“He hasn’t said anything yet,” says Callum.
“Because you broke him,” says Garrett.
“Would you shut the fuck up—”
The captain whistles at them again.
Jory is looking back, studying me, her expression bemused. Honestly, I’m sure mine is the same. Do I want to go fight with random strangers I’ve never met in some city I’ve never seen?
Probably not.
But Callum is looking at me again, waiting for an answer. I think a lot of them are waiting for an answer, including the princess.
And in that moment, I’m struck by the fact that I’ve been given a choice—atruechoice, for the first time since I can remember. No chains, no threats, no orders, no assignments.
The king is looking back now, and I realize he’s curious about my response, too. They might be violent and vicious, but there’s something different about the people here—or at least his soldiers. Something very honest, veryreal, that I crave. It’s the exact way the king was able to convince me to release him.
There are no slavers in Incendar.
My chest has grown a bit tight, and I have to shake it off. I cast my gaze forward and shrug, keeping my voice nonchalant.
“Sure,” I say to Callum. “If we survive that long, I suppose it could be fun.”
He whoops. “Man, I bet we’ll need to rent a wagon for all the silver you’ll take in.”
That makes me smile. “You’ve only seen me fight once. You might need to rent a wagon to bring back my body.”
“Please.” He starts rattling off on his fingers. “You blew through the king. Then Nikko. Then you—”
“He did notblow through me,” Ky snaps. “That was—”
“Right, right,” Callum calls. “You were ‘disarmed.’” He flicks his eyes skyward. “I forgot.”
That startles a laugh out of me—and I can’t remember the last time that happened.
“You were chained to Ky, and you killed those assassins.” Callum jerks a thumb at his friend. “And Gar won’t even tell me how you did that to his neck.”
“It was the chain,” I say.
Garrett heaves a sigh. “Here we go.”
Callum’s eyes light up. “Thechain?” He looks at the other soldier, and he gives him a wolfish smile. His voice turns sultry. “Did you like it?”
“Not a whole lot, no.”
Lady Charlotte whips around. “Gentlemen,please.”
The soldiers go completely silent, but their eyes are still sparking with devilry.
Jory is smiling, though, glancing between them, and her cheeks turn faintly pink. I’m not sure what about the expression is so unfamiliar, until I realize that she lookshappy—and that feels so rare.We’ve had so many secret moments, but it’s been so long since we were together, like this, with wind and sky and easy companionship around us. I don’t know if the soldiers feel it, or if they’d even understand it. But I do. In my heart, I feel her emotion as strongly as I feel my own.
For all our differences, Jory and I have always had one thing in common:our aloneness. Our solitude. She was my only friend, as I was hers. When she demanded truths from me, I thought that might have erased all of it. I thought I might havelostall of it.
But to my surprise, shedoesn’tseem to judge me for it—and it’s clear that the king doesn’t. Somehow, they each have the talent to wake something inside of me, a flame I thought I smothered years ago. When I was with Jory, I knew how to keep my distance. I knew how to lock everything away.
Out here, with the two of them, that somehow feels impossible. I’m still raw. Bare.
But maybe it’s like the brand. Maybe it needs to breathe so it can begin to heal.
