He continued, “The guards said Lisbeth arrived at dawn to lay a fire in the fireplace. She knocked, but you didn’t answer. The door was locked.”
Bryn picked up her knife and fork, trying to play it off with a casual shrug.
I still smell of Rangar.
“I was utterly exhausted,” she explained. “I didn’t even hear them knocking. I suppose yesterday’s excitement was too much for me.”
Captain Carr watched her in a straight-forward way that didn’t try to hide his suspicion. “The crowd enjoyed watching Rangar Barendur die.”
She took a bite of cold toast. “Indeed they did.”
He angled his head. “You didn’t appear quite so amused, I noted. In fact, there were whispers that your faintness came from seeing your paramour in a noose.”
The dry bread felt like sand in her mouth. She swallowed it down with cold tea. “I’m a lady, Captain Carr. My faintness came from the proximity to violence, nothing more. As for the rumors, those are nothing new. The Barendur brothers intentionally spread lies that Rangar and I were romantically involved in an attempt to mask their crimes. I told you when I arrived that there was nothing to the rumors.”
She went on eating as though nothing was amiss, though her heart was racing. Was he going to press her about the moment when she’d touched Rangar’s face? Or had he tortured her enough for one morning?
He folded his hands slowly, calloused thumbs rubbing together. “I suppose it doesn’t matter. Not anymore. Whether he was your lover or not, he’s supper for the worms now.”
She paused, then took another sip of tea. She had to be careful now. Between the guards and the servants, there were at least ten other people in the room—enough of an audience.
She softened her expression. “I can tell the rumors trouble you, as they would any man. It would please me if there was something I could do to put your mind at ease.”
She set aside her napkin, then stood and took a few slow steps to his end of the table. He straightened to give her his attention, though it was still laced with suspicion.
“I was thinking of ways I might show my affection.” She trailed her hand along the tablecloth. “I still have one engagement gift remaining. The first two were all about exacting revenge on Rangar Barendur, but I’d like the third one to be about you. About us.”
Her fingers reached his hand, and she skated her fingertips over his skin.
He studied her hand on his and then asked, “What did you have in mind?”
“Saint Serrel’s shrine. It’s where my parents went to receive a blessing before their union. We can take a procession. For protection in these uncertain times, of course, but also to make a statement. We’ll pass through Mir Town and the villages along the forest’s border so that everyone may whisper new rumors about the devotion of the princess to her future king.”
She squeezed his hand and said, “I want so badly to prove my devotion.”
Captain Carr slowly placed his other hand on top of hers. His skin was rough like sandpaper. His touch was too hard.
He slowly lifted her hand to his lips. “As you wish, princess.”
She offered him an adoring smile despite how her stomach roiled. Her body recalled all too well his awful embrace in the remembrance garden.
He pressed his lips to her hand. A cold kiss. Utterly unmoving. If Rangar’s kiss was the hottest part of a fire, Captain Carr’s was the cold ashes left behind.
“It will take a few days to organize security for such an excursion. On the eve of the next full moon, we’ll depart.” He tugged her closer, bending her ear toward his lips. “And afterwards, in my chambers, you’ll show me more of that devotion you speak of.”
Her skin crawled. She wanted nothing more than to jerk her hand out of his grasp and use it to slap him.
Still, as she had no intention of him continuing to live after the moonlit procession, it was easy for her to smile. “It will be my pleasure, Captain.”
Chapter
Thirty-Nine
THE MOONLIT PROCESSION . . . feigned illness . . . arrows . . . not true love . . . the ultimate rogue
It was fortunate that the next full moon wasn’t for almost a fortnight, as Rangar needed the time to heal. Once he had regained most of his strength, Illiana helped smuggle him out of the castle to Mir Town, where he was able to rendezvous with Valenden in Mam Nelle’s seamstress stall and, from there, abscond to Saint’s Forest, where the rebels were preparing for their attack.
Bryn heard of all these developments secondhand from Mars on the few occasions she dared venture into the secret passages. They went over the plan's details again and again to ensure they’d be prepared for any surprises.
