I blinked in surprise.
The ghost of a smile played over his lips. “In other words, it heals deep bruises quickly.”
“How do you know so much about healing? And where did you did get this medicine? I’ve never seen it before.”
His face shuttered. “Never mind that. Are you ready?” He cast his gaze over me from head to toe.
I’d changed back into my dried clothes and laced my boots on my feet while I’d waited. I’d also combed my tangled, salty hair with my fingers and braided it down my back.
“Where are we going?”
“To corroborate your story,” he said, yanking the door open.
My breath stilled. My story about the vault or about who I was? It had to be the vault as he would have no way to investigate the other. Unless he checked the city prison for recent executions or had someone inside the palace who could tell him if I’d really been a bodyguard.
Gods damn it. Renwell had assured me such a thing wouldn’t be possible. But what if it was?
“What story?” I demanded, throwing on the cloak he’d given me.
He looked down at me. “About Asher and the vault.”
Relief washed over me. “It’s not a story. It’s the truth.”
“All the same,” he said, gesturing out the door.
Ah yes, you don’t trust me.I pulled my hood over my head, feeling a sense of ease in its shadow.
I slipped past him and caught a whiff of soap and mint. Had he bathed while I was stuck in this hole? Perhaps if I started to stink enough, he would see fit to let me out of his sight for a few moments to savor a bath for myself.
Together, we stepped into the sultry twilight of the Docks Quarter. I took a deep breath of the briny air and glanced up at the violet sky already salted with stars.
“The Wolves won’t be out yet, but we should hurry,” Aiden said, his words stealing the warmth from the air.
I nodded, and we strode through the tangle of streets until we came to the bottom of the cliff road.
I suppressed a groan, looking up at the steep path ahead. A few supply wagons and pedestrians dotted the rocky edges.
Aiden didn’t wait for me, just kept marching.
He probably has the thighs of a god if he does this trek a lot, I grumbled to myself, remembering the very detailed sculpture of the gods Terraum and Arduen in the palace. As young girls, Delysia and I had giggled over their muscled physiques and bulging manhoods.
My eyes darted involuntarily to Aiden’s lower half as he walked ahead of me, but his cloak covered up anything interesting.
Not that you should be thinkinganythingof the sort.
I forced my gaze away and looked out over the harbor instead.
Torches and lamps were already glowing as the sun melted on the ocean’s horizon. I studied the ships bobbing at the dock. Which one was I meant to be on? Had Aiden told the captain I wasn’t coming? And why had he said “my” captain?
A short, sharp whistle made my head swivel back to Aiden who stood some distance ahead. The shift in focus made the world wobble for a moment.
“Eyes forward,” Aiden said as I drew even with him. “People have fallen over the side when they get distracted.”
My stomach roiled, remembering the woman tumbling over the bridge. “Understood. It’s just... rare that I get to see a view like this.”
He kept pace with me as we walked on. “The views from the palace weren’t beautiful enough for you?”
I darted a glance at him, but there was no malice in his face or his voice. “They were beautiful,” I said slowly. “I could see the sea, the sky, and the city, but they felt so far away. Untouchable. A mirage.”
