Chapter 25 #2
“You really don’t have to accompany me,” she offered. “We can go and be back within a day or two.”
He ran a hand down his face in obvious exasperation that she didn’t understand. Wouldn’t it be easier and more convenient for him if Razik simply Traveled her there?
“Give me a few hours to talk to Zayan,” Cethin said. “Can you at least wait that long?”
She could feel Razik’s gaze on her, and she shifted, sparing him a glance. More expressions she couldn’t decipher, despite decades of studying behavior and trying to make sense of it all. But the male almost looked confused as his sapphire eyes flickered from her to Cethin and back.
“We can wait,” Kailia answered. “But rearranging your schedule still seems unnecessary.”
Cethin was already pushing to his feet, his plate of food untouched. “I’ll be back in a few hours. Greybane, don’t take her there without me.”
Then he was striding from the room with purpose, and she watched him go. Straight. Regal. The king she’d watched from the ashes for months.
“He’s trying to figure you out,” Razik said after they heard the main doors close.
She shifted to face him more. “What do you mean?”
“You’ve become this…infatuation of his,” Razik said. “Something he’s trying to work out. I’ve seen the way he watches you. It’s the same way you observe everything and everyone around you trying to understand.” Then he added, “You also frustrate him. It’s enjoyable to witness.”
“You frustrate him,” she countered. “Although I believe you antagonize him on purpose.”
“There’s that astuteness again.”
She sat back in her chair, glaring at the male. “Then again, you appear to purposely antagonize everyone.”
Silence fell again, and for the first time in a long time, her thoughts became too loud. So incessant and all-consuming that she found herself saying, “Can I ask you something?”
“I’m not going to stop a queen,” Razik replied, looking up from the book he’d summoned and laid on the table.
“I… This Union Celebration. It will involve…” She trailed off, shaking her hands out before smoothing them over her dress.
“Being on display. A feast. Visiting with those of the kingdom. Dancing,” Razik supplied when she didn’t continue.
“Dancing,” she repeated, internally flinching.
Or externally, because Razik clearly saw it based on the way he tilted his head in question. “Not a great dancer, Lia?”
She felt her cheeks grow hot, and that made him sit up straighter. But it wasn’t from embarrassment. Her whole body was going flush because dancing involved closeness and touching.
“I can’t help if you don’t tell me why that made you somehow go pale and flush all at once,” Razik said, and his tone wasn’t exactly kind, but it wasn’t his usual asshole facade either.
“So astute,” she muttered, trying to regulate her breathing.
“Lia.”
Her name was a flat tone of impatience.
She sighed. “As I’m sure you are aware, dancing involves touching, which I don’t do well with.”
“And yet you made some sort of deal with Cethin,” the male admonished. “Did you not think touch would be required of a queen? Of a wife?”
“Of course I knew that,” she snapped.
“Did you make agreements regarding such things with Cethin?”
“Not exactly.”
His lip curled. “Not exactly? Do I even want to know what that means?”
“It means— I don’t know, Raz,” she said, exasperation and panic clawing at her. “It means everyone is going to know exactly how unqualified I am for this. I have a lot to prove here.”
Razik studied her for another long moment before flipping his book closed and settling back in his chair. “Cethin is an arrogant dick who’s used to getting his way.”
“I’ve gathered that,” she murmured.
“But he’s also intuitive and cunning,” Razik went on. “He wouldn’t have made you his queen if he didn’t think you could handle it. He wouldn’t do that to his people. His loyalty to this kingdom is the only admirable thing about him.”
“Some would consider it a curse,” she mused.
Razik shrugged. “My point is, despite this seeming impulsive and reckless, the fucker always has a reason. He clearly believes you can handle the pressures of being a queen.”
“Obviously not considering it’s in title only,” she said. “Either way, prolonged touching is going to prove how wrong he is.”
“So you start preparing yourself now,” he countered. “Start small. I’ve seen him touch you. Start there.”
As if she hadn’t tried that in the past. But she wasn’t about to bring that up and open herself up for more questions.
“And stop stabbing him. That will help too,” Razik added as an afterthought.
She flipped the male her middle finger as she stood, fingering the dagger beneath her dress with her other hand. Maybe she’d start stabbing him instead.
Taking a few steps down the cobbled street, she paused and turned, taking in the dark stone buildings.
Fog and mist drifted along the ground, making everything appear darker.
Even the shadows felt thicker here. Granted, the sun had dipped below the horizon, but Kailia had the impression the town of Shadowfen had this eerie feel to it even when the sun was high in the sky.
It felt like there were eyes on her. She was used to doing the watching.
Being the hunter, not the prey, and she definitely felt like prey right now.
“This is Shadowfen?” she asked, drifting closer to a shop. The heavy wooden door was shut tight with a single candle in the window.
“It is,” Cethin answered, keeping a few paces between them. “The fog and mist roll in off the inlet.”
She nodded, turning again and venturing deeper into the town. She understood why everyone was so surprised when she’d announced that this was where she was from. Which begged the question—
“Why did you have me tell people I was from here?” she asked Cethin, looking up to find dark windows. She hadn’t seen a single person since they’d entered the town twenty minutes ago.
“Shadowfen is known for its dark places and secrets,” Cethin explained. “If an Ash Rider was going to hide anywhere, this was the most likely place.”
“So now I was hiding too?”
“I assume you know your kind is highly sought after. It makes perfect sense if you had been trying to go unnoticed. Which you were,” he added pointedly.
She could see the logic in that.
They were nearing the town center where a well stood atop a small dais. Mist flowed up and over the top of the sides, and she’d just placed her foot on the first step when fingers wrapped around her arm.
She spun, a dagger in hand, but Cethin had already released her.
“I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to warn you,” he said, his hand still outstretched and preparing to block her. “But going near the well can summon things.”
Kailia looked over her shoulder, then back at him. “What kinds of things?”
“Things that will need more than arrows to kill,” he replied, motioning for her to come away from the steps.
“They’ve never met my arrows,” she countered, curiosity warring inside her along with the thrill of a challenging hunt.
“Let’s save fighting creatures of old for tomorrow,” Razik said from where he stood a few feet away, arms crossed and watching them. “You know, start small.”
Right.
Start small.
Taking a deep breath, she took a step closer to Cethin.
Then another. He’d stilled, watching her carefully.
She was fairly certain he’d stopped breathing.
She stopped right beside him, her breaths already shallow.
Her heart was doing this weird thing in her chest she’d never experienced before, and this couldn’t possibly be what Razik meant.
“By Sargon, this is the most awkward thing I’ve ever witnessed,” Razik said tonelessly.
“Shut up, Greybane,” Cethin snapped.
Kailia had to agree with the sentiment.
“I’m going to see about sleeping arrangements. Leave you two to…figure out whatever this is,” he said, waving a hand at them before turning and stalking off.
She wanted to call after him because, for some reason, she found a weird sense of comfort in his presence. Nothing sensuous. She didn’t linger on him like she did Cethin, but she supposed she’d become accustomed to his presence after spending the last weeks with him every day.
Cethin had shifted on his feet, standing before her now, and she had to tip her head back to look up into his face.
“As much as I wish I did, I don’t know what’s going on in that head of yours, tiny fiend,” he said, slowly reaching for a lock of her hair.
“Razik suggested that I…practice getting used to touching you. For the Union Celebration,” she added hastily.
His eyes widened at the admission. “Why would he do that?”
Her brows crashed together. “Why would he offer a suggestion when I expressed trepidation over the event?”
Cethin’s features fell. “Why would you talk to him about that instead of me?”
“Because you are always off doing…king things.”
Despite stating simple facts, he clearly wasn’t impressed with them. “What, exactly, did Greybane suggest?”
“Starting with small touches,” she answered, smoothing her hands over her dress.
Cethin had suggested a cloak before they left, and she was grateful for that now.
The breeze from the inlet was cool, not to mention the dense fog.
Everything felt damp and musty. But she much preferred cooler, even freezing, temperatures over stifling hot and humid ones.
“I’ve already been doing that,” Cethin replied. “Or trying to. Things seem to have…intensified since you were attacked in Shira Forest, so I’ve stopped.”
She nodded, averting her gaze because he wasn’t wrong. She was well aware of her shortcomings. She was also well aware of how those shortcomings could be manipulated.
“Maybe if you shared more detail as to why you have such an aversion to touch, we could address that and—”
“That’s not necessary,” she interjected.