Chapter 11 #2
“I have to ask.” I study his face. “Did you know about Elena?”
His face stills, then falls. “Yes.” He sighs. “Everyone knows. But no one is foolish enough to say anything.”
I nod. “My father has many spies.”
“More like nobles hungry for his approval.”
“How long has she been his mistress?”
Hunter shrugs. “It’s difficult to say. My father is very discreet about organizing their … meetings.” He frowns. “She’s been wearing copper for several months now.”
“I expect I’ll have a little brother or sister soon.”
He doesn’t say anything.
I look at him from the corner of my eye. “She just seems like an odd choice. She was always so quiet when we were children. So reserved.”
“I doubt she had much say in the matter.” Hunter’s voice has an edge to it. He’s never liked his father’s many ploys to gain the king’s approval. This is just one of many. Like our impending marriage. Commander Malen will stop at nothing to ensure his place in my father’s inner circle.
We spend a long time staring out at the still pond. The quiet cemetery offers a welcomed peace. I wish I could stay here and never leave. My eyes drift to my mother’s mausoleum with the beautiful moth carvings along the doorway and I remember that, someday, I never will.
Hunter breaks the silence. “Are you still hungry?” he asks, with a note of confusion. He looks pointedly at the picnic basket.
“Oh, this.” I shake my head and hold it up. “I have a favor to ask you.”
“Another one?”
I scan his face to gauge his reaction, but there’s no malice or judgment there. Just curiosity.
“Hunter, please, you have to go back there. You have to help him.”
As a noble, Hunter has some healing powers, though they’re nothing like mine. Still, he can heal minor scrapes and bruises. He did it for me all the time when we were children. It’s better than nothing, and it might just be enough to save the Wolf from death.
Hunter winces. “I can’t do that, Sienna. Your father will notice.”
“But he’s going to die down there if we don’t do something.”
“Yes, because your father nearly killed him.” His mouth is stern.
“All because someone healed him. What do you think your father will do to him this time, if someone fixes him again?” He releases a groan of frustration and runs his hands through his blond hair.
“Besides, you know I can’t heal that level of injury. ”
I shake my head, refusing to think of the gruesome possibilities. “It just has to be enough to keep him from dying. It wouldn’t be enough for my father to notice. Just don’t let him die.”
“Why not?” Hunter asks, an edge of irritation in his voice. “Why do you care so much about a man you claim you’ve never met before?”
I close my eyes, willing my guilt to ease. “Because this is all my fault.”
He’s silent for a moment. The sounds of the night fill the void—a breeze blows through the reeds, frogs jump into the pond, an owl hoots in the distance.
“What do you mean?” he asks.
“I healed him the first time.” It comes out as a whisper.
Hunter doesn’t look surprised.
“I just ...” I stammer. “I couldn’t watch him die. Not after all the soldiers in the borderlands. Not when I knew I could save him.”
Hunter’s concern melts away, leaving worried eyes in its wake. I know I’m playing to his sympathies, but I don’t care. There’s too much at stake to worry about morals now.
He nods. “I’ll try to heal him, for you. But you have to tell me one thing, Sienna.” He moves to catch my eyes. “Why were you in your father’s rooms that night? Why did you ask me to cover for you?”
I start to give him the same fake explanation I told father, that I’d spotted the suspicious intruder and followed him.
“No.” He shakes his head. “The truth.”
My jaw snaps shut. As much as I want to trust Hunter, we have a complicated history when it comes to trust. And something in my gut tells me not to share this secret with anyone. Not yet, anyway.
After a few long moments, he sighs. “Fine.” His shoulders droop with disappointment. “But whatever you’re up to, please be careful. Your father is dangerous.”
“I know,” I whisper, looking at the ground.
Hunter watches me for a long moment. He reaches toward my face and lifts my chin so I meet his eyes. “Someday, I hope you’ll be able to trust me again. Until then, I’ll do whatever I can to prove that I’m on your side.”
Warmth pools low in my belly at the touch of his fingers on my skin. “Thank you.”
His eyes are etched with concern. It makes him look like a man twice his age. I hate that I’m the reason those lines are there.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” he says. “Because I will follow you straight into the fire if I have to.”
He holds my gaze for a long, long time. There’s something between us that I can’t pretend away. It’s the spark of an ember that I thought we’d extinguished a long time ago. When he looks at me like this, my heart thumps wildly in my chest. I start to forget myself.
“Sienna,” he says, taking a hesitant step closer to me. His voice is breathy and low. He shifts his hand on my chin, moving it back to cradle my jaw. His fingers tangle in my loose hair. “You know how I feel about you, right? How I’ve always felt about you? It hasn’t changed.”
A shiver runs through me, and I’m not sure it’s from the cold.
The cemetery glows with moonlight and the insects sing a song of love for summer’s end. The early autumn breeze moves my hair across my face and Hunter brushes it away like a caress. He leans forward, placing his forehead against mine. Then he closes his eyes and takes a shaky breath.
“I love you, Sienna.”