Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
W e reach Teorann a few days later, slightly behind schedule. Teorann is sprawling, yet somehow doesn’t have much to offer except for the pier with a massive inn and tavern on either side of the Teorann waters.
The pier has a barge that ferries people across during the day, which is the only way to cross between Nemoris and Erdu. The neighboring countries named their towns Teorann on both sides of the river, working cooperatively to ferry people across.
Unfortunately, we missed the last barge across for the evening, so we will have to wait until the morning. Wanting to be on the first one across, Beans suggests it would be best if we camp on the edge of the forest. We wouldn’t be the only ones. Many people crossing between the two countries choose to camp instead of staying at the inn, which is often full.
Another good thing about the Nemoris side of Teorann is their enormous supply store, which is run out of the tavern. It’ll take a few hours for our order to be ready, so we sit in the back and share a quick meal.
Beans, Riley, and Tovi are still in the tavern when Bitty and I leave to set up the camp for everyone. We finish our cups of tea as Riley and Beans arrive.
“Anyone want to come back to the tavern for a game of cards? A group of Erduborn claim they’re the best at Talamu,” Beans says mischievously, his freckles making him look particularly roguish in this light. He winks at me but is clearly directing the invitation to Bitty.
“Let’s go kick some Erduborn ass,” Bitty responds, rubbing their hands together.
Riley is already reclining on his bedroll. Not wanting to be alone with him, I follow the other two. We pass Tovi, who nods at us as she continues toward camp.
In the tavern, a group of four waves at Beans to join them in the back. They offer to find me a partner, but I politely decline, only wanting to watch. The place is dark, despite the dirty-looking lanterns dangling precariously above the tables. All four are Erduborn, three men and a woman. The tavern itself is mostly Erduborn, with a handful of Nemorisborn. A table of Patrons, a mixed group like us, are the loudest here.
Beans and Bitty weren’t being cocky—they do in fact annihilate the other four at Talamu, several times each. I had trouble even following along. Bitty leans over to me and whispers that they’re going to let the others win a couple, so they don’t start a fight. I can’t help but laugh.
The sun has set, and our supplies surely can’t be that far off, so I say goodnight to everyone at the table and enquire about our supplies at the front bar. The man behind the counter says they’ll be a few more minutes, but he will bring them to me if I wait here. I thank him and then have to stifle a yawn—I’ll be going straight to sleep tonight .
“You’re that little Silent Assassin, ain’t ya?” I hear a drawling drunk say from my left.
I don’t even bother looking at them. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I say, reining in my surprise at being recognized by a group of non-Patrons, in the middle of nowhere.
“Sure, ya do. I seen ya with the big reds, they’re taking you to King Oferdu, right?”
“What the fuck are you on about?” I spare a look over my shoulder at his table of five, all invested in our little chat. They’re Erduborn brutes with lanky brown hair and beards, with cheap-looking metal jewelry all over them. The man harassing me snorts and spits onto the floor before an ugly smirk shows his teeth. Teeth that are stained a greenish-brown color from chewing what I assume is drogalyf. Chewing the herb instead of smoking is said to result in a more sustained buzz.
“Ya. King Stol has wanted the cute assassin Null as a doxy for revs, but Osraed always said you weren’t for sale. He worked out some deal with the reds and boom, here ya go!” He looks around until his entire table laughs and bangs their table like he told the best joke they’ve ever heard.When he joins them, his laugh sounds like a duck quacking, and I have to resist the urge to laugh at him, choosing silence instead.
They must take my silence and the slight curl of my lip as an invitation to continue. “Didn’t you wonder why ya got the moteliest crew of losers as ya official escort?” another man says.
I narrow my eyes at him before calmly saying, “I still have no idea what the fuck you drunks are talking about.” Then I turn back to face the bar and continue waiting for our supplies.I drum my nails on the counter. Sometimes, I wish it was socially acceptable to beat the living snot out of people for no other reason than because I think they deserve it.
The original man tries again to continue the conversation like I haven’t made it clear I wasn’t interested. “Ya ya, you got the weird Laguzborn kid, the Erduborn bitch, and the Ofnemoris drunk prince! I mean, at least they gave ya the commander so they could actually close the deal with ya still alive, even if he is only a Junky.'' Everyone at the table laughs again. One man, with a piece of stew stuck in his beard, devolves into a coughing fit.
The Ofnemoris drunk prince .Riley. Riley is the fucking prince ?
I’m not entirely sure if the rest of what they’ve said has any truth to it, unless Beans and Riley are the only ones who know it’s a ruse. It could explain why Riley has been such a pain the whole time, not taking anything seriously.
Before I could finish my thought, the barkeep returns with the package I was waiting for.“Here you go, love. Big Red’s already settled the account. Do you need a hand with it?” He throws a wary glance toward the table of men, before looking back to me with an unspoken offer of support.
I politely decline the need for any help, thanking him, and pick up my heavy load to rest on my shoulder.I spare one last look at the stupid Erdu drunks, most of whom are grinning at me.
“You know, if I really was the Silent Assassin, it’s pretty bold of you to be making yourselves such obvious next targets,” I say sweetly. The men look slightly stricken, one swallowing visibly. Except the man with the duck laugh, who lets a smile of triumph spread across his face.
I’m boiling with barely checked rage. I should have realized Riley was the Prince Ofnemoris. It means that he’s also the kidnapped princess’ twin , although they did not grow up together because of her status as a Patron of the Divine. The seething snake of anger in my veins becomes even more dangerous.
I’ve almost made it back to camp, making the short trip in no time because my brain is entirely spinning with thoughts: has the princess even been kidnapped? Is this all a fucking lie?
Riley and Tovi are lounging by the fire, and a small spark inside me is grateful that I haven’t walked in on something awkward. I dump the package with a loud thud to grab Riley’s attention. I get a surprised look from Tovi, who looks around as if to wonder where I materialized from. Riley raises an eyebrow in my direction.
“You’re the fucking prince ,Riley?” My voice is loud but higher pitched than I wanted. “Are you selling me to the King Oferdu? Is your twin sister even in any danger?” I emphasize the words twin sister with as much venom as I can.
Tovi immediately stands up making a stuttered sound, gesturing toward the tavern, and makes a hasty exit. Leaving me alone with him . Riley also stands, though with significantly less urgency.
“Is this all a joke to you?” I step so close to Riley that he has to tilt his head down to make eye contact with me. He looks amused; the heat rising from my chest to my face like a flame about to engulf the entire match.
He hasn’t said a word. I shove him in the chest with both hands. The fucker barely moves—it’s like trying to shove a tree.
“You done?” he says with a slight chuckle.
“No, I’m not fucking done ,answer my questions!”
“You’re not making sense!”
My blood boils. He seems to be having a grand old time and is not taking me seriously one bit.
“Are you, or are you not, the Prince Ofnemoris?” I grate out.
“I am.”
I don’t care about the rest of my questions right now because I need to unleash the beast raging in my chest.I swing. He leans back and ducks forward, and to my utter embarrassment, picks me up and throws me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
“Put me down, you stupid red fuck!” I bark, too busy being indignant that I’m dangling over his back to produce a better insult.
He slaps my ass like I’m a naughty child and shushes me. He fucking shushed me .And spanked me.
I don’t want to use weapons, so I try to punch him in the kidneys a few times—again, not even a flinch! I know realistically, if I really wanted to, I could get down. I just don’t know how to do that without bloodshed, and I’m not entirely sure I want that. Yet.
“Where are we going?” I demand angrily before I am plopped unceremoniously onto the ground. I look around and realize he’s taken us deeper into the forest. We can still see the camp, but we can’t be seen by anyone else.
“Oh, is this where I get on my knees for you, Your Majesty ? Or is this where you show me how much of a tough guy you are? Don’t like being called out on your lies?”
“We haven’t lied to you. What the fuck happened tonight?”
“You’re telling me the queen sent her drunk son and a merry band of Gifted fucks to save her daughter from a king, who no one else has any idea is even missing?”
“Yes, Mika. That’s exactly what we told you— and the council, might I remind you—because that’s exactly what is happening,” Riley says, exasperated. After a slight pause, he tilts his head. “Gifted fucks?”
The way he looks at me when he says that weakens my resolve a tiny bit. He looks genuinely disappointed that I would think his friends—wait, no—his subjects ,are anything but fine people.
Well, they are fine people, but I’m trying to get a rise out of him.
I shove him again, but he is still an immovable wall of muscle. He’s far too close to me while I’m backed against a massive tree, and his breath is hot, even in the warm air. It doesn’t smell like alcohol, which surprises me since we’re near a tavern. “Why aren’t you drunk?”
I might have given him whiplash with the subject change. He grabs his face and rubs hard upward until his hands are gripping his hair in handfuls.
“Because I haven’t had anything to drink tonight.” My momentary shock is flattened when he follows with, “Are you drunk?”
He’s still far too close to me. The heat is radiating off his body.My anger is dissipating slowly. A small—and I mean, tiny —part of me, wants to lean into that heat and put my hands on his hard chest.
What is wrong with me? Focus, you creeping lunatic.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were the prince?” I sigh, no longer yelling.
He releases his hair and lets out a slow breath. “I didn’t want to come. I was ordered to by my mother.” He’s waving his hands to punctuate his words and not even looking at me.
“That doesn’t really…”
“Oh, Divine fuck, Mika! The only reason I agreed was if no one else knew who I was, besides the people who already knew me. I am essentially being dragged along like a child because I am of absolutely zero use in helping to save my sister. But my mother can’t have me anywhere near her and lose another child. She can barely look at me.” He steps back, looking at the sky, breathing hard.
I know the queen lost a son fifteen revolutions past—Riley’s older brother—in a tragic accident at the age of twenty. I don’t understand what this has to do with Riley, but I do believe him, or at least I want to.
“So, you’re not secretly selling me to King Oferdu as a doxy?” I add to the silence.
Riley gives me a wild look, mouthing the word “no” with incredulity and a dramatic throw of his hands in the air.
I want to trust him. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Okay.”
“…Okay.”
At some point after our ridiculous four-word agreement that everything was, in fact, okay , he’d stepped back to being almost on top of me.His typical Riley smirk is back.
“And what the fuck is that look exactly?” I hiss.
The smirk cracks into a full-blown smile, and I’ve temporarily forgotten how to breathe.Blinded by the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, it’s like seeing a red sunset glowing through the horizon for the first time. I’m dazed and confused.
He leans closer—I’m unsure how that’s possible considering not even an inch of space is left between us—with both hands against the tree behind me, his arms framing my head.He’s looking down at me with unguarded desire smoldering in his eyes.
“Is the offer to get on your knees still on the table?”
I can’t stop my jaw from dropping, heat rising in my face…and elsewhere.
“You know that is not what I meant by getting on my knees,you pig.Or should I say, Your Majesty? Prince Ofnemoris? Sir? Royal Dick?”
That last one has me blessed with a full-blown, head- tipped-back laugh. I don’t think I’ve heard Riley laugh before, at least, not like that .
“Royal Dick does have a nice ring to it.” His smile drops along with the arms framing me. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
I have no idea what my face is saying that he should be so concerned. “I haven’t heard you laugh before.”
“Oh. I laugh. Beans’ jokes are funny sometimes,” he says as he shrugs like it’s no big deal.
“Not like that. Well, maybe not around me then.”
I hate myself when the last part comes out strangled, so I clear my throat to hide it. He probably does laugh like that, but of course, not in the presence of the Silent Assassin.
Riley lifts his hand toward me, to— I don’t fucking know —but I flinch. Instinctively. I don’t know why his hand would go so near my face! He’s looking at me like this is the most insulting thing I’ve done so far. He steps back, moving entirely too far away, the space between us a black void that triggers an involuntary shiver through me.
“Do you think I would hit you, Mika?” The hurt I hear in his voice is… unpleasant . I would rather he hit me.
“Riley, it’s instinct. It’s not you specifically, it’s a lifetime of being taken advantage of. Being caught off guard is dangerous. Men in particular have found great joy in taking whatever they want from me.”
He closes the distance between us in a flash, still not as close as before, but leans down so I don’t have to crank my neck up to make eye contact. “Firecat,” he purrs. "I would never force you to do anything you didn’t want to do. If there’s any joy to be had, I want you to give it to me with enthusiasm.”
He runs the side of his fingers from the outside of my thigh slowly up my body. And I mean slowly —so slowly that it’s leaving a trail of fire and ice, stopping at my ribs. His thumb reaches around and gently caresses the space beside my breast that my leather corset doesn’t cover. He’s making gentle circles with his thumb as he leans in closer. His warm breath caresses the side of my neck.
I’m frozen solid, unable to breathe, unable to move, not even sure if I can blink.
“I’ll wait for you to want it, Firecat.”Then he drops his hand, turns on his heel, and swaggers back toward the camp.
I’m left with a puddle between my legs from one slow brush of his fingers to the side of my body, and a raspy whisper to my neck. What just happened? I…hate him?
“Just promise me you won’t fall in love,” he calls back over his shoulder.
I probably shouldn’t laugh as hard and loud as I do. “You sure have a royally high opinion of yourself if you think you’d be the one to find a heart where it doesn’t exist.”
He shakes his head as he continues to walk away.
Yes. I hate him.