We’re both still wearing our same dresses, the ones we had on when we were with the captain. I wonder if it makes her skin crawl, knowing that the fabric holds his touch? I wonder if she scrubbed it as madly as I did, if she found any blood stained into the threads.
While the two of us stare at each other, the other saddles look between us, picking up on the tension. My hands wring in front of me, my stomach twisting the same way.
One question keeps running through my head as I look at her, the unknown circling me like a vulture ready to dive.
Did she tell?
Chapter 17
AUREN
Blue eyes watch me, prettyface revealing nothing. I’m not surprised. Rissa isn’t one to break character and give anything away.
I can’t judge the feel of the other saddles either. They’re too good at pretending, too practiced in courtly words of tricks and riddles.
“Can I please talk to you?” I ask again when the silence becomes too much. She’s making me squirm, every second worse than the last.
Rissa’s attention flicks down, catching me nibbling on my bottom lip before I can stop myself. She knows my most important, most guarded secret, and I have no idea if she’s told anyone. I have no idea what she’s thinking, and that worries me.
Finally, she gets to her feet. “Sure, we can talk.”
An audible breath of relief leaves my chest, but I look around, heart sinking. There’s nowhere in this space that we wouldn’t be overheard.
Rissa’s one step ahead. “Come. The guards let us step outside a few times a day to stretch our legs.”
I follow behind her out of the tent, and Lu’s head snaps in my direction as soon as I’m outside. Rissa looks at the guards. “Just stretching my legs, boys,” she says with a practiced smile, blonde braids prettily woven through her hair. Even though she’s been wearing that same dress for days and has no hairbrush, she somehow still looks beautiful.
The closest guard narrows his eyes on us. “You know the rules. Only one at a time.”
“It’s alright,” Lu intervenes, looking at me steadily. “Gildy Locks will stick close. Won’t you?”
“Yes,” I answer quickly.
The soldier’s mouth turns down in displeasure, but he relents. “Circle the tent only.”
“Of course,” Rissa purrs before turning, and I follow beside her as we begin a slow circle around the saddles’ tent, the shadow of night giving us a pretense of privacy.
I’m brimming with worry, practically shaking with it while we walk in the snow side by side, her finger trailing lightly over the leather tent as she goes. I can hear the muffled voices of the saddles inside, already picking up on another argument.
“You know what I’m going to ask,” I say, breaking the silence.
“Do I?” Rissa replies coyly.
A breath of frustration winds out of me, a tight spiral that springs up in my throat. She’s not going to make this easy on me. I knew that as soon as she made me wait.
We may have gone through a traumatic moment with Captain Fane, but that doesn’t mean she’s my ally now.
I pitch my voice low, our slow, meandering footsteps matching in pace. “Did you tell anyone?”
The only light we have is a milky moon amidst ashen clouds, like cream poured over slate.
“Did I tell anyone what?” she says breezily.
My jaw tightens. “Did you tell anyone about what I did to the pirate captain?”
My question falls slowly, like the snowflakes drifting down around us. Once again, she’s silent, letting me squirm as we walk, her blonde hair going ginger as we pass by a lantern hanging on a nearby tent.
She finally answers me. “I didn’t tell anyone.”
