“I didn’t do anything.”
“You risked your life.”
His breath catches, and he ducks away. “My lord—Tycho. You’re not thinking clearly. You’re in no condition to ride. Lord Alek could return—”
“Right.Yes. Lord Alek.” I grab the saddle andleap. Somehow I end up on her back, but I know I’m going to rely on Mercy’s steadiness to get me most of the way to the palace. I want to press my face into her withers, but I force myself upright. I inhale deeply, and it helps.
“Please,” Jax says softly. “Wait.”
“I can’t.”
Then I touch my heels to Mercy’s sides, and we’re off.
CHAPTER 18
CALLYN
By the time dusk falls, I’ve spent my afternoon slicing and measuring and pouring and kneading. I’ve been expecting Jax to show up to tell me what happened with Lord Tycho, but he hasn’t appeared. Worry has started twisting in my gut. Did Jax tell him off again? Maybe he offended the young lord so badly that Tycho rode out of Briarlock for good. Part of me wants to scowl at the thought—but another part wonders if maybe that would be better.
I rub at the pendant under my shirt. I keep thinking of my mother and whatshe’dthink of all this.
Nora edges up beside me, taking a damp rag to the wood to wipe it down. “You’re waiting on Lord Tycho?”
“Definitely not.”
She smiles. “I still think he’s very handsome.”
“Yes, you were very subtle.”
She’s quiet for a while, and when she finally speaks, her voice is small. “I know he has magic, but what if he fancies you?”
“Oh, Nora. Why would he fancyme?”
“Well, hehasbeen here several times.”
I suppose that’s true. And she’s right that he’s rather striking. But I consider the magic in his rings, his loyalty to the king, and I shiver.
Nora is missing all the spots where flour has caked to the table, so I take the rag out of her hand to rub harder at the wood. “You know what Da did. And Lord Tycho is far above our station.”
“He said he was born—”
“It doesn’t matter where or how he was born,” I say firmly. “He’s clearly someone of consequencenow.”
But I remember the intensity in his eyes when I said,It wouldn’t be right. And he so evenly responded,It wouldn’t be wrong.
I glance at the window, which only reveals the lightly falling snow beyond. An animal shrieks somewhere in the forest, and I shiver again.
“Maybe he fanciesme,” she says. “Hedidcall me Lady Nora.”
I laugh. “You keep right on believing that.”
She steps away from the table and twirls, but her patched hand-me-down skirts are too heavy to flare very much. Then she drops into a ridiculous curtsy. “Why,yes, Lord Tycho,” she intones, “I would gladly take your hand in marriage. We shall have twenty-five children—”
I burst out laughing. “Twenty-five!”
“He seemsquitevirile—”
“Clouds above, Nora,” I snap, as if he could possibly hear us. “Do you even know what that means?”
