Not waiting, I hurried to my room and plopped down on the sofa. I found the book on Kuroden still sitting on the small table where I’d left it several weeks prior. I’d briefly scanned it before, but suddenly had a greater interest in reading about Col's heritage. As the sky fell dark, I found myself fully immersed in the kingdom’s history.
There was a light tap on the glass of my window, knocking me from my thoughts. I glanced at the door, half-expecting someone might barge in to investigate the noise. Tiptoeing, I locked both the main door and the one to the bathing room.
I lifted the corner of my bed and retrieved the resistance dagger I’d wedged between the footboard and the lower mattress. Pulling the drapes back, I peeked through the small space and jumped as Jaspar’s face pressed against the glass.
Heart pounding, I slid open the window. “What are you doing here?”
“Visiting an old friend.” He turned and looked down the path. “Are you going to let me in, or do you want me to get caught first?”
The instant I fully pushed the glass open, he jumped through and closed it behind him. He drew the drapes and peeked outside, pulling the fabric back less than an inch.
I gasped, seeing he wore a royal guard’s uniform. “Did you kill a guard?”
“You suddenly have a fondness for the guards? So much has changed since you’ve been here.” He tilted his head and smirked. “Or do you only have a thing for a man in uniform? Because I’m a man and, what do you know, I’m in uniform.”
Seeing his smile was something I hadn’t realized just how much I’d missed. He was the closest thing I had to Kamden, and I’d spent so much time resenting him that I hadn’t appreciated him as a constant in my life.
“I missed you!” My arms wrapped around him, pinning his to his sides. “I can’t even believe you’re here! How did you?—”
“Let’s save the ‘I miss you’ and ‘you’re so handsome’ for later,” he said through a chuckle and pulled back to look at me. “Did you fall?” He frowned. “You’re hurt. Fuck—your father said Sutton was all sorts of fucked up, but I hadn’t expected you to?—”
I waved a dismissive hand and interrupted. “It’s fine. We have bigger things to deal with.”
Moving to the sofa, I gestured for him to sit. Filling him in on my relationship with Ryder was a waste of our limited time.
“I’m just going to come out with it.” I exhaled. “We’re set to be married Friday, but I need to get my father away from here. The king is unconscious, and I’m going to try to get to him tomorrow. But worst-case scenario—I’ll have to do it Friday after the ceremony, and then I’ll leave.”
“Has your father agreed to leave?” He scanned my face. “Because I can’t see a world where Kenelm is going to abandon you here while he flees to safety.”
“You need to convince him,” I urged. “He can’t get caught up in this, I don’t want him getting hurt.”
Jaspar sighed. “So you’re just going to marry the prince?”
“I’ll never have another opportunity. There’s no other choice.”
He shook his head, blew out a breath, and stared down at the floor.
“I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that, but I need to get a missive out to Kuroden’s King. He’ll let my father flee there, but I need you to send it.” I looked for a reaction, but his face remained plain. “He needs to go now, and I’ll leave as soon as I kill King Sutton.”
“I—”
“I can’t do it without you,” I said, not waiting for his words. My stomach dropped. Only a few times in my life had I truly needed to ask for help, and I hated every moment. But my father’s life was more important than my pride. “Will the resistance help?”
His face was strained. “I’m … I’m not sure anyone will help you at this point. Aside from me.”
“My brother did so much for the group though,” I continued. “They’ll want to help Kam’s sister.” He sat unmoving, and realization punched me in the gut less than a breath later. “Jezelle,” I whispered.
He nodded. “Yeah. We all knew how much you hated us, but that really solidified just how much.”
I couldn’t explain the way my mind twisted when Ryder was around and how I hadn’t thought things through properly. Even if I could convince him to believe me, it wouldn’t make up for my actions.
“I—” My breath stuttered. “I never hated you.”
“You blamed me.” His tone was firm. “You blamed the entire group. And maybe that’s why you did what you did.”
“He diedbecauseof the resistance.” The hurt in my voice couldn’t be masked. “How can you expect me not to blame your group for Kam’s death?”
Jaspar let out a long exhale. “He didn’t die because of us. He wasn’t doing any work for the resistance.”
