Our desire builds and breaks together—at least in this, we are in sync. After the climax, Basten holds me in his strong arms, his head resting on my shoulder.
There’s so much to say.
About the changes happening inside my body. My mind, too. Woudix’s words keep circling my head, about how I’m only play-acting at being human.
We have Rian to find and bring to justice—whether at the end of a sword or in a cell.
We have his ruined Lunden Valley to heal.
We have fae to tame.
We have humans to lead.
We have a fragile peace to maintain before the kingdom shatters into war.
But right now, all I want in the world is to stay in Basten’s arms, in this old sheep barn in a forgotten corner of the world, where no one cares what sparks at my fingers, whose blood flows in his veins.
Eventually, I pull back, running my fingers over his face.
“I worship at your feet, too, you know,” I speak as quietly as a prayer. “You say that you’d burn the world for me. For you, I’d gather the ashes, shape them into something beautiful. Remake the world anew—just for you. One where your shoulder never aches, your hands never bruise, and you’re honored as the king I know you are.”
Chapter 14
Basten
The southern gate of Old Coros is a marvel of ancient engineering: a twenty-foot archway, the word “WISDOM” chiseled on the curved marble block, columns meant to stand as proud and tall as eternal oaks.
But today? All I can think is:What a fucking dump.
Tattered banners hang limp and soiled from either side of the open gate. A line of bruised criminals sits against the wall in chains. Dozens of travelers have set up a temporary encampment of pitiful campfires and strung-up tarps, awaiting entry into the city. They’re blocked by a fleet of Golden Sentinels. All their fine brass armor—the gleaming color giving them their name—can’t mask the filth they truly are.
Mercenaries.
Hang on. Scratch that. They’re worse, if that’s possible—they’reRian’smercenaries.
I know, because I was once among their midst.
Next to me, sitting on Myst, Sabine moves her cloak’s woolen hood back enough so I can see her nose wrinkle. She whispers, “It smells like cow piss.”
We’re on the horses, in the long line of people awaiting entry into the city. Sabine wears a threadbare farm wife’s dress with a soiled cloak, the hem ripped and dragging in the mud. I’m no prize, either, dressed as her potato-digging husband, complete with too-big boots and a ridiculously tattered straw hat.
I adjust the sack of potatoes over my shoulder—borrowed from a lakeside farm we passed this morning, along with the clothing—and mutter, “I wish it wereonlycow piss.”
If I could turn off my damn godkiss, now would be the time. The smells wafting from Old Coros are an assault to the senses. Moldy cheese. Rotting fish. Piss and shit from everything that walks on two feet or four.
“I thought Old Coros was supposed to be a model city of law and order,” she leans in to murmur, eyeing a sentinel as he ransacks through a woman’s purse for “entry taxes” as she sobs that she won’t have enough coins left to feed her children.
“Last time I was here,” I reply, keeping my voice low, “it was. Streets so clean you could eat off them. Not so much as a stray dog. As for the royal army, they had soldiers in spotless armor stationed at every street corner, holding banners that proclaimed the virtues of the city. Wisdom, Honor, you know the litany. This…” I motion to the filth and disorder, “…is all new.”
The sentinel finally allows the woman entry after he tucks her entire purse into his vest. He calls for another sentinel to confiscate her horse.
Sabine clutches a handful of Myst’s mane defensively.
“When we get to the front of the line,” I murmur, “tell the horses to limp as if they’re on death’s door. We don’t want the sentinels looking too closely at their manicured hooves.”
Finally, we’re next in line. Sabine draws her cloak’s hood higher, covering her hair, completely casting her face in shadows. She hangs back on Myst, shoulders slumped. If I didn’tknow better, I’d think she was identical to every other beaten-down farmer’s wife in line.
Shedidtell me her mother was an actress.
