process that. “So if the natural laws don’t exist, then anything is possible? You mean with the mines, right?”
“I mean…anything is possible with anything in this town.”
Her mind ran with that in a hundred different directions at speeds she couldn’t keep up with. But she wasn’t done with her questions about the mine.
He laughed. “Go on, ask. I can see you’re practically bursting with something.”
She took a breath. “How did you get the job of mine foreman?”
His brows rose as if that wasn’t the question he’d been expecting. “Amelia gave it to me.”
“Does she know you don’t really inspect the work going on?”
His smile went stiff, then faded. “She knows what I do.”
Theo shrugged. It wasn’t her place to comment on what he did. She knew that. But he was a traitor to her people, and that made her bold. Even so, her words slipped out before she really thought them over. “Must be nice to have a job like that.”
Robin stopped abruptly. “What exactly are you implying?”
Her heart began to race. This was exactly why her mother had told her to speak less and listen more. She’d been foolish. She’d been lulled into thinking his kindness meant they were friends. They were not. Nor did she want to be friends with this traitor king. She shook her head and kept her eyes down, unwilling to look at him. “Forgive me. I apologize, Your Lordship. I spoke without thinking. I shall endeavor to remember my station.”
She could only see him from the knees down. He wasn’t moving.
“No, you won’t.” His voice was gruff. Then he sighed and shifted slightly. “I don’t want you to. You’re not a servant. This is not your station. You’re a woman who gave up a year of her life to take her father’s place.”
She still couldn’t bring herself to look at him, but she didn’t know what to say either.
He sighed. “I can’t go down those tunnels.”
That got her head up. She didn’t understand what he meant, though. “Why not, Sire?”
He made an odd face. Almost like her use of his title made him uncomfortable. “Because I am physically unable. Just like I am unable to stray from this path.” He peered at her, as if he was watching her eyes for her reaction.
“I still don’t understand.”
“Don’t you?”
“No.” She shook her head, genuinely clueless.
He crossed his arms as though he was attempting to keep from lashing out. “Queen Vesta didn’t just take my throne, she took my freedom. My life here is cursed. I can’t stray too far from the house or from any of the routes she’s determined I am able to travel. When I say this place is my prison, I mean exactly that.”
Chapter Seven
Just like that, Robin had shared the secrets he’d held close all these years. Part of his decision to spill them was he’d grown weary of keeping them, but the thought had also occurred to him that his revelation might be the perfect way to test Theodora. If she told Vesta that he’d figured out her scheme to confine him, Vesta would be sure to react.
Of course, she had to know he knew. He’d lived here long enough to have tested the boundaries. But he’d never said a word about it to anyone except Amelia and another man who’d tried to help him, Deacon, and he’d sworn them to secrecy.
How would Vesta take the news that he wasn’t keeping silent any longer? For as much as she liked power, she also craved adoration. Being exposed for the terrible person she was wouldn’t win her any popularity contests.
She might erase the restrictions to make him seem like a liar. Or tighten the reins in retaliation.
The latter worried him. If his world grew any smaller, he would go mad.
Theodora peered at him. “You can’t leave the path?”
“Not far.” As much as he hated to make a fool of himself, a demonstration seemed in order. “Watch.”
He stepped off the worn path, bracing himself, hands out. He found what he was looking for in two steps. The wall was as invisible to him as it was to anyone, but only he could feel it. He put his hands flat against the invisible divider that kept him from the rest of Shadowvale. “There. You can’t see it, but I promise, the barrier is real, and I can’t get past it.”
She looked skeptical. He didn’t blame her. She put the basket down and stepped off the path to stand beside him. She stuck her arms