it, you’re welcome to it. But you’ll have to excuse me, Your Grace, because I’ve better things to do tonight than search my rooms for a shiny bit of rock.”
Hacken glared at him, saying nothing, but as Killian made his way through the ballroom he had the sickening sense that this conversation wasn’t over. And when it resumed, it would be his brother who’d have the final word.
45
LYDIA
Lydia’s skull thudded into the floor for what seemed like the hundredth time. Her eyes glazed, but only for an instant; then she blinked and twisted. She flipped Killian on his back, her knees on either side of him, one hand locked around his wrist and the other holding a silver butter knife to his throat.
“Did you let me do that?” she demanded, leaning so that her face was only inches from his.
Killian shook his head, but she only had a heartbeat to enjoy her victory before he had her shoulders once again pressed against the floor, butter knife spinning off into a corner. “Never let your guard down.”
“You’re rather cheap with your praise, you know.” She met his gaze steadily.
Letting go of her wrists, he eased up. “I’ll praise you when—”
Lydia caught hold of the back of his head and pulled down and to her left, her back arching as she twisted. Killian cursed as his shoulders hit the floor. With her free arm, she swung, stopping her knuckles just shy of his nose. “Never let your guard down.”
He grinned at her. “Well done.”
He’d been training her almost every night since she’d joined the guard, and she could count on one hand the number of times he’d said those words. Every single time had felt like a triumph. Not against him, but against those who’d harmed her in the past. Those who’d try to harm her in the future. She grinned back, but it was all teeth.
“Victory suits you,” he said, and something in his expression made her cheeks burn. Flustered, Lydia rose to her feet and crossed the ballroom to the table where a jug of water and two glasses sat. Filling one, she took a long drink. “One victory in a hundred fights isn’t very good,” she said, keeping her back to him. “Still means me dead or worse ninety-nine times.”
“Ninety-nine times out of a hundred you won’t be fighting someone as good as me,” he replied. “And that one time that you are, your opponent is going to underestimate you just as I did now. You look weak, but you’re not. And a blow that would knock another woman senseless barely slows you down. You can take advantage of that and have a knife in the man’s ribs before he has even a hint of how dangerous you are.”
“Most of that is my mark,” she muttered, her elation already dissipated. “I won’t have that back in Celendor.”
“Are you certain about that?”
Lydia wasn’t certain. Just as she wasn’t certain anymore whether the loss of her mark would be a blessing or a curse, only that it was imminent. Tomorrow night was Malahi’s ball, and the next day the Princess and her retinue would sail for Serlania.
But not Killian.
He hadn’t said anything that would lead her to believe he wouldn’t be going south with the Princess, but she knew him well enough to know that he wouldn’t abandon Mudaire and its people without a fight, which made his silence telling
Regardless, tonight would be her last night alone with him, and that truth sat heavily in her stomach. Say something! a voice screamed inside of her head. But all the things she wanted to say to him were things that needed to remain unsaid, so Lydia stayed silent.
“We should go,” he said. “We’ll both need our wits about us tomorrow night, and that’s not going to happen with no sleep.”
“Do you believe something will happen?” she asked. “Do you believe the corrupted will attack?”
“I do.” Picking up his sword, he belted it on. “And I want you to stay as clear of it as you can. Give the warning, but don’t engage. You need to get out of here alive.”
She gave the slightest of nods, and Killian lifted his head and frowned. “I’m serious, Lydia. Remember, the whole point of you taking this job was that it was a way to get back to Teriana.”
“I thought the point of me taking this job was to protect Malahi.”
He looked away. “Things change.”
Gods, but didn’t she know that. Remember who you are, Lydia silently