‘What do you think?’
Harlan rubbed his forehead. ‘Whatever you told him did her no favours. You should see her face.’
‘WhatItold him? The two of you were hardly discreet.’
‘I have a mind to pay him a visit.’
Shapur pinned him with a stare. ‘And who do you think will pay for that visit? Use your head. You want to help her? Then stay away.’ He looked between Harlan and Astin. ‘I suggest you both go back to the barracks and sleep off the ale. You have a tough couple of weeks ahead of you.’
Harlan frowned. ‘Not me. I’m stood down until further notice.’
Shapur turned away. ‘Consider this your notice, Commander.’
Harlan watched him walk off.
Astin clapped him on the back. ‘Well, that’s good news. Back on the job.’
Harlan had quite enjoyed training the new recruits, and he would have been happy to continue doing that instead.
Blake glanced in his direction as she strolled by. The hurt in those pretty eyes of hers made him look down.
‘Let’s go,’ he said, his head a mess of emotion and ale. ‘I need to lie down before I fall down.’
Chapter 30
Blake could not tell if she was avoiding Harlan in the weeks that followed or if he was avoiding her. Both, maybe. He was not on the ground, not on the wall, not amid the trees when she took walks. She knew he was back commanding the borough—just nowhere near her.
A week after her encounter with Harlan in the port, Astin showed up with a parcel of food for the family. Blake tried to refuse, but the defender reminded her that there was a time and place for pride, and they were in the middle of a famine.
‘Tough times are coming,’ he told her.
She looked up at him. ‘How much tougher can things get?’
His non-response spoke volumes.
It was the sight of her hungry sisters watching through the window that eventually made her reach out and take it.
‘How is he?’ The question spilled out despite her best efforts to hold it in.
‘Broody’ was Astin’s reply. He glanced in the direction of her sisters. ‘Good day, merchant.’ He stepped off the veranda and walked down the street.
Blake knew she needed to find a way to be independent of Harlan—for both their sakes. She needed to replace the food he was sending so she could comfortably cut ties without depriving her family.
‘I heard rumours they’re digging more tunnels,’ Thea told her the following morning as she swept her veranda. ‘Though if any defenders come knocking, you didn’t hear it from me.’
Even if Blake could find out their location, she knew she would not make it past the shaft. Her hands turned clammy at the mere thought.
Thea paused and leaned on her broom. ‘I told Birtle no way, not after last time. Safer to climb over the thing.’
‘And just stroll past the guards?’ Blake asked with a smile.
Thea resumed sweeping. ‘They can’t be everywhere at once, and all eyes are on the ground right now.’
Blake’s smile faded. ‘I suppose you’re right.’
That afternoon, she walked to the east end of the forest. She sat with her back against a tree, watching the defenders atop the wall. She made mental notes of how far they walked and how long they were stationary at each turret.
The walls were sixty feet high, a little more than some of the larger trees the girls had climbed as children. While there were no branches to hold on to, the oddly shaped stones created small footholds for an experienced climber on the lighter side.
