“But…” Her brow furrowed, and she glanced at Wren where she rode beside her. “You seem overly friendly.”
“I told you, Razik and I are not bound in that way,” Wren replied.
The betrothal announcement had been made a few weeks ago, and the gossip mills had been abuzz. More than that, Cethin hadn’t let Kailia go into the city without him since the day Razik had taken her himself. In fact, he kept Kailia at his side at nearly all times. It was ridiculous and petty, and Kailia was going along with it for whatever reason.
Except he knew the reason.
It was more comfortable for her to be in Cethin’s shadow. Even if she was still being watched and was still the topic of every conversation these days, Cethin’s presence was still the dominating one. She was hiding, and with Cethin’s constant hovering, Razik couldn’t call her out on it.
The next half hour was silent save for the sounds of twigs and stones beneath horses’ hooves as they made their way south into the forest. The conversations of the others were low, barely carrying to where they were in the center. Kailia was her usual self, observing everything without an ounce of expression, while Cethin studied her.
He was actually impressed with how long it took Wren to speak. The female hated silence, something Razik had learned to live with considering his preference for quiet and solitude.
“So, Kailia,” Wren started, “did I hear correctly that you are from Shadowfen?”
“Mhmm,” she hummed, amber eyes focused on the trees above them.
“I’ve never been there. What’s it like?”
Kailia slid her gaze to Cethin, who gave her a small smile. “I’d also love to hear of your life before these last weeks. Did you always live in Shadowfen?”
Kailia’s eyes narrowed, and Razik was begrudgingly impressed with Cethin’s manipulation of the situation. Giving her space to answer but also fishing for information that he was clearly seeking.
She cleared her throat, and Razik watched her in his periphery as she shifted the reins in her hands and pulled the sleeve of her tunic back, briefly running her fingers along her wrist and forearm. Then she straightened once more.
“No, I did not always live in Shadowfen,” she answered simply.
“Where did you live before?” Wren asked.
She shrugged. “Across the Edria.”
“What?” Wren gasped, the company in front of them all glancing back at the sudden outburst.
“Everything good?” Jarek called, his voice carrying as they all slowed their horses.
“Everything is fine,” Cethin replied before refocusing his stare on Kailia. Lowering his voice, he said tightly, “That is not something to share so openly, tiny fiend.”
“Then don’t ask questions you already know the answer to.”
“I was asking about your past.”
“Then say that instead of asking such ambiguous questions,” she retorted.
The king’s lips thinned, and Razik was enjoying this far more than he’d enjoyed anything in a long time.
“I didn’t mean to start something,” Wren said, worrying her lip as she shot Razik a pleading look for help.
“Don’t look at me,” Razik said apathetically. “I was perfectly content in the quiet.”
“Same,” Kailia agreed. “When do we hunt?”
Cethin sighed heavily. “We can hunt whatever we find along the way.”
“Then I need my arrow.”
“We already discussed this. You’ll need to use different arrows. That’s why there’s a quiver full of them attached to your saddle,” Cethin answered pointedly.
“Why would Cethin have one of your arrows?” Razik asked, homing in on that bit of information.
