yes. But is it enough?’ I ask her.
Her chest rises as she draws in a long breath. ‘I don’t know. I guess you’ll have to wait and see.’
We walk the next few minutes in silence, both lost in our own thoughts.
Is love really enough to fix everything that’s wrong between Kyor and me?
There was a time when I thought that having my magic back, having my riches returned and my sister in the safety of the court, would be enough to solve all our issues, and yet here I am, even more fearful of the future than I ever was in the slums.
‘I keep meaning to ask you,’ I say as we turn onto a street filled with hawkers roasting nuts and meats, ‘what are your plans now? Are you going to stay here in Galreck, with Benny?’
Caz stops unexpectedly and turns to face me. ‘You don’t want me to carry on with you?’
‘Of course I do,’ I say instantly. ‘I just didn’t know what you wanted to do.
You and Benny are friends, and you’ve known him a lot longer than you’ve known me.
I just didn’t know if …’ I trail off. I just didn’t know if our friendship was strong enough that she’d want to do this trip without her Eastern Isles counterpart.
Those are the words I don’t say aloud, but from the way she looks at me, she doesn’t need me to.
‘You know, when I started this trip, I felt like I was doing it for Llin,’ she admits as she starts walking again, although her pace is so slow it’s barely a shuffle. ‘I felt like being with you and Benny, and being on an adventure, would make me feel closer to her.’
‘And has it?’ I say softly.
‘Yes …’ she says hesitantly. ‘But it’s also made me feel closer to myself.’
‘Yourself?’ I don’t doubt that my face displays my confusion as she lets out a little chuckle.
‘I always felt like I was seen as just the bookish one. You know, I’m the one you turn to when you need research.
When you need a fact or a date. Llin saw me as more, but she always wanted to keep me safe.
Protect me, you know? Because she was worried about how people might use my powers.
But here … here I’ve been the one who can keep the horses calm when we’re being attacked by a freaking Myrkr.
I’ve been the one who survived a Sannthrall.
I’m the one who’s building bonds with the Sannings.
The Sannings. Because they’re real and I get to see that.
’ Her eyes light up with a brightness I’ve never seen in her before, and strange as it is, it reminds me of Kay in court. Like she’s found her place.
‘So I take it that’s a yes? You’re coming with me?’ I reply.
‘Just you try to stop me!’ She grins and squeezes my hands slightly.
Selfishly, I don’t. Because I need her there with me too, to roll her eyes at the men, to sit next to in the evenings, to pore over books together. This journey has made us so much closer already.
With my heart feeling lighter, we pick up our pace, looking in at the various taverns we pass. It’s no wonder that the stable hand didn’t suggest this street as somewhere for Kyor and me to stay; it’s already rammed.
‘Did you find out what this festival is for?’ I ask Caz as we weave our way through yet more people.
‘Yeah, it’s for the first hops of the season,’ she tells me.
‘Hops? As in—’
‘As in it’s a huge beer festival.’ She laughs. ‘Yup. Now, where exactly did you say you were meeting Kyor?’
‘Just somewhere we can get some hot food to take away for Ruben,’ I tell her as we pass yet another tavern.
‘Great. That narrows it down,’ she sasses.
I’m tempted to agree we should have made better plans – got some potential names from the landlady where we stayed, for instance – but it’s too late for that now.
As I peer through the next open door, I spot a familiar face.
His eyes are locked on the man in front of him, and it’s clear the future duke hasn’t noticed me.
‘Perfect.’ Caz lets out a sigh of relief. ‘Benny’s got a table. It means we can actually sit down and get a proper meal. All I got last night was a couple of dry, stale rolls.’
That Caz has barely eaten because she was trying to help me would normally fill me with a sense of guilt, but right now I’m too distracted, my focus solely on Benny and his companion.
I can only see one side of the man’s face, yet it’s notably lacking a feature: an eyebrow.
My gut coils as I recall what Ryne said the night before about the man with the star-shaped scar and one eyebrow. Surely Benny wouldn’t be stupid enough to meet the rebel out here in the freaking open, when Kyor is in the same bloody city? When he may very well be on the same bloody street?
‘Benny?’ My voice is low, almost a whisper, and yet he hears. His neck twists around so that he is facing me.
‘Rose? Rose!’ He’s on his feet, panic on his face, scanning the area behind me. ‘What are you doing here? Where’s Kyor?’
‘What am I doing here? What the fuck are you doing here? Like this. With him!’ I hiss, my heart hammering so hard I feel like I’m going to be sick. ‘Kyor is coming here.’
‘Here?’ Benny pales. ‘This tavern?’
‘No … maybe? I don’t know.’ I shake my head, wishing my thoughts would slow down. ‘But he knows Arle’s here. He knows he’s in the city. There are guards looking for him.’
The man is looking straight at me now, his star-shaped scar puckered across his cheek. There’s no denying who he is. Yet if he is nervous about the news that the guards are after him, he doesn’t show it.
‘I see my reputation precedes me. As does yours, gifted.’ He stretches out his hand as if he expects me to shake it. ‘Thank you for your concern. It’s good to know the prince is in the vicinity. I hear you two are close.’
His hand remains there, hovering between us, and I want nothing more than to slap it away.
This man is the reason Zelle is dead. The reason that tens of people are dead.
Yet before I get a chance to say as much, a crash of thunder shakes the entire building and I know – from the static in the air and the way my heart clenches like it’s been squeezed by an iron fist – exactly who is standing behind us.