I nod. “When you’re not the heir, your primary job is to look pretty and not embarrass anyone.” I peel the skin off the orange in pieces and let them fall to the table. I wonder if he wants to let themoment pass, to forget what I said. But he placed that note on the table, and it’s obvious that I’m going to have to be the one to read it, to determine whether we should seek any of these people or if we should continue on our morbid path toward Ford Cheeke.
I don’t want to let it go.
“Lochlan,” I say. “Please. Forgive me. I didn’t know—”
“Shut up.”
I draw myself up. “Would you—”
“I told you toshut up.”
“At the very least, allow me to—”
“Lord, you are theworst,” he snaps. “Fine then. Apologize. Do it on your knees andbeg.”
“I will do no such thing.”
He takes another bite of the apple. “Then shut up.”
I clench my jaw and snatch the piece of paper from beside the fruit bowl. If Oren Crane wanted me to kill Lochlan, I don’t think I’d have any hesitation whatsoever.
I scan the list of names.
No Ford Cheeke.
“Well?” Lochlan prompts.
I’m tempted to toss it at him and say,Read it yourself, asshole, but I don’t.
“His name isn’t on here,” I say. “I don’t really know what that means. Oren said he worked for Rian, but maybe he’s too high-ranking. Maybe the shopkeepers don’t know him.”
“But if he works for Rian, any of these people shouldknowhim.”
I nod.
Lochlan finally looks at me steadily. “Are you really going to kill him?”
“I don’t know.”
His voice drops. “You were really going to kill Lina, though. I could see it in your face.”
I have to look down. “I just want to find Tessa. I just want to go home.” I pause. “I’ll do whatever is necessary.”
Lochlan reaches out and taps the paper. “We could try to find these people and see if it’s possible to barter passage to Fairde. That’s where Rian would be, right?”
“So he can take me prisoner and hold me for ransom against Harristan? No thank you. You heard those people in the shop. Rian is surely desperate right now—and surely surrounded by people. You and I can’t take him on alone. We’re going to need Oren and his pirates, at least for a little while.”
Lochlan takes another bite of the apple and thinks about this for a minute.
While he does, I consider that it’s entirely possible that he’s realizinghecould just kidnap me and hand me over to Rian himself. He overpowered me in the cave because I was starving and dehydrated, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t do it again right now.
As if he has the same thought at the same moment, Lochlan stops chewing.
I go tense immediately, and I can’t help the way my eyes flick to the window, to the hearth, seeking potential weapons and escape routes.
“Oh, relax,” Lochlan says. “If I work against you now, I’d never escape a hanging in Kandala. I want to go home, too.”
I glare at him. I hate that I was so transparent.
