Chapter 18
CHAPTER 18
I n the kitchen, Neve found Eleksi and Jamy making stilted conversation at the tiny table.
They were discussing the optimal way to dress a deer. Jamy was raised in a western village, where her father taught her to hunt. Neve supposed that was likely the commonest ground to be had between her mother’s friend and an assassin.
Saxon slept in an armchair, curled up like the cat. The four adults huddled around the table, drinking nettle tea and eating spinach pastries with fresh lemon. Fatigue settled around Neve’s shoulders like a black cloud. Eleksi somehow seemed perfectly alert, although the circles beneath his eyes had darkened.
“We’ll leave before first light,” said Neve, sipping her tea. “The sooner we’re gone, the safer you will be.”
Brigit dabbed at her red-rimmed eyes. “Where are you going, exactly? Is it far?”
“It’s best that you don’t know,” said Eleksi in a low voice. “In case you are . . . questioned.”
An uneasy silence formed. Neve would never forgive herself if Brigit, Jamy, or Saxon were tortured for information on her whereabouts. Brigit was in enough danger already.
“Is there somewhere you can stay, further from our neighborhood?” asked Neve.
Brigit put her hand on Neve’s. “I’ll stay with Franca, in New Town.”
Neve nodded. “Good. That area is crowded and it’ll be easier to blend in.”
New Town adjoined the Klatos merchant district, down near the bay, and had a constant stream of visitors coming and going.
“When will you return?” Brigit asked her daughter.
Dizzy with weariness, Neve slumped in her chair. “When we have a plan of attack.”
“First, you need sleep,” said Brigit. “Both of you. A few hours, at least.”
“Aye,” said Jamy, rising. “Make yourself comfortable by the fire.”
Neve dragged herself to the hearth, removed her boots, and settled on the rug with a blanket and pillow supplied by Jamy.
“What about you?” Neve asked Eleksi from her spot on the floor, her voice already thick with drowsiness.
He stood behind the armchair where Saxon slumbered. “I’ll rest by the door. That way, I’ll be alerted if someone tries to come in.”
Neve frowned as he lay on his back on the wooden floorboards. “You can’t sleep there.”
He took off his cloak, balling it up and putting it behind his head as a rudimentary pillow. “Yes, I can. Rest now, Neve.”
Too exhausted to argue, she lay her head down and allowed sleep to claim her.
In her dream, she was lost in an enormous hedge maze. Red rose petals fluttered from the dark sky, and silvery cobwebs clung to her face and hands as she tried to run. Tearing at the webs, she turned a corner to find a lifeless body on the ground. Eleksi’s glassy eyes stared at the sky, petals falling around his marble-gray face, a black handprint on his pale throat like a stain. She reached for him, only to find herself too high off the ground, levitating, until she could see beyond the walls of the maze. On the horizon, a pink sun emerged, radiant and dazzling, filling her heart with a loving warmth.
Neve groaned. The wooden floor beneath the rug made her joints throb and she rolled over, trying in vain to get comfortable. Giving up, she pushed herself onto her elbows and pried her eyes open.
The fire had died and the room was mauve with the hazy light of pre-dawn. Eleksi slept by the front door and he appeared to be having a nightmare. His eyes whizzed back and forth behind his closed eyelids. His brow was deeply furrowed and his jaw was clenched.
Neve was loathe to wake him, because he needed rest, but they had to leave Klatos before the sun rose in earnest.
Crouching next to him, she resisted the sudden, incomprehensible urge to trace her fingertips over the chiseled lines of his face. She noticed with relief that the handprint on his throat had faded. His black stubble almost obscured it entirely now.
Instead of caressing him, she tapped his shoulder.
At once, his eyes flew open. As quick as lightning, his hand snaked around her throat and he threw her onto her back. Several long, terrifying moments passed before his gaze cleared and he realized what he was doing.
The blank determination on his face was replaced with horror.
He withdrew his hand and scooted backward across the floorboards. “Neve! It’s you. Forgive me.”
Rubbing her neck, she stood. “I’m fine. Gods help any person who attacks you in your sleep, though.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.” She snorted softly. “But I am wide awake now, so thank you for that, at least.”
Eleksi winced. “I’m sorry.” He stood and cracked his neck before swinging his cloak over his shoulders, glancing at the window. “We should leave. Would you like to say goodbye to your mother?”
Neve went to the doorway of the room where her mother slept. Brigit was awake, staring at the frosted window in pensive silence. She got out of bed when she caught sight of Neve.
“I’m leaving,” said Neve. “Will you be alright?”
“I don’t want you worrying about me,” implored Brigit, grasping Neve’s upper arms through her cloak. “I’ve survived this long, and I will survive longer still.”
“I’ll stop worrying when the queen is no longer a threat.”
“Aye. Me too.”
Neve inclined her head and went to walk away.
“Neve?”
She looked back.
Her mother wrapped her arms around herself, her borrowed nightgown swamping her form. “I believe in you. I know you don’t believe in yourself, but until you do, I believe in you enough for both of us.”
Neve’s stomach twisted. “You wouldn’t say that if you knew what I can do,” she mumbled.
“Yes, I would.” Brigit smiled, her eyes crinkling at the corners. “I would say that every time.”
“Bye, Mama.”
Neve and Eleksi pulled on their boots, then slipped from the building.
The cobblestoned streets were eery with quiet.
“Everyone’s sleeping off the mead from the harvest festival, I suppose,” said Neve, rubbing her hands together.
The temperature had dropped perceptibly overnight. Summer was well and truly over.
“So, we’re going to your place in the countryside?” asked Neve as she tried to match Eleksi’s long stride.
“Aye. No one knows about it. No one’s even been there before, except me.”
“Is it far? How will we get there?”
“I dare not return to the farm where we left our horses on the way into Klatos. From now on, we don’t speak to anyone unless strictly necessary. There’s a horse breeder beyond the north wall. We’ll steal mounts from there.”
“What about our satchels? We left them with the horses.”
Eleksi shrugged. “There were only clothes in there, no? I have the gold and weapons with me.” He patted the front of his jacket.
“I’d dearly love a change of clothes.”
“Enough to put your life at risk?”
“Well. No.”
“Clothes aren’t difficult to come by. Our priority is to escape.”
Neve inhaled the crystalline air. The food and sleep had restored her greatly, although not quite to full strength yet. “I’m looking forward to the ride, to clear my head.”
“Clear your head?” asked Eleksi, giving her a quizzical glance. “You have much on your mind after your conversation with your mother?”
“I do. And since you’re trusting me by taking me to your secret hideout, I’ll reciprocate by telling you everything on the way.”
Most things anyway, she thought. Eleksi didn’t need to hear about her mother falling in love. That felt like a private story—one that wasn’t Neve’s to tell.
“It’s not a secret hideout ,” he grumbled. “It’s simply my home.”
“Right. That is secret. And where we will hide out.”