Chapter 12
‘Cold?’
Yes, she was bloody freezing, actually.
‘No,’ Arla uttered, glad of Vetta’s warmth as the mare carried her over the frozen ground. Winter was well on its way, and if it was freezing here in Kastonia, it would be unbearable on the northern border.
‘Liar.’ Hark smirked from astride Eros, immediately better suited to the black stallion than she had been. Her short legs were no match for such a beast.
They had met each other on the way down to the stables, both hauling their saddle bags packed to the brim with warmer clothes and an excess of bread and cheese.
It would be fine. She had worked in the cold before, and for a job as simple as intercepting stolen supplies, she would be back in the warmth in no time.
Five days. That’s all she would allow herself.
Five days to make it to the border, kill a thief, and return to Hadalyn. Easy as blinking.
Perhaps it was the quiet beauty of the morning after the storm, or maybe she was relieved to be finally on the road again. Either way, she hadn’t mustered up the usual level of irritation at seeing Hark Stappen ride beside her this morning and was the first to speak between them.
‘It’s nice to be outside again, don’t you think?’
Hark scoffed, a rough sound that made her turn in the saddle to face him. ‘I’d have thought you’d want to stay in Larkire. You certainly looked content enough.’
Ah. So he’d seen her with the prince, then.
‘I had to do something to keep me entertained, Stappen. It was that or start killing people.’
She hadn’t meant it literally – she didn’t think so, at least – but the comment only seemed to feed Hark’s irritation.
‘I guess I can’t say I’m surprised. You have a knack for cultivating royal favour. Cyrus’s whore – isn’t that what the courtiers call you? How else could you manage to charm your way into his good graces? It surely can’t be for your skill.’
Gods. He had woken up … cruel.
‘At least I’ve made something of myself. “King’s Assassin” has a better ring to it than “Kastonian Ambassador”, don’t you think?’
‘Aren’t you just so lovely this morning.’
She hated him.
‘You’re pathetic, and had I not been on specific orders from my king, you’d have been dead before we crossed Hadalyn’s border,’ she spat back.
‘And you think that would work? You have seen the might of Kastonia before – and it didn’t end very well for you or your parents, did it?’
She swallowed the bile that rose in her throat.
He’d gone too far. Her skin was suddenly hot, and a roaring was beginning in her ears so loudly that she couldn’t think straight.
Her heart pounded against her chest, and she didn’t know if he was still speaking or not; couldn’t focus on anything but the burn in her throat and the bitter taste in her mouth.
Was he trying to get himself killed?
Because she could happily do it right now.