Thiswas more of the Renwell from my training. Harsh but empowering. After all, if he didn’t think I could succeed, he wouldn’t have given me the task.
“But what if innocent people get hurt?” I asked, thinking of Ruru, of Garyth’s wife and little Isabel. And even though I doubted they were innocent, my chest tightened at the idea of harming Aiden, Maz, and Melaena.
Renwell’s brow furrowed. “Innocent people always get hurt.” He reached into his boot and pulled out my mother’s sheathed knife.
My breath snagged on something sharp in my throat. He had kept it like he said he would.
“Your mother was innocent, was she not?” he asked in a deadly quiet voice, slowly sliding out the black blade. “As is Everett. Delysia. Would you be so worried about thesecriminalsif you knew they were plotting the murder of your innocent siblings?”
I stared at him, everything blurred and muffled as if I were underwater. Drowning in fear.
That couldn’t be what Aiden was planning. Nor Garyth with Melaena and their talk of the mine and the People’s Council. It just couldn’t be.
I barely noticed Renwell step closer until he pressed the tip of my mother’s blade to my collar. He eased it down to reveal my scar once more.
I stilled, a strangled gasp escaping my numb lips.
His gaze jerked to mine, but he didn’t move the knife. “Steal the gods-damned gold, Kiera. Figure out what the traitors are plotting. Andneverdisobey me again.”
He tore the knife away without drawing a drop of blood.
But I didn’t wait another moment. I fled.
Chapter 21
Aiden
“To the best shot in Aquinon!”Maz announced.
I chuckled as Ruru’s ears turned red with embarrassment.
We tapped our mugs together over a table atThe Weary Traveler.Nearly every table was full, and no one paid us any mind.
I sipped my Sunshine while Ruru messily gulped his watered-down ale.
Maz laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. “Look at the boy! So proud he can barely drink past that grin!”
Ruru wiped his chin, wincing a little at the burns on his hands.
“I’ll put some hornleaf sap on those as soon as we get home,” I assured him.
He beamed. “They don’t hurt much.”
Maz ruffled his hair, and the two of them began to reprise every moment of our evening at the Temple. I was proud of Ruru for working so hard, but always, there was a stab of fear. For getting him involved. For asking him to take such a risk.
He’d wanted to. Begged me to let him help. And if all went according to plan, he wouldn’t be too much in harm’s way.
But when did anything go according to my plan?
A pair of honey-colored eyes teased my mind.
Gods, had it only been this morning that I’d seen her at the bathhouse? It felt like an age had passed. How quickly that beautiful thief stole my thoughts, my peace. I’d thought of little else all day.
The change of clothes had been an excuse to follow her. At first, because I was worried about her on her own so soon after recovering. Then, when I saw her soaking in the steamy water, I didn’t want to leave.
I’d given her space over the past few days, letting her recover, letting Maz and Ruru bolster her spirits with theirs. I didn’t want to add my tormented feelings to her own.
Instead, I’d focused on preparing for the heist. I had everything we needed now—guard and servant uniforms, a wagon with horses, and false-bottom barrels. Melaena had procured Asher’s seal to get us through the gate, as well as a crude map of Asher’s house.
