“The way I see it, you’ve been facing death this whole time anyway, what’s one more time?”
His words stung. Not because they weren’t true, but because I’d stupidly thought we’d formed a camaraderie over the last fortnight, and I was now aware that had only been in my head. “Yes, sir.” I couldn’t keep the dejection from my voice, but if he noticed it, he said nothing.
“I’ll wait here.” He didn’t hesitate before pushing me forward, his push so forceful I nearly tumbled to the ground.
I said nothing as I rose to my feet and walked toward the palace. I headed for the corner, intent on entering through the door I had once passed through to access this very area when there was a shout from over my shoulder.
“Faster than that!”
I grumbled under my breath but still shouted, “Yes, sir!” over my shoulder before picking up my pace, despite the painful protests from my feet. I couldn’t wait to not wear the boots anymore, but now that I thought about it, I would probably have to continue to wear them as Runa.
As soon as I was out of sight around the corner, I slowed my pace, hoping that Otho wasn’t timing me. But my heart and lungs burned, and couldn’t take the pace much longer.
It was easy to find the door, and seeing as I had only been gone a day, no one batted an eye as I passed through the hall and ducked into the kitchen.
It was busier than I had ever seen it, with several servants manning the oven, while others cut vegetables and added them to bowls. Astrid stood to one side, a parchment in her hand as she counted sacks along the wall.
I pushed my shoulders back. I would get the bread, but not in the way Otho assumed. I walked toward Astrid.
Always aware of her surroundings, she paused her work long before I reached her. In an abundance of caution, I stood next toher, ensuring my face was in a direction not easily visible from the door in case anyone who did know of my pending execution were to walk in. “I need a loaf of bread.”
“I’m glad to see you are alive,” was her only reply as she took a step to the side. I matched it, ensuring we remained close.
“I don’t have a lot of time.”
“And you probably would get in trouble if I just handed it to you.” There was a glint in her eyes. “Lyle,” she called over her shoulder, not looking away, “can you please fetch some grain from the store room?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I observed as the dark-haired man working the oven closest to us set down his paddle and moved toward the storage area.
“Be quick.” Astrid turned her back to me, moving to the next pile of supplies.
I didn’t need any more encouragement.
I’d never used such a large oven though, and it took me far too many tries to get the loaf onto the wooden paddle, and when I tried to touch it with my hands, I nearly seared my skin right off.
I hadn’t thought about this aspect of taking it right from the oven. I grit my teeth, desperately searching the room for something I could use, while simultaneously feeling hesitant about stealing something else.
One glance at Astrid’s raised eyebrow told me I was out of time.
As quickly as humanely possible, I picked up the bread, funneling my wind magic into my hands. While I could still feel the heat from the bread, at least my hands weren’t actually burning. Then I was out the door and back in the field behind the palace, the one with the quaint pond filled with green fish.
I briefly debated jogging back to Otho, but when I spotted the orange flowers by the edge of the pond, which could be pounded into a poultice for my sure-to-be-bruised feet, Idecided walking back, with a small detour, would be fine. He would get over it.
When I did arrive back up the hill again, bread clutched in my hand and my pocket filled with flowers, Otho didn’t appear to have moved.
He did uncross his arms to accept the loaf of bread from my outstretched hands, and I relished in the small grimace that graced his lips at the heat.
“Well done.” His voice was even, but his gaze didn’t meet mine. “But next time, you need to walk with more stealth. If there had been an archer, you would have been dead.”
Tired of his quips and games, my temper roared to life. “Are you suggesting they would shoot an unarmed woman carrying bread?”
His brows furrowed. “A woman, no, but a soldier, yes.”
“Good thing I won’t be a soldier for much longer then, hm?” I smirked at my own joke before spinning on my heel and heading for the barracks.
“Where are you going? We aren’t done here!” he called out after me, passing the bread from hand to hand.
“Someone seems to think soldiers standing on a hill are a target, so I figured it was better to keep moving!” I didn’t need to look behind to know he was following me. It was probably a bad idea to argue with the General of Adis’s army, but I also couldn’t bring myself to care.
