“What amIdoing here?” Fane scoffed, using the napkin he held to wipe the coffee on the table. When he was done, he palmed it and set his hand on his hip. “Why areyouhere? I thought you were in Sparta.” As if that thought had triggered another, Fane tilted his head. “Is Commander Antonius with you?”
“No,” Sonah huffed, throwing furtive glances at the green-robed man. He was no longer looking over at her, having turned his attention back to his companions. Sonah made a frustrated noise and shot Fane a mulish look. “I’m here alone.”
Closing her eyes, Sonah swore under her breath.Fucking stupid.
Fane blinked in surprise. “Alone? No, that cannot be. You’re?—”
“Fane,” Sonah whispered, her hand latching onto his vambrace. “Stop talking for a second. Do me a favor and please forget you saw me. I have… business here. Now go about yours.”
Fane frowned and stepped closer.
For the love of the gods…
“I am not going anywhere now,” Fane muttered, his light brown eyes narrowed. “What’s going on? Where is everyone? Why are you alone?”
“Why are you so nosy?”
The Liodari pursed his lips. “I get that way when someone I know is alone and vulnerable and acting suspiciously.” He looked over his shoulder and Sonah followed his gaze to see the soldier he’d been sitting with eyeing them curiously.
“I’m not alone,” Sonah hissed, drawing Fane’s attention back. “I am traveling with… that man. I woke up late, that’s all.”
Fane looked over at the man in question, his frown deepening. “Well, it’s rude of him to ignore you?—”
He made to step past Sonah, intent on the traveler, and Sonah’s heart stopped. Without thinking, she grabbed his arm.
“No! Don’t—don’t bother him. He’s with… important people. I am fine waiting. You need not concern yourself any longer. Please.”
Gods, why did she have to run into a nosy Liodari on her very first solo mission?
Fane looked at her with a cocky grin, but Sonah wouldn’t give in. Instead, she crossed her arms. “And where is your uniform, Liodari? Perhaps I’ll tell the commander you were seen…”
The look on Fane’s face made Sonah’s words trail off, and she felt the shame and anger emanating from him as if they livedbeneath the surface of his tawny skin. He looked away from her, taking a step back and Sonah felt like an ass.
“Fane?”
His throat worked as he sought to find the words, but Sonah had a feeling she knew what had happened.
“After… after you all left us that… that last time,” Fane started, each word pulled from him, leaving behind a scarlet blush high on his cheeks. “Commander Antonius dismissed me from the Liodari. I was sent down to the infantry under Captain Sedaros.”
“What? Why?” Sonah said, reaching out to lay her hand on his forearm. “Was… was anyone else?—”
Fane shook his head. He turned his gaze to look at her, and she felt a pang of sympathy at the agony in his eyes. “No one else was at fault. I alone am responsible for what transpired between your sister and the commander. I spoke out of turn and I deserved the punishment.”
Sonah felt heat flash over her face and chest. She knew what he meant. She’d overheard him that night, while she’d been searching for something to clean up the vomit she’d left in the room. Jason, Fane and Michael had come back to the inn just then and spoke of Lerek’s murder.
That Daris had been the one to kill him.
Knowing now it was a falsehood, Sonah felt even more guilt for her part in the affair. Not only was Lerek not dead, but Fane had been punished for revealing something that never happened. Punished severely, Sonah thought.
Not for the first time, she wondered why they’d lied about Lerek at all.
She hadn’t bothered to question Lerek about it, worried he might use it as an opportunity to ask even more questions of his own. She’d fumbled the first few attempts he’d made to ask about Terena. And the way his face had contorted when he’dbrought up Daris made her relieved she’d not broached the topic.
Sonah opened her mouth to say something, when the men at the far table—the green-robed man, too—rose and made their way to the door. Panicking, Sonah moved away from Fane, pulling up her hood.
“I must go,” she mumbled, hoping to put an end to the unwanted meeting with the former Liodari.
“Sonah, wait,” Fane called, snapping forward to grip her elbow. Whirling, Sonah slapped at his hand, looking back over her shoulder to see the men were already gone.
