He pulls a folded piece of parchment from his surcoat and holds it out to her. “Give this to Phillipa for me.”
Irritation slashes across Tersah’s face as she snatches the parchment from him and walks away, leaving Everly and me.
The man nods at me. “Good day—er, rather—good night, Sol.”
He knows my name?
I search my memories but find no trace of ever crossing paths with him. Well, other than in Rock Mountain. “Do I know you?”
Dark strands of his hair brush against the collar of his surcoat as he shakes his head. Then he strides away and disappears between two buildings, seamlessly merging into the night like a fleeting shadow.
Everly’s brow draws together as she stares after him. “Who was that?”
“I don’t know.”
“We shall ask Tersah.” Everly pulls me along, quickening our pace to catch up with Tersah. As we finally draw level with her, Everly leans closer to Tersah. “Who was that man?”
Tersah shrugs. “Nobody.”
“He knew who Sol was,” Everly counters.
“He’s Kyanite. Of course, he knows who she is.”
“I have never met him,” I say, still perplexed by the entire conversation between Tersah and the stranger. Usually, she flirts with every man she meets.
Tersah doesn’t respond.
“Should I be worried?” I ask, needing to know our mission is safe.
She swipes a clenched fist across her cheek. “You don’t need to worry about him.”
“Will you at least tell us his name?” Everly asks.
“Brennic.”
The sky above. That man is Brennic?
“He’s…” I swallow through the dread churning in my stomach.
This cannot be. That man could ruin everything for us.
“Who is he?” Everly asks.
“He’s the son of the Kyanite chieftain,” I say through the grit in my throat.
“Is he the heir?” Everly asks.
“No.” A frown presses against Tersah’s mouth as she fiddles with her gold bracelets. “His heir is Gareth.”
My knowledge of Gareth is limited to whispers of his past, how a tragic riding accident in his childhood left him bound to his bedchamber. This has led many to believe that the chieftain’s prospect for an heir now hinges on Brennic.
What if our intentions to free the slaves are unearthed by Brennic?
“Are you certain I don’t need to be worried about Brennic?” I ask in a rush.
“Yes. Brennic will not do anything to interfere with us,” Tersah says.
I allow her words to calm me as my thoughts shift back to our mission of freeing those men and women. They deserve to smell the fresh air, to run until they grow tired, to build a life of their own, to plan, to hope, to dream.
