Fortune Favors the Cruel - Kel Carpenter Page 0,28

his doubts. The man was still getting used to the idea. Lazarus needed to take this slowly, with all parties, if he wanted to see the outcome he desired.

Even still, whether Draeven approved or not, he wasn’t letting her go. Claudius’ words were still as fresh in his mind as that day six years ago when he’d given him a hint into his future. No. Quinn wasn’t going anywhere.

“If you train her and she reaches her ascent, you have no guarantees you’ll even be able to stop her if she’s as powerful as you think she is,” Draeven said, lifting his head. There were old ghosts in his eyes. The things they’d done to get where they were hadn’t been kind, but Draeven had always held true at every end they met. His place at Lazarus’ side—a place where he could change the world for the better—was worth it all. Still, Quinn was a variable Draeven hadn’t accounted for.

But Lazarus had. He’d been waiting for the day he’d find her.

Now he had to figure out what exactly he was supposed to do with her.

“I’ll bring her to heel, Draeven,” Lazarus said through gritted teeth and then with a look back, he added, “I always do.”

“For the sake of everyone involved, I hope so,” his second muttered so quietly he almost missed it.

Moonlight Inn

“If something is important to someone, figure out why. Significance is weakness.”

— Quinn Darkova, former slave, ex-prisoner, want-to-be-killer,

and reluctant vassal of House Fierté

“As a member of Master Lazarus’ household, we uphold his graciousness. We are extensions of his will and—”

Quinn wasn’t allowed to kill the woman, that much was clear, but with every attempt at schooling her on the importance of propriety and servitude manners, Quinn thought about it more and more. If ever she got the chance, she’d make this woman the first to go.

Lorraine was too important to Lazarus. She had watched the woman complain to him on many occasions, usually about Quinn’s attitude and especially when Quinn talked to and about Lazarus as though he were a living breathing mortal and not some God among them. Her complaints weren’t the odd part. The fact that he let her was.

When Lorraine spoke, he seemed to listen—or at least he pretended to. Often times, he would shake his head and just tell her to deal with it, but he never once scolded her for complaining. Not like he did Quinn. Then again, everyone seemed to have a bone to pick with Quinn, or maybe it was the other way around. Not that Quinn would ever admit that. It’s not her fault she was forced to go on this blasted journey. They’d been on the road over a week, eating nothing but overcooked fish and berries. She was beginning to get restless, and Lady Fortuna never smiled upon her when she was restless.

Still, she sent a quick prayer to the gods that someone would take pity on her. When she raised her head and spotted rooftops in the distance, Quinn blinked. “Well, that’s a first,” she muttered to herself, cutting off Lorraine’s most recent tirade that she had tuned out several minutes before.

“What is it?” Lorraine asked.

“A town,” Quinn said, shifting atop the large beast that had carried them for many days already.

“Hmmm.” Lorraine leaned to the side and examined the tops of the buildings in the distance. “It would be good to sleep in a bed for the night,” she said absently. “We’ll need to gather supplies as well and trade the horses for fresh stock, something to carry us the rest of the way.”

Quinn didn’t care about any of that—not the bed, the supplies, or the new horses. Getting to a town meant getting off this damn beast and away from Lorraine’s constant barrage. She almost—almost—kicked her legs against the horse, hoping to spur it faster, but she quickly held herself in check.

“My lord!” Lorraine called up to Lazarus and the other men that had been on the road with them. “Will we be stopping for the night?”

Lazarus’ horse came to a slow stop and he turned as they ambled up alongside it. “We’ll stay for two nights,” he announced. “The horses will rest. Supplies will be gathered and then we’ll set off once again.”

“Excellent news,” Lorraine said. Quinn resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

Tuning the woman out as she then returned her attention to explaining manners befitting a vassal of Master Lazarus, Quinn examined the buildings and unkempt streets as they arrived on the