I was, therefore, exceptionally pleased to see him now.
“How was practice?” I asked, setting aside the account books. My heart squeezed at the way a shaft of sunlight from the high, slitted windows cast a golden hue on his damp hair. I was reminded of that day at the Colosseum, when he boldly held my gaze and it felt unsettlingly like fate. My seventeenth birthday.
“Hard.”
“Mm.” I put my arms around his waist, heedless of the sweat, inhaling his scent. Lorcan chuckled.
“You don’t want to do that, Zosh. I’m a mess.”
“I don’t care. I like you like this.”
He kissed my hair, then my lips.
“Have you eaten?”
“Not yet.” I’d been fretting over how much grain to buy for the winter. Prices are too high. The economy is running hot, with too few goods and too little money but a huge spike in demand. My economics class lessons seem too remote to help me get a handle on it. Probably wouldn’t hurt to review the material, though, if only I could find the time.
“I’ll call for lunch.”
He ducked out into the hallway to hail the waiting guard. I go nowhere unaccompanied, not even within my own home. Again. I mind it less than before, having ghosted these halls for an entire year by myself, but it’s been an adjustment.
“Will you be able to meet Scarlett when she arrives next week?” I asked.
“Of course. Tahra can cover the training while I’m away.” I looped my arm through his as we meandered back to our quarters. “If it’s all right with you, I’d like to name her as temporary captain during my absence.”
“Captain of the guard at seventeen?” Tahra’s age was only one of my objections, but it was the only one I felt comfortable voicing.
Lorcan smiled.
“Eighteen, soon. Not that it matters; she’s an adult and wants to stay on. I’ll be the real captain, of course. She’s a good fighter, and there’s no other obvious choice. It’s only for a few days.”
He was trying to be accommodating. I knew that, yet I couldn’t overcome my hesitation. I regularly drop in to watch him train, mostly because seeing Lorcan in action is such a pleasure—but partly because I’m still haunted by the vague suspicion that I might catch them kissing. Or worse. I can’t get past it.
Perhaps there’s more truth to Norah’s rumors than I want to admit.
He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Bennet asked to be part of the guard, too.”
“He’s too young,” I protested.
Lorcan frowned. “He wants to train with us. The way I did at his age.”
Sixteen when he was sent out to be a spy-assassin. “We asked too much of you, Lorcan. I won’t do that to my foster son, no matter how eagerly he volunteers. Bennet has already seen enough violence.”
Lorcan’s brows knit thoughtfully. “He’ll be upset.”
“No recruits under seventeen, even if they volunteer.” I braced for an argument. But Lorcan surprised me when he nodded in agreement.
“Understood, Princess. They can work in the barns and train. But they can’t join the knighthood, much less the royal guard, until they’re of age.”
“And only if they study. I want the focus to be education, not using children to fill our labor gap, as dire as it is.”
“You’re okay with Tahra, though? I don’t have any other choices. I know she’s been a source of tension, Zosia, but Covari-trained fighters are hard to come by. Her complaint about guarding you came from a history of always being told to stay behind, not resentment toward you.”
I don’t quite believe it. But I’m the one who’s been clinging to suspicion and resentment all summer, not her.
“Can you send her to meet Scarlett?”
“I could. But I think our friend would rather meet a familiar face upon arriving at an active volcano.” He squeezed my shoulder.
