Richard, and restore justice and peace throughout the land.”
A small crowd gathered around us, frowning and crossing their arms. They may have let Penelope in, but they were obviously uncomfortable having two more elite follow us to their secret hideout.
“How are you even here, what about the ordeals?” I looked around for Luke and Jacob, but they hadn’t joined the other spectators.
“They made an exception for us. We made a deal, something they couldn’t pass up. A drop of blood for every minute.”
“You’re singlehandedly arming the rebellion,” I frowned. “They’ll use it to fight against you.”
“This rebellion has been a long time coming,” Damien grumbled.
“Nice to see you again, Emily,” Tobias nodded, looking me up and down. “You’ve got a real Pocahontas vibe going, I’m really digging it.”
“Poca-who?” I asked, looking down at my beaded leather skirt. I could tell by Damien’s scowl he was frustrated with the small talk.
“Do you want to take a walk?” he cut in suddenly. “Outside?”
He jerked his head past the guards and the wooden gates, towards the dark trees beyond the entrance.
“I suppose so,” I said. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach. Trevor stepped closer, locking eyes with Damien.
“I’ll be fine,” I said, touching his arm. “We won’t go far.”
And I’ll be safe with him.
“Don’t worry, I’ll wait here.” Tobias smiled. “Now, if one of you gentleman could help me find my wife…”
The ash was light, so I pulled up my hood and scarf. I didn’t even mind my bare feet. The wet soil and ash made a cooling mud for against my skin. I followed Damien as his figure cut through the towering pines, his armor gleaming in the misty morning light. We found a place near the top of the waterfall and took a seat on a fallen, rotting log between large boulders.
He took a deep breath through his nose, and I realized he was smelling me. I wondered if he could smell Trevor on me. I felt a flash of guilt, but it was followed quickly with anger.
I’d kept myself pure, all those years, for what – for him. He could have taken advantage of me any time during the citadel, when I was practically his captive, but he never had. Maybe he’d waited too long.
“Why… are you here?” I asked finally. It was the wrong question, but I didn’t know how to start this conversation.
“Tobias brought me. He said he’d found you, and Penelope, in Sezomp. That you had a plan to meet, but then you didn’t show up. He thought you might be in danger, and couldn’t tell anyone else that Penelope was still alive, so he got me to help. We feared… but then we found the note. The directions brought us close. After a few hours we found tracks and followed them, then we smelled the smoke.”
He’d been worried about me. He’d expected to save me, coming to my rescue. Instead he found me, like this. Half drunk, in the arms of another man, no doubt reeking of sex and alcohol.
“What happened after I left?” I asked softly. “Did you get in trouble for letting me escape?”
“I was locked up for awhile,” he admitted. “Well, confined to my quarters at least. Until the wedding. My father knew it would look strange if I wasn’t there. And then I saw you, at the ceremony. I thought, maybe you’d come to finish what you started, in Algrave.”
My eyes widened and I turned to face him.
“That wasn’t me, I swear. I only threw that arrow to get everybody off the stage.”
“Em, I have to know. Was it… was it all a trick somehow? Did you play me? I keep going back through it in my mind, but I can’t make sense of it.”
He looked up at me through his eyelashes, and the intensity in his cold blue eyes took my breath away. He was more handsome than I remembered, and also more vulnerable than I’d ever seen him.
I reached out and grabbed his hand.
“I never tried to kill you,” I said. “Not in Algrave, not in the citadel. Never.”
He took a deep breath, closing his eyes, then drew closer.
“I knew it,” he sighed.
“What about my siblings?” I asked. “Did your father—”
“They’re safe. I swear. I have someone watching them, protected, away from the king. He doesn’t even know I moved them.”
“Is what Tobias said true?” I asked. “You’ve come to join the rebellion? Or did you come to stop me, to save your father?”