Confusion swept across Charles’s face, his lips parting as he struggled to voice his complaints. “But…I can’t afford…”
“You’ll be well compensated,” Aidon assured him. “As long as Dauphine doesn’t receive word that we’re waiting for her.”
“And if she doesn’t arrive?” Charles stammered. “Sometimes she…she changes her schedule and—”
“Let’s all hope that’s not the case today,” Will interrupted. “For your sake.”
Never one to be subtle with a threat, Aidon thought wryly. He couldn’t deny it was effective though. Charles blanched, but he gave no further arguments as Liam asked where they could deliver his funds after the meeting.
“How am I supposed to leave without raising suspicion?” Charles asked once the business was concluded.
Aidon clucked his tongue. “Charles,” he chided. “Surely your newness as a courtesan doesn’t preclude you from garnering the secrets of the establishment. You don’t honestly mean to tell me you don’t know of the ways to move through here undetected.”
Charles’s shoulders curved inward. “There’s a back staircase,” he confessed quietly.
“I suggest you find it quickly,” Will remarked, his voice light. It was all the motivation Charles needed. The man darted from the room without a backwards glance.
“He could easily be running for a guard,” Liam pointed out as the door clicked shut behind him.
“He could,” Will sighed as he dropped down onto the brown chaise that sat beneath the window. “But I doubt it. His panic felt more flight than fight, and he’s smart enough to know that should we survive the guards, we’d kill him.”
It was strange to see Will like this after weeks of seeing him wear his stress like a second skin. One might mistake himfor a picture of ease and pomposity. There was once a time where Aidon certainly wouldn’t have been able to differentiate what he was seeing from the true person beneath. But now, he knew it for what it was: a mask, fitted perfectly for the occasion.
“A lucky thing she has an appointment today,” Aidon mused. He went to sit on the bed, but paused, his nose scrunching as he thought better of it.
Better to not give Dauphine any ideas.
“Very lucky,” Liam agreed, amusement dancing in his eyes as he watched Aidon’s struggle. But the levity didn’t last long, not when they could all agree—theyhadbeen lucky. Aidon couldn’t help but wonder when, exactly, that luck was due to run out.
13
For as much as Josie agonized over what awaited them when they returned to Trahir, she could not help but feel the tightness in her chest ease at the first glimpse of the sandstone palace on the horizon. She could just make out Rinnia, a splash of rainbow color interrupting the blue of the sea and sky.
“Your leg is bouncing again,” Cole drawled. He was lounging on the large crate they’d situated themselves on some time ago, the wiry hair near his temples still damp with sweat from their earlier training.
Josie stilled her foot but shot her friend a look. “If it’s bothering you so much, you could find another place to rest.”
Cole moved his arm from where it was shielding his eyes from the sun and instead squinted up at Josie. “It’s not bothering me,” he said in that easy way of his. “But if you still have so much energy, maybe you should find someone to spar with?”
Josie grinned. “Not offering yourself, are you?”
Cole’s nose wrinkled as he pushed himself onto his elbows. “I’d rather not. But if you insist…”
“No, Cole,” Josie shook her head. “I’m kidding.”
“Oh. Well in that case…” Cole flopped back down into his supine position. “Wake me up when we get to the harbor.”
Josie bit back a scoff. She knew better to take Cole’s unaffectedness personally. It did not speak anything of his love for her, or Aidon, or their kingdom. He had, after all, snuck onto this very ship with Josie over a month ago to join a battle they were not approved to take part in.
She knew no one more loyal a friend than Cole.
Even still, she pushed herself from the crate and crossed the distance to the ship’s edge in three short steps, that antsy energy propelling her forward with purpose.
They’d hit unexpected weather on the Anath, vicious waves and furious wind that even their Caeli couldn’t calm, and it had delayed their journey even further after their stop in Milsaio, turning three weeks at sea into five.
She had spent the extra time trying to convince herself that Aleissande was right, that in the confusion of battle, no one would be certain of what they saw. That even if rumors had reached Trahir, they would be easily stamped out with logic or Zuri’s masterful political prowess.
That Aidon would be waiting for them, a king already returned home.
