“Marigold?” Octavian touched my arm. “Are you ready for this?”
I nodded. We were just walking into a town, not storming a castle or anything. I told myself there was no reason to feel so jittery.Except for the fact that everything in this world is trying to kill me. And I don’t even belong here in the first place.
“Do we, uh, need to pretend we’re married or something?” I asked Octavian. “When we enter the town, I mean.”
Octavian glanced over at me, eyebrows raised.
“When we went into Far Meadow, Radven said it would be strange for an unmarried woman to be traveling with an unmarried man,” I explained.
“Oh.” Octavian nodded. “Of course we can pretend to be married if you like.”
“It’s not about melikingit,” I said, then flushed. “I mean, not to imply that I’m offended by the idea of being your pretend wife or something. I just meant that I wasn’t asking for anything other than purely practical reasons.” Good god, where was my off switch and how could I activate it?
Fortunately, Octavian spoke before I could babble myself into complete humiliation.
“Don’t worry,” he rumbled. “You’re safe with me.”
And Ididfeel safe, with him at my side. I still had a hard time believing this man claimed to have a hole where his heart should be.
When the time came, we made our way down the wooded slope, then hid ourselves in the trees at the bottom to watch the road that led into town. Octavian’s big hand was a warm, reassuring weight on my arm.
We waited until a small caravan of carts piled high with vegetables trundled past, then slipped out from the trees and fell in behind them.
It felt odd, being out in the open after a couple days of running and hiding among the trees. But I had to admit, I felt safer walking next to the big, muscled Octavian. His size alone made him the sort of guy that drew people’s attention but also made them quickly look away, as if they were afraid to meet his gaze.
Despite my nerves, the walk into Ring-Around-the-Hill was uneventful, and it wasn’t long before we were standing in the outermost circle of the town.
“The stable is this way,” Octavian said, pressing his fingers gently against my back. The touch was light, meant to do little more than guide me in the right direction, but I’d have been lying if I said I didn’t go a little tingly.
The streets were even more crowded than I expected, and I was glad to have Octavian at my side to lead us through the throng. People practically fell out of his way, apparently afraid to accidentally inconvenience the big, cloaked man.
“Looks like you’re a little more conspicuous than we’d hoped,” I said, only loud enough for him to hear. I leaned closer to him, swerving out of the way of a man with a long, braided beard. While people were making a path for Octavian, I wasn’t so lucky. Most of the townsfolk—and especially the men, I noticed—were disinclined to move out of my way, instead leaving me to zig and zag and constantly veer out of someone’s path. It figured I would be just as invisible here as I was back home.
“Unfortunately,” Octavian rumbled in response to my comment. “But there’s little we can do about it now.” He offered me his arm, and the moment I took it, the townsfolk began to treat us as a single unit, swerving around both of us instead of just him.
Of course.
It wasn’t long before we reached the stable Radven had mentioned—it was indeed close. The smell hit me even before I noticed the horses being guided in and out.
“This way.” Octavian steered me around the side of the stable and to a narrow alley that ran between the stable and the town’s stone outer wall. It was just wide enough for the pair of us to walk abreast, and there was a trail of foul-smelling sludge running down the center that I carefully avoided.
We walked around the back of the stable, then all the way around the building’s far side, to the place where the alley opened back into the street once more. There was no one else back here.
Octavian stopped, then turned around, scanning the roof of the stable as well as the building on the other side.
“Did we pass any other stables?” he asked me in a very low, quiet voice.
“Not that I saw.” I matched his volume and followed his gaze, but I saw nothing. “Where are Radven and Alastor?”
“I don’t know.” His grip tightened on my arm, and his other hand reached for his sword. “But something’s very wrong.”
28
All Things Decadent and Luscious
Octavianpulledmecloserto him, positioning me partway behind him. With his other hand, he eased his sword out of its sheath.
The alley was empty. I wasn’t sure what sort of danger he expected to come leaping out at us, but after the past couple of days in Therador, I braced myself for just about anything.
