Page 40 of Between Smoke and Shadow
“He’llkillyou,” she whispers. “He’ll kill you as eagerly as he killed that redhead. Maybemoreeagerly.”
I didn’t know he’d already killed Viana’s first servant, but I don’t let my surprise show. If anything, his careless murder only strengthens my resolve.
“Perhaps,” I say finally. Tora sucks in a breath. “But he’ll sacrifice all of Savoa if he becomes king. He’ll kill everyone if I let him. And, heir or not, I can’t let him do that.”
Tora says my name again, a near-silent whisper. I ignore her, shutting the door between us.
THIRTEEN
HARRICK
I don’t know what I’m doing. After the horrific day I’ve had, Rune Ealde should be the furthest thing from my mind. Training an indentured servant shouldn’t be anywhere on my list of priorities. They’d try me for treason if they caught me, especially after the Architect’s announcement today.
Yet here I am. Leaned against the wall by 51 CC, waiting for two a.m. to strike, for Rune Ealde to sneak down to meet me. Thoughts of this, of meeting her here, have been my only sense of sanity. Despite the mess of my life, I still get to steal a moment with Rune tonight. I get to show her how to hold a weapon, how to cling to even the smallest drop of power.
The overhead clock buzzes with two low strikes. I’ve got my head leaned against Rune’s wall, but her room is silent. It isn’t until her door opens that I’m sure she’s in there at all.
She sucks in a sharp but quiet gasp when she sees me standing here. Her hair is damp, making it look darker than normal. She must have showered. She smells like cheap soap and something else, something I can’t quite place. Whatever it is, I like it.
She fidgets, her pale eyes hidden behind her yellow veil. I can see them still, the way they dart around my face. The way theydon’t seem to fear me quite as much as they did the first time. Maybe that’s yet another lie I tell myself.
“Prince Harrick,” she says, dipping her chin. Her voice is raspy, and I wonder how often she talks when she’s not with me.
“Just Harrick,” I correct. A soft blush colors her cheeks, and she glances to both ends of the hallway.
“I wasn’t sure we were still meeting,” she says, the blush deepening.
It takes me a moment to realize she’s referencing the gathering. She’s heard, then, that my crown is threatened. That by the end of the Flood Season, I may not be the heir. I may not even be alive. An uncomfortable pinch slices through my stomach, wondering what she thinks of that.
“Let’s go,” I say. I push away from the wall and start for the stairs. Rune follows, but I find myself checking every few seconds. Her bare feet are silent on the marble floor. She could very well be the shadow she pretends to be.
By the time we reach the training arena, my nerves are electric, spasming against each other.If we get caught, if we get caught, if we get caught…
I enter my code to the arena, slipping inside and sealing the door as soon as Rune is safely in the waiting room with me. She keeps a careful distance between us, hands folded behind her back, face impossible to read.
“Okay,” I say after a long moment. “Okay, I think we’re good.”
“Are you all right?” she asks. Her voice trembles, and she bites her lip, like she wishes she could take the question back.
I don’t want to answer the question. I watch her mouth for another moment, wondering what she’d do if it was me biting those lips instead of her. Rather than doing that—oranswering the question—I scan her face for cuts and bruises.I’d beenworried Viana might take yesterday’s news out on Rune, but it doesn’t look like she has—at least from where I can see.
“I think we’ll try a dagger tonight,” I say finally.
She follows me silently into the padded arena. I’m wearing the red suit from the gathering, and I’m going to pass out from heat exhaustion if I train with it. I slip out of my laced shoes and lose the heavy jacket. It’s covered in red-tinted stones and weighs at least twenty pounds.
Rune watches as I do. Her hands are in tight fists, body tensed and ready to run. I’m overly aware of her movements. The way her lips twitch, like she’s keeping herself from asking anything more. The way she rocks from heel to toe, eyes continuously flitting to the arena entrance.
“No one is going to come in,” I tell her as I undo the top two buttons of my dress shirt. Her eyes track my movements, and her cheeks again turn red.
All at once, I realize how this must seem. Me forcing us to be alone together. Taking off clothes. Telling her no one is going to interrupt me.
“Fuck,” I say quickly, finally registering how terrified she looks. Now I’m certainI’mthe one blushing. “I’m not going to touch you. I would never…”
I trail off, watching her skin flush again.
“Yes, my prince,” she says, tipping her chin.
She sounds almost rejected, and I’m tempted to clarify I’d touch her if she wanted me to. That, if she asked, I’d make her feel better than any man before me. But if I’m wrong, then we’re back to square one and…
