I believe fate has brought us together in more ways than one, Lyria. Beyond my selfish desire to see your face again, it is concern for my people that compels me to begyou: Please, come to Crown City, join me in the palace, and help us defeat this horrific plague.
I pray to the One God Almighty that I will see you again soon. Until then, my heart is with you.
Yours most sincerely,
Finn
I read it three times, each time memorizing a different detail. I see Finn all over the page—in the sharp slope of theY’s, the cramped tilt of the script, even the dark smudges in the margins. I picture him hunched over a desk, scowling at his unruly, ink-stained hands…and a little shiver runs through me.
He wants me. Finn wantsme.
Skimming again, my eye snags on three words:You dazzled me.
Maybe I’m not so pathetically delusional.Can it be possible? Might he feel something close to what I do? Is there a future for us in Crown City?
NO,Lyria. Listen to yourself.
There’s a long stretch where all I can hear is my own pounding pulse. This is allwaymore than I can process with so many people staring at me. Perhaps sensing my confoundment, Roburn asks, “Would you perhaps prefer to speak privately?”
I blink at the captain, remembering Finn’s words:I would trust him with my life.
Reluctantly, I widen the crack in the door.
I offer the captain tea and a chair, but he politely declines the former. When Roburn sits at the kitchen table, he looks comically large for the furniture.
“Can I ask you something sensitive?” Roburn asks as he settles.
I nod.
He swallows, uncomfortably. “Are you perhaps…with child?”
“Excuse me?” My cheeks burst into flames.What the hell did Finn tell him?
“It was only a guess!” He quickly backtracks. “Sometimes women feel shame about those situations. The prince was clear that we were to bring you to the palace and that you were to be protected—”
I cut him off, mortified. “No, I’m not pregnant. Thank you for the concern.”
“Forgive me. It was only a guess.”
I eye the window, considering hurling myself through it. Roburn looks like he might be pondering the same. Then it suddenly occurs to me…“You haven’t done that for him before, have you?”
“What?”
“I mean…” My hands tighten into fists in front of me. Gods, I need air. “Has Finn ever sent you to fetch a girl because she ended up…in a situation?”
“Ah, no. Definitely not,” says Roburn awkwardly. “I’ve never fulfilled that particular type of request on Finneas’s behalf. Or his brothers’, for that matter.”
I turn away so that he doesn’t see the turmoil in my expression.
The captain clears his throat. “It must be interesting living in the Ironwoods. I can’t imagine there is much to do out here for a young woman like yourself. Do you live alone?”
I weigh my response.How much has Finn said already?“It’s just me and my mother,” I finally admit. I am hesitant to mention the plague, so I scramble for a lie. “She’s…getting on inyears. Her health is failing. She needs me here, or else she won’t make it through the winter.”
I’m not sure it’s believable. Roburn squints as he considers my response. “Why doesn’t she join us? The Crown isn’t short on resources; we could make your mother very comfortable in the palace.”
“She’s a very proud woman,” I mumble. “I’m not sure she’d accept your offer.”
“Why don’t we ask her?”
