Three Dark Crowns (Three Dark Crowns #1) - Kendare Blake Page 0,38

never had, it is plenty of time.

As they near the pond, the boys jog ahead to start the fire. For the end of December, it is not terribly cold. If the sun would come out from behind the clouds, there might actually be a little melting. Camden bounds through the snow and kicks it up into snowy showers. Arsinoe has to admit, it is a nice day. Even with the interloper.

“Well?” Jules asks when Joseph and Billy are safely out of range. “What do you think of him?”

Arsinoe squints. Billy Chatworth wears the clothes of an islander, but he does not wear them well. He is only an inch or two shorter than Joseph, and his sandy hair is short, almost pressed flat against his head.

“He’s not nearly as handsome as Joseph is,” Arsinoe teases, and Jules blushes scarlet. “I knew he would grow into that Sandrin jawline. And those eyes.” She prods Jules in the side until she laughs and swats her away. “Anyhow, what do you think of the mainlander?”

“I don’t know,” Jules says. “He said he had a cat that looked like me when he was younger. With one blue eye and one green. He said it was born deaf.”

“Charming,” says Arsinoe.

They reach the pond. Joseph takes out a packet of meat for roasting, and Camden walks up his torso to sniff. The fire is already burning hot, bright orange beside the ice and whitewashed trees.

Arsinoe reaches into the nearest tree and tears down branches, one for her and one for Jules. Together, they sharpen them to points with their knives. The mainlander watches, and Arsinoe makes sure to use long, dangerous-looking strokes.

“Would you,” Billy starts, and clears his throat. “Would you like me to do that for you?”

“No,” says Arsinoe. “In fact, I’m making this for you.”

She takes a piece of meat from the packet. It passes over her sharpened tip like butter. Then she shoves it straight into the flames and listens to it sizzle.

“Thank you,” he says. “I’ve never met a girl so skilled with a knife. But then, I’ve never met a girl with a tiger before, either.”

“She’s a mountain cat,” says Jules, and tosses Cam a chunk of raw meat. “We don’t have tigers here.”

“But could you?” Billy asks. “Could there ever be?”

“What do you mean?”

“Could one of you be so strong that you could call one from across the sea?”

“Maybe I am,” Arsinoe muses. “Maybe that’s what’s taking it so long.”

She smirks at Jules as she sharpens another skewer.

“I can’t imagine any gift so strong,” Jules replies. “I’m one of the strongest naturalists on the island, and I can’t call much farther than the deep waters off the coast.”

“You don’t know that,” Arsinoe says. “And I bet you could, if you tried. I bet you could call anything, Jules.”

“I think so too,” says Joseph. “She’s become something fierce, since I left.”

The meat comes off the skewers, and they eat in silence. It is good, marbled and tender. Arsinoe considers allowing the juices to run down her chin, but decides that is going too far.

Still, she does not speak until Jules kicks her in the foot. “How are you finding the island, Junior?”

“I am in love with it,” he says. “Absolutely. Joseph has been telling me about Fennbirn since the moment he came to stay with us. It’s a great pleasure to see it, and to see you, and Jules, who I have heard about even more frequently.”

Arsinoe purses her lips. It is a good answer. And he delivered it so well.

“I suppose I should thank you,” Arsinoe says. “For taking care of Joseph. He did tell you that I was the reason he was banished?”

“Arsinoe,” Joseph says. “Don’t. If I could go back, I wouldn’t change it.”

“But I would,” she says. “I missed you.”

“I missed you, too,” he says, and reaches to take Jules’s hand. “Both of you.”

The two of them ought to be alone. As much as Arsinoe missed Joseph, it was not in the same way that Jules missed him.

Arsinoe pops the last of the meat into her mouth and then stands up.

“Where are you going?” Jules asks.

“To show Junior the views,” she says. “We won’t be gone long.” She winks at Joseph. “Well. Not too long.” Arsinoe leads the mainlander through the trees and onto the narrow, rock-edged trail that winds around the hills above Sealhead. It is an unsafe path to take in winter, unless you know the land. She almost feels guilty. But if he wants