I bit the inside of my cheek and smoothed my dress. “Let me…just get a cloak.”
“Right.” Kael folded his arms over his chest, watching me disappear into the bedchamber.
When I returned, he was already standing in the open doorway. I forced a smile and pinched the back of his arm for good measure. “Shall we?”
“After you,” Kael said once we were in the corridor. “But you might want to let down your hair.”
I flipped my braid over my shoulder. “Why?”
Kael lowered his voice. “The Sentry left his bite behind.”
38
Lyra
Myrdan guards were tangled withStav on all sides of the inner court procession through the streets of Stonegate.
Much the same as when I’d stepped into town with Emi, hawkers shouted prices, hoping for a royal sale. Margun had orders of custom gowns with lace, silk, and satin ribbons to fund her shop until the next frost.
Kael kept a distance, allowing me to drift along with courtiers who followed Yrsa.
The princess and Emi kept the lead, but soon enough most of the crowd bled into shops of their own interest, and I was shoved back into the hordes. As the melder, I would be expected to commission a fine gown for Thane’s vow ceremony, but I found little interest in the bustle today.
In truth, all I wanted to do was find my Draven guard.
Gods, I needed to tread with caution. Both Roark and I knew Damir would never sanction any sort of affection between us. IfRoark were to have a lover, I had few doubts the king would use it strategically. A high-ranking Stav with Draven blood would go to a noble Jorvan woman, a slight to Dravenmoor or a branch of peace.
I knew little of Roark’s folk in his homeland, but perhaps he would be a bridge between kingdoms. My heart dropped. If Damir found the Wanderer’s bones, none of us would have any choice or power to speak against him.
There was true, dangerous trouble facing the kingdoms, but I was a wretch. My thoughts would not stop wandering to the Sentry.
We’d kissed, we’d touched, but none of it meant Roark would want me for his match. No mistake, the king would never allow it anyway.
My fingers trailed over a wooden table laden in bands made from bone and glittering threads, necklaces of blue pearls and gold, and broaches of all kinds. I selected a curious ring of silver and bronze. Two serpents entangled, jaws spread, like they were readying to devour the other.
“Pretty thing, isn’t it.” The woman behind the stand grinned, polishing a cloak pin with a thick linen cloth. She nodded at the ring. “The symbol comes from the poem of the nymph and her night and day lovers.”
I slid the ring on my center finger and glanced at the woman. “I don’t know that tale.”
“Ah. ’Tis a tale of a beautiful nymph from the gods’ wood. First, she gave her heart to a man who was bold, kind, and good. But one night on her journey home, she came across another man. He was not like the first. He was strong, cunning, and wicked.”
The woman winked and placed the polished pin on the tabletop and leaned onto her palms. “The nymph’s heart was drawn toboth. Uncertain what to do, she prayed to the goddess of love. Touched by her plea, the goddess combined the two men as one. And that, they say, is what it means to love a heart—the lightest pieces, and the darkest.”
True love. To accept another soul—the good and the bad—and love them through it all.
I slid the ring off my finger and returned it to the table. “I suppose it’s what most of us want, right?”
“The legend says this symbol calls to those whose hearts are torn.” The woman winked again. “I hope you find what your heart wants soon.”
What my heart wanted? I thought it yearned to be free of these walls once. But now I yearned for more of Roark’s wicked hands on my skin, more of his sly grin, more of his soft laughter.
My insides cinched. In another breath, I recalled the icy touch of a phantom in the mirror land. The way his nearness quickened my pulse. A cruel soul, yet I didn’t pull away. A piece of me, deep within, almost anticipated the sight of him whenever the king used my craft.
Gods, I was a fool. I allowed a man to touch me, so intimately, yet I was betraying everyone by conversing and plotting with a killer.
Heat rushed to my head and turned my stomach. I needed to be free of these crowds.
While Kael was turned, speaking to another Stav standing watch, I slipped around the corner where tall tenements and arched bridges shadowed the streets from the burn of the sun.
