Maya pressed a hand to her mouth, feeling nausea rise up in her. She remembered Mister Utsev asking her if she wanted to ward the body armor against spell attacks, and she’d said yes, but then the date of Luka’s deployment to the front lines had been moved forward, and in all the rush to get the body armor ready for him before he left, she’d forgotten to have the armor warded.
Andthiswas the result.
Luka looked at her dispassionately, and it felt like she was looking at him from the wrong end of a telescope. Her hands were sweaty, and her heart was sinking like a stone. She’d wanted the truth, she thought numbly. And now she had it, for all the good it did her.
“Stoffel had to pull me out of the rest of the armor,” Luka went on, still speaking in that same dead voice, as if he were reciting numbers from the estate ledgers. “But with the fire spreading and all the fighting around us, he had to pry thesabatonoff me. Neither of us realized that it took off half of my foot with it."
"So—your foot—”
As Maya watched, Luka used the end of his walking stick to peel back the bandages he kept on his almost healed foot. His left foot was misshapen now, the last two toes and a good chunk of the end of his foot was missing.
“Can’t ride anymore,” he said, and Maya flinched. “But I wanted to bring Darkbolt back with me. He was brave during that ambush, braver than many other horses in the regiment.” He shrugged. “But we haven’t seen each other much since we’ve been back in Kamenev. I had hoped to change that today, but I heard you talking with Stoffel, and…”
He trailed off, and Maya stepped closer to him. “Luka…” She stopped, unsure of what she wanted to say. Whatcouldshe even say? Should she apologize? How would any apology ever be enough for the loss of his foot? Of his occupation and his birthright as the future Commander of the Imperial Army?
The bile was rising now, faster than she could contain it. Turning her back on him, Maya fled out of the stables and into the corner, where she was sick into the bushes.
CHAPTER TEN
In a strange reversal of the past few days, Maya began to avoid Luka around the estate.
As soon as Luka realized what was happening, he went to talk to her.
He found the doors to her lab locked, and her maid sat on a chair outside, her hands folded neatly into her lap.
“Miss Vennala, isn’t it?”
“Mrs. Vennela, Your Highness,” she said, standing up and curtsying.
"How long has Lady von Rakhmonov been sequestered inside her lab?”
“Two days, Your Highness.”
The sound of hammering drifted out of the locked doors, and Luka raised an eyebrow. “And she’s been working all this time?”
“I bring the lady trays of food at every mealtime,” Mrs. Vennala said. “And I draw her a bath every morning. That is the only time I see her out of the lab.”
“Does she sleep in there, as well?”
He’d meant it as a sarcastic retort, but the maid shook her head solemnly. “No, Your Highness, she retires to her bedchambers late at night. Long after the rest of the estate has gone to bed.”
“I see. Well, the next time the lady requests a tray, please make sure you pass word onto me.”
“Of course, Your Highness.”
“Thank you,” Luka said, because now, he had the beginnings of a plan. Stoffel would be visiting the tenants on the Kamenev estate for the next two days, so he didn’t have to worry about prying eyes.
He knew how to get through to Maya.
If she wasn’t going to make time for him, he’d have to do it himself.
~
The next day, Luka was ready when Maya requested her lunch tray to be brought to her. When the maid knocked on Maya’s door, he shuffled in behind her.
“You’re avoiding me.”
Maya jumped, and when she spun around from her workbench, her accusing gaze fell on Mrs. Vennela. Maya’s maid shrugged, but her eyes were uneasy. “The Prince asked to be informed when I brought you your lunch,” she said calmly.
