9. Chapter 9
Chapter nine
Gavrin leaned against a large stone cistern in the middle of a square. The small grey cat winding around his ankles somewhat undid the menacing impression I’d gotten of him when I had first seen him wielding his sword. Somewhat. But not entirely.
How had he gotten here so quickly? I assumed magic had played some part, but I didn’t have the presence of mind to question it further.
The square seemed like quite a conspicuous place to meet his sentinel with his kidnap victim. Betrothed, I corrected silently as I snipped the laugh trying to break through my lips.
“Who died?” Gavrin pushed off the municipal water feature without unfolding his arms.
I knew little about military ranking, but I would have thought a sentinel usually wore their shirt closed. Gavrin’s full chest was on display. It was warm with the storm gathering around us, but not that warm.
“You look far too glum for someone who just walked away from a skirmish with all of the spoils.” Gavrin’s tone was mocking as he looked the male before me up and down.
“Don’t ask,” Kaedian ground out and kept walking.
“If someone is lying in a gutter somewhere that I need to clean up, I’d rather know,” Gavrin grumbled as if this were a regular occurrence.
“Drop it, Gavrin.” The command in Kaedian’s voice settled into the air. A different kind of magic that was distilled in him.
Gavrin fanned out his hands and did as he was told.
“There was an empty wing of the east cells. I’ve made sure no one else will use the remaining ones. She should be fine there until you get what you need from her.”
I’d have pulled Gavrin up on talking about me like that in any other circumstance, but Kaedian spoke first. “We’re not going to need a cell.”
Gavrin raised a brow.
“Carron.” Kaedian let out a weighty sigh.
“That spineless gossip?”
“The same. He came upon us. I couldn’t tell him I’d taken her from the Western Corner, so I improvised.”
“Improvised how?” Gavrin was rightly sceptical. Even though it had worked to my advantage, the excuse was flimsy at best.
A beat hung between the three of us. A spiral of storm wind whistled down the street beside us and blew a few stray pieces of detritus toward the next alley and I wrapped my arms around myself against the growing chill and rain.
“Improvised how?” Gavrin said, slower this time.
Who would ever believe it? One look at us beside one another, the disdain on my face, the hard set of his shoulders. No one would think we were engaged to be married.
“Lord Kaedian here”—I quirked a brow at him as I drawled the title, his name sounding new and unusual on my lips—“has decided—”
Kaedian caught my arm, cutting me off. His eyes, the line of his jaw, the planes of his face in the moonlight, all implored me not to speak another word. But he had no cards to play now. Short of shutting me up.
“Has decided to take a bride,” I finished with a grin.
Gavrin’s laugh split the air like thunder. He was doubled over within seconds, smacking his leg. The poor cat that had been around his feet skittered off with a yowl.
“You’re not serious?” More laughter careened out of Gavrin.
“Brother,” Kaedian forced through gritted teeth, “I will kill you.” But Gavrin didn’t seem to hear the threat over the now pouring rain. Or his laughter that stole his breath.
Brother? Looking at the two of them side by side, I couldn’t imagine they were related. But perhaps there was something stronger than blood between them.
“As long as there is wine and debauchery at the celebration, I’ll toast to the happy couple.”
Kaedian vanished from his place beside me and tackled Gavrin to the ground, silencing the roars of amusement.
A mass of night dark shadows and green clouds sprang to life around them.
Gavrin’s magic was so different from Kaedian’s. It was rich and earthy like moss and agate, an utter contrast to the darkness it whirled with.
They used magic so freely, so fluidly, like it was another limb or part of them, and as I watched, I felt bound by the confines of my body.
I wanted to flex and move my hands like I had as a child, willing the space before me to fill with magic.
But I knew nothing would manifest. That ghostly feeling beneath my skin where something should be but wasn’t lingered and left only a cold echo.
My heart lurched as I thought to untangle them. But Gavrin’s laughter rippled through the cloud of magic around them.
Weren’t they worried someone would see?
But there was no one. Not even the cat anymore.
They were so rapt with their fighting that I thought about looking for an exit.
But a little part of me knew, even if I had paid attention to the way I’d come, I wanted something from this city before I left.
There was a murmuring between the walls and streets for me to explore her before I found my escape.
The scuffling came to an abrupt stop, and the shadows and verdant clouds parted.
Kaedian had Gavrin in a headlock while they both knelt on the water-drowned paving.
“Breathe a word of this to anyone, Gav, and I’ll fight you until you regret knowing me.” He squeezed a little harder on Gavrin’s neck, but there was an undercurrent in his words that undid the menace of them.
A boyish smile crept over Gavrin’s face. “You’d have to beat me again for that to happen,” he croaked. “And besides, I won’t have to tell anyone about your impending nuptials. You’ll have to do that yourself.”
Kaedian froze, his bicep still flexed around Gavrin’s neck.
“He’s right, you know,” I said, stepping into their arena.
Somehow, seeing them fight like children had washed even more fear from my ringing blood.
“If anyone hears from Carron that you’ve found a bride but didn’t shout it from the rooftops yourself, no one will believe you.
And suddenly, you’re a liar, and I’m free to go with my broken heart. ” I clutched my chest in a false swoon.
Either Kaedian played into the hand he’d dealt himself, or he let everyone believe we weren’t betrothed. Carron was a gossip, according to Gavrin. So no doubt the entire borough already knew about the Lord and his new lady.
Gavrin tapped out on Kaedian’s forearm. “I’m beginning to like your new bride, Kaed. She’s far smarter than you.”