Mabon stares at me. All his hair is tied up in severe braids.
“I’m sorry,” I say again.
He sighs heavily, and then a fond look flows over his face. “You really are dumb, aren’t you? All muscles and no brains.”
His hand reaches out and traces lightly over my biceps. I’m not sure I appreciate being called dumb, but at least he is not mad at me anymore.
“I have nothing to fear from you,” he says, as if speaking to himself. “You even saw a duel.” He stops and shakes his head, but there is a deep tenderness in the gesture that makes my heart skip a beat.
He pulls his hand back and stands up straight. “I’m going out.”
He brushes past me, and I grab his wrist. “Don’t go,” I hear myself say. He seems to have forgiven me, but I still hate the thought of him leaving like this.
“I have to.”
The air is heavy between us. Weighted. Difficult to breathe.
“Is it safe?” I ask.
He chuckles darkly. “Is it safe? This is court. It is never safe.”
My stomach twists. I don’t like the thought of him being in danger. I don’t like it at all and I don’t care if that’s illogical. I’m feeling what I’m feeling and I can’t just turn it off.
“Then don’t go. Stay with me.”
A thousand emotions flash across his beautiful eyes. I hold my breath. I can tell he is tempted. Part of him would like nothing more than to spend the evening with me, in the safety of his rooms.
“I can’t,” he says eventually.
I nod sadly and release his wrist. “Take me with you.”
I don’t know what I can do to protect him, but it has to be more than the nothing I can do if I’m left here. Duke Carian and Lord Gwydion, and heaven knows who else are out there.
Mabon tenderly strokes my face and I shamelessly lean into the touch. “As dumb as you are, there are still things you shouldn’t see.”
My heart rate spikes. Shit. He is not on to me, is he? I suck in a breath. No, I’m being paranoid. Mabon doesn’t know I’m with the Resistance.
His hand drops. He turns and he walks silently away. The door clicks shut behind him. He is gone and I am alone.
Well, at least he didn’t chain me to the bed this time. That’s progress. I pissed him off and he slapped me. But he is still giving me a free rein. Unless he didn’t mean to and he has simply forgotten to leash me.
Despondently, I wander over to the window and stare out into the darkness. My thoughts are a mess. My emotions are even worse. I don’t even know where to start trying to untangle this jumbled chaos.
I sigh deeply. Then a flickering light catches my attention. No. It can’t be.
My muscles freeze and go rigid. My lungs stop working. I watch and watch and count the flashes.
Oh my god. It’s true. It is the Resistance.
And they have a plan.
Chapter eighteen
The sound of raised voices startles me from my sleep. It’s morning and I am still alone in the bed. The curtains are drawn and it’s dark and shadowy in here, but something is happening in the sitting room.
I throw back the sheets, but my collar pulls tight and I choke. What the hell? I swear Mabon never came home last night, so who chained me to the bed? And without me waking up?
That’s unsettling as hell, but the shouting from the next room is far more alarming. Is Mabon okay? What is going on? Where was he all night and why didn’t he come back?
