My brows raised. I’d never heard that before. “After Jarusha? The false queen?”
He nodded. “Our queen. The one who gave us a new home.”
He spoke of Jarusha with such reverence. She’d always been known in Elwen as more of a troublemaker, someone who spread rumors and misinformation about my father, turning others against him. It was odd to hear anything but contempt when it came to Jarusha.
“I like that, you know,” Penn said, voice quiet and contemplative.
“You like what?” I asked.
“Your solution. A council made up of both sides. Though I’m surprised you’d even consider such a thing with us barbarians.”
My mouth dropped open.
“Oh, come on. I know what’s said about us in Elwen. What you all think of us.”
It was true, and I couldn’t deny it. But I also couldn’t think of a better way to mend the tension between our two realms. “Well, I have to say that I have been... surprised during my time here.”
He crossed his arms. “Oh?”
I looked at the pictures above us, avoiding his gaze and what I knew would likely be a smug smirk. “The people are nice. More civilized than I realized, and I suspect they’re mostly innocent, people duped into leaving Elwen and then ultimately trapped here when the border was closed. It’s been over twenty years since the war; so many of the people who are now adults were just children when it happened. I can’t blame them for the actions of their parents.” I paused. “I don’t understand how anyone condones your thievery, and I don’t understand how your society is structured, what kind of laws you have in place. But it’s not what I imagined it would be.”
“Well, that’s something, Lilypad.”
I lowered my gaze from the pictures to send a glare his way, but my annoyance fled when I found him staring at me, those green eyes so discerning. I swallowed but refused to look away, to be cowed by his intense gaze.
A bird cawed outside the cave, and both our heads snapped in the direction.
“Right.” He rubbed his hands together. “We need to get going. You have training.”
“Of course I do,” I said drily. “Who am I training with today? Please tell me it’s not Arrow.”
An amused look danced across his face. “And what do you have against Arrow?”
The memory of her curled in his lap last night flashed through my mind. I tugged at my hair. “She butchered my hair, in case you don’t remember.”
“Really?” We began walking back toward the entrance of the cave. “I think it looks much better.”
He really was such an ass, which reminded me, I was supposed to be angry with him.
I whirled on him. “And by the way, how did we end up...” I gestured to the fire, remembering that he’d been asleep when I woke up this morning, that he might not even know we had somehow found our way together while sleeping. “Uh...”
“End up...?” He twirled his finger in the air, beckoning for me to continue.
“Um.” I cleared my throat. “How did you end up in this place with me?”
“I tracked you, and by the time I found you, you were passed out in the cold dark shelter as it stormed outside. Rather than wake you and have to make the miserable trek back to our camp in the middle of the night, I built a fire and let you sleep. Eventually, I fell asleep too.”
“Oh.” That sounded... not as assholish as I had expected.
“Couldn’t exactly have you escaping before you complete your mission.” With that he stalked off into the sun-bathed forest.
Nope, never mind. He was still an asshole.
Chapter Sixteen
Hammer watched as I slid under a tangle of vines, thorns scraping against my head. I hopped up on the other side, jumped to catch hold of a branch, and pulled myself up, arms shaking, sweat dripping into my eyes.
“C’mon, Princess, show me that muscle! The Huntsman gets closer every day, and you need to complete your training!”
