Alric rolled his eyes. “Oh yes because that’s something that can be written down and be possibly intercepted by our enemies. Think Reva. We haven’t seen each other since her magic came in. How was I supposed to get word to you?”
“We saw Ryven, he could have mentioned it.”
My heart squeezed in my chest. So that’s where he’d disappeared to.
Alric shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t control the commander, and I don’t know what he’s doing. He could be deep in an operation of some sort.”
A grin stretched across Ash’s face. “Not likely. Unless it includes getting so drunk he has to be dragged out of the local pub and thrown into the ditch.”
Alric’s nose wrinkled. “I guess that’s my newest assignment.”
I swallowed back the thick emotions trying to bubble up and nodded my head. Someone had to go make sure he was okay, because this most certainly was not. What if he got himself killed? What if that was what he was trying to do, to begin with?I rubbed my eyes to keep myself from crying. Maybe getting involved with him was silly if this was how he was going to act afterwards. I couldn’t afford all of these warring emotions going on.
“You okay?” Reva whispered as she bumped her shoulder into mine.
I nodded my head and tried to put on my best face but I knew she would come sniffing around later when Alric left to go check on his friend.
“You all need to bathe desperately,” I wrinkled my nose at the stench. “Except maybe you, Ash, but if you don’t bathe I have a feeling they’re gonna get madder at you.”
Ash winked at me. “You’re probably right.”
Reva shot me a meaningful look that told me this wasn’t over, which I knew to be true and grabbed her canvas bag off of the floor before rushing into the bathing chamber. Too late did I realize that I hadn’t put away the slinky nightgown that I’d worn for Ryven a week prior. I couldn’t bring myself to do it and now it was going to be my ruination. Reva leaned against the opening to the bathing chamber and on one finger held my secret up to the light.
“And what is this?”
The color drained from my face as I tried to think of some kind of excuse and not a single one came to mind.
Alric whirled on me quickly, a mischievous grin stretched across his face. I was truly doomed with these four. I would never be able to live this down again, I knew it. “So this is it.”
“This is what?” Reva’s brown eyes were saucers as she looked between us. I swallowed audibly and puffed my cheeks out.
“It’s something Sita put together for me to try to seduce the commander.”
The thin material fell from her finger and piled onto the floor. “What?”
Alric blinked rapidly. “It was a lot more fun when you were denying it.”
With flaming cheeks, I rushed to snatch it from the floor and bury it in my bedroom. Then I would go find a spot for my own grave. This day had started out so promising…
CHAPTER ELEVEN
RYVEN
Train harder, that was all that mattered. Except just as I was starting to break a sweat, I was immediately interrupted. I was staying in one of the more secluded inns at the back of the village above The Rebel’s Keep. It was where I knew I wouldn’t be bothered and the owners liked money more than anything else. I made sure I paid them handsomely for their secrecy and they never gave me any trouble. I always had a hot bath waiting for me in the evening and an even hotter meal whenever I needed it. They kept me fed, clean, and warm. Which was much appreciated with the first snow flurries coating the ground this morning.
“I should have known you would be here,” Alric said from the shadows of the inn. How he knew where I was, I had no idea, but Alric had his network that I knew nothing of. He had eyes and ears everywhere. Just because I paid for invisibility didn’t mean that I actually got it when it came to the Spy Master. There wasn’t any amount of gold that could keep me hidden from him. “At least you don’t smell like ale.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” I raised my sword and did another turn, practicing my footwork and balance. Icy windwhipped through the alley and I took a deep breath of its freshness.
“Reva reported seeing you being thrown out of a pub a few days ago.” Alric pulled a knife from his boot and began to pick at his nails with it. He was playing nonchalant but I knew better. He was trying to unnerve me. He’d been trying this trick out since we were children. It hadn’t worked then, it wasn’t going to work now. Even though my old friend could almost best me in a fight, didn’t mean he intimidated me. Not much did.
I continued my conditioning and mulled my thoughts over. How was I going to tell Alric what really happened? It was none of his business on one hand but on the other… When it came to Juniper’s safety, it was.
“I planned on coming back a week ago, but after what happened…” I cleared my throat unsure of what I wanted to give away. There wasn’t any way I could lie about it. He’d seen me the night after and I was a mess. I hadn’t wanted to leave, but by the gods, I had no other choice. What else was I to do? Stay and let it go further? Absolutely not.
Alric’s blonde brows lifted on his forehead. “Yes, I’ve seen the neglige.”
Rage like no other bloomed within my chest and before I knew what I was doing, my blade was pressed against his neck. His eyes were bored as they took me and my weapon in. He knew I wouldn’t hurt him but with the anger I was feeling… I wasn’t so certain. When it came to Juniper everything was different. Nothing was off the table. It meant my emotions were unchecked and I was out of control. It was another reason I was up here, away from her.
