He rubbed his forehead. ‘I couldn’t tell you. I couldn’t tellanyone. That was the agreement. She would’ve wiped her hands of my family. I kept silent for them.’
Eda felt an unexpected flicker of anger in the pit of her belly. ‘Yourfamily?’ She brought her face closer to his and lowered her voice. ‘What aboutmyfamily? My family who bore the brunt of your actions? We were locked in that borough and starved. Corpses were piled along every wall.’
Pain flashed in his eyes. ‘Do you honestly think I haven’t carried the weight of that every day since?’
‘You sleep fairly soundly from what I’ve observed.’
‘Because I know if I hadn’t done it, then someone else would have. Queen Fayre wasn’t just going to call the whole thing off because I told her no. Either way, the king was going to die. So I chose to keep my family protected.’
She took a step back from him and dropped her gaze. ‘We can’t do this now.’ She shook her head, wishing she could shake the knowledge from it completely. ‘We have to focus on getting the prince home.’ Then, looking up, she said, ‘Or perhaps you don’t want him to make it back to Chadora.’
His eyes darkened. ‘I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.’
She stared back at him, unflinching. ‘You could’ve toldme.’
‘And put a target on your back?’ He waved away the suggestion. ‘I’m not going to apologise for keeping you out of it.’
They both looked away, taking a moment to calm themselves.
‘Let’s just get to Chadora,’ he said, quieter now. ‘Then I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.’
She left without saying another word.
CHAPTER32
Seeing all that betrayal and disappointment in Eda’s eyes was a special kind of torture. She rode at the back of the group now, as far away from him as she could manage. She was barely visible through the heavy sheets of rain. Five hours they had been riding, and still not so much as a glance in his direction.
‘The horses are going to need a rest soon,’ Tatum said, riding up alongside him.
Roul looked over his shoulder to where Eda’s horse was throwing its head up, its body angled against the rain. The donkey walked beside her, seemingly unaffected by the weather or the rocky terrain they were navigating. Blackmane’s bandage would need changing soon. ‘We’ll stop when we find some shelter.’
They had exited the forest a few hours earlier, before the rain started again. Now they had no choice but to push through it. Roul prayed the weather would deter anyone in pursuit of them.
‘How many miles are we from Chadora at your guess?’ Prince Becket called behind him.
Roul was struggling with his sense of direction due to the thunderous grey clouds blocking the sun. Plus landmarks were barely recognisable in rain that heavy. ‘Maybe fifty miles?’
‘That sounds like a question.’
‘Call it a conservative guess,’ Roul replied.
Becket adjusted his soggy cloak. ‘So we will not make it before nightfall.’
‘No.’
‘Another glorious night beneath the stars,’ Tatum said.
They reached a hill where a pool of water had formed at the base of the slope. Tatum walked his horse through it first to check its depth, then signalled for the others to follow. They climbed the hill as a group, horses grunting with the effort and their hooves slipping on the mud. Eda’s horse appeared to be struggling the most. It was down on its back hocks and sliding. Hadewaye reached for her when the horse began to tilt, but he was too late. The animal landed on its side, Eda managing to free her legs from the stirrups and leap out of the way just in time. She watched helplessly as the horse slid to the bottom of the hill.
Roul dismounted and made his way over to her. ‘You all right?’
She nodded, flicking mud off her hands. ‘I’m fine.’
Her horse now stood in the middle of the pool at the base of the hill. Alveye went to fetch it.
‘Did you hit your head?’ Roul asked.
‘I told you I’m fine.’ She headed off down the slope.
