“And I would appreciate it if, in exchange for this lesson, you do not throw any more rocks at me or my people.”
She frowned, not liking that compromise.
Harthon’s lips twitched. “It is only fair.”
It must have made sense, because she nodded again.
Harthon rose to his full height, the child gaping like she just now perceived how intimidating he was.
“Here, Charlotte,” the woman whispered, her voice trembling.
Harthon allowed her a moment to scoop the girl into a desperate hug before addressing her. “There is nothing inherently wrong with hatred. But when it’s bred into a child, without any strategies for tempering it, it can be deadly.”
Only now did anger thread his tone, and for good reason. Had Harthon been another Princeps or the man he was rumored to be, that child might be dead.
The woman nodded and stuffed her face into her daughter’s hair. But then her jaw grew tight, some of that loathing seeping back into her expression. I glanced around to see the same expression in the faces that were fraught with terror just a minute ago. When I landed on Aric, my stomach sank.
He didn’t appear the least bit displeased by the emotions around us.
He was our ally in entering the Domus, but he was very much aware that, should he choose to challenge Harthon after the fact, his people would fully support him in the endeavor.
A war may very well be coming—against the man beside us, no less.
* * *
We made it through the night without being burned at the stake or poisoned, probably because the inn consisted of one large room filled with individual cots. Aric and Conrad slept beside us, their presence a small comfort in such hostile territory.
That protection hadn’t come for free, however. We’d paid aprice. That of no sleep.
Because Conrad snored like a damned boar.
I yawned for the seventh time since we began our slow climb up the base of the mountain.
Harthon, who rode beside me, lifted a brow. “I don’t recommend falling asleep on a horse.”
Even without rest, he was devastatingly handsome in that rugged way of his. The soft light of dawn trickling through the branches above only illuminated the strong angles and lines of his face.
“And here I was, thinking this is the perfect opportunity for a nap.”
His body swayed as our horses navigated a divot. The terrain was already rocky, and we were still far from the steel-colored slopes above. Slopes wewouldbe encountering. Any passes at a lower elevation would be monitored by looters, Horrads, or anyone else waiting for easy prey, so we would be crossing elsewhere.
“You’re still relatively new to horses,” he replied, a teasing lilt to his words.
“Not so new to common sense, though.”
“Are you certain?”
I eyed him. “I am armed, you know.”
A grin crept across his face. “There was a time, not long ago, you refused to have food and water just to summon me when you knew I was already planning to come.”
“I stand by that decision. At the time, it was a perfectly sensible thing to do.”
He snorted. “I think most people would argue against that.”
“You just didn’t like me forcing your hand.” I smiled. “You can’t stand not being in control. Of everything.”
He scoffed. “That is not true.”
