That’s true. I have to breathe. I have to think.
“You should sit down,” Jax says. He shifts toward me.
“Stay where you are.” I tighten my grip on my weapons.
He goes still. “You’ve lost a lot of blood.”
“He said he hired you,” I say.
“I was asked to hold a message for him,” he says. “That’sall.”
“What kind of message?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t read it.”
I take a slow breath through my teeth. My head is beginning to clear. I study him. The feeling of betrayal is still thick in the air, sour and potent. But now that I’m looking at him, I can’t tell if it’s on my side, or if it’s on his.
I just sat here and told him I long for the days when I was just Tycho—and now I’m facing him with weapons in hand.
But I told him about Lord Alek. I told him that he was a dangerous man—and he saidnothing.
“What was that?” I grind out. “How did you stop him from—from cutting my hands off?”
Jax hesitates. “Most people won’t mess with hot iron. I pulled the ingot out of the forge.” He points.
The block of steel is lying in the dirt. I stare at it for a moment too long.
He’s very lucky Alek and the guards didn’t kill him. His blood could be spilling into the dirt right here beside me, and he wouldn’t have Grey’s rings to protect him.
Jax is right about today, too. Itwasmy idea to come here. It was my idea to shoot arrows, to ride Mercy, to linger.
It was my idea to provoke Alek.
All my idea. All my fault.
I think the queen would be interested in hearing that her trusted messenger is having secret meetings with a roughshod laborer.
Politically tricky indeed. I slide the weapons back into their sheaths and run a hand across my face. I need to get to my feet. I need to get back to the Crystal City.
But I look at Jax. That wariness is back in his eyes. It had almost completely vanished when we were sitting by the forge. My blood is a rich red streak on his cheek. His hair is much longer than I’d thought, shining black tangles spilling down across his shoulder.
His cheeks redden as if he sees me staring, and he gathers most of his hair back into a knot at the back of his head, then shoves a thin bit of steel through to hold it in place.
I straighten, rising to my feet, but I feel a bit off balance. I jerk my armor into place—or as close as I can get. My trousers are tacky with blood along my hip, and an alarming amount has soaked into the dust at my feet. That dagger did a lot more damage than the scraver did. I’m nowhere near rested enough for this much healing magic. “I need to return to the palace.”
“Maybe you should wait for a bit,” he says.
I shake my head, and the world goes a bit fuzzy around the edges. I don’t know where Alek went, but I can’t decide which would be worse: him spreading rumors that I’m disloyal, or coming back to finish the job. I’m definitely not in any shape to defend myself now. I stumble as I approach the horse, and I have to grab hold of the strap for her breastplate to keep myself on my feet.
“Are you sure you can ride?” Jax says.
“Better by the minute,” I lie. I take a long breath before pulling Mercy’s tether loose.
Jax stops in front of me. “My lord,” he says softly. “I worry—”
I reach out a thumb to brush my blood off his cheek.
He freezes. My fingers graze the tangles of his hair. “Thank you,” I say. “For … for what you did.”
