CALLYN
Our ride away from the palace was full of tension and bickering, so I expect our return walk to be exactly the same. But it’s not. Alek strides along beside me, and to my surprise, he doesn’t say much of anything at all. The sun beats down on us both, allowing sweat to gather under my gear and collect on my cheeks, though he seems as unfazed and unruffled as ever.
His silence gives me too much time to think. It was clear that he was afraid of Igaa and Nakiis, but he didn’t leave me with them. If anything, he seemed prepared todefendme.
That doesn’t really match with the man who threatened to drive me out of Syhl Shallow a few short weeks ago.
When I glance over, his blue eyes are faraway, and he seems as lost in thought as I am.
“How long do you think it’s going to take us to walk back?” I say. We’ve been quiet so long that my voice is loud in the air.
He blinks as if startled, then casts a look up and around, then points. “I know the angle of those mountain peaks. We’re a few milesnorth of Ustus Marsh, I think.” He pats a pouch on his belt, and coins jingle. “I can hire us a carriage back to the palace from there.”
Somehow he still manages to startle me with his casualwealth. Maybe it’s visible on my face, because he casts a glance my way and frowns. “Feel free to walk if you’d rather, Callyn. My intent was not to—”
“Stop,” I say, realizing that he’s no more responsible for his own privileged upbringing than I am for my impoverished one. I lift a hand. “Just . . . just stop.”
He obeys, falling silent. But then I’m not sure what to say. We continue striding down the path.
Eventually, I clear my throat. “What should we do about Lord Tycho?”
Alek snaps his head around. “The king’s lapdog?” he practically snarls. “Why would we do anything about him at all?”
I draw back, surprised at his reaction. “Igaa said—”
“I can’t speak for you, Callyn, but I am not the scravers’ errand boy. I meant what I said: they can take their issues to Emberfall. The king is there. Themagicis there. If Igaa needs Lord Tycho so badly, she can very well go find him herself.”
Something in the way he says that makes me think of the day Nolla Verin first smashed a fist into my face, and the way the king healed my injuries. The king talked about his days fighting from the other side of the border, and how he came to Syhl Shallow and realized all the soldiers here were really just doing the same thing he was: following orders and fighting for what they believed was right fortheircountry.
“You really think that’s the solution?” I say. “To just . . . send the problems over the border where we don’t have to think about them?”
“Why are they our problems to solve?”
His voice is so pragmatic that I snap back. “Because . . . because . . .”
“Because why, Callyn? Magic was driven out of Syhl Shallowyearsago. Queen Lia Mara tried to bring it back, and her plans for peace were admirable, truly, but—”
“Driven out!” I snap. “Not solved! It doesn’t help anyone to shove danger through the mountain pass. The danger is stillthere.”
“I disagree. It helped Syhl Shallow— and that is the queen’s primary obligation, is it not?”
“Ugh.” I look back at the road and keep trudging forward. He’s so impossible sometimes. “I don’t know that we can call it a victory if our queen’s actions put another country at risk.”
“So high and mighty!” he exclaims. “Were you not on the fields beside the queen as the scravers tried to kill every magesmith they could find?”
“Yes, but—”
“And Emberfallhasa king. He has his own magic. Queen Lia Mara is responsible for protecting her own citizens. Let him protect his.”
I set my jaw. I hate how he’s always so wrong about everything while also being right at the same time.
He heaves a sigh. “Again, you turn me into a villain from your storybooks, when I’ve only ever told you the truth, helped you succeed, and saved your life.” His expression turns darkly devilish. “Considering our intimate moments together, I suppose one could also add that I’ve made you—”
“Don’t youdare.” My cheeks flush as I remember exactly which intimate moments he’s talking about.
He grins. “— very happy?”
Heat surges up my neck. What a rake. I refuse to look at him.
