The entrance flap moves, spilling dim light across the floor. I sit up too fast, and my vision swims. When it clears, Nella is standing just inside, with a bundle of fabric clutched to her chest.
“Alleria. My lady!”
I cross to her and pull her into my arms. She drops the bundle and holds on, her body trembling against mine. Or maybe it’s mine that’s shaking.
“Are you all right?” I pull back to look at her face. “Has anyone hurt you?”
“No.” She shakes her head. “I’m mostly left alone. Someone brings me food, but they don’t talk to me.”
I squeeze her hands. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry you’re caught up in this.”
She looks down at the bundle she dropped. “I was told to bring these to you.”
I stoop and lift it. It’s a folded bundle of clothing—undergarments, tunic, pants, socks … and boots.Realboots, with proper soles. I don’t remember the last time I had shoes.
“Who sent you here?”
“One of them.” She shrugs one shoulder. “A woman. She’s waiting outside. I don’t know her name.”
I set the bundle on the table and start to undress. Nella moves to help me. It’s familiar, this ritual. She’s dressed me a thousand times. But her hands are trembling and mine aren’t steady either.
The new clothes are heavier than what I’ve been wearing. The tunic is slightly too big, but the fabric is soft and thick. The pants fit well. And the boots … when I slide my feet into them, something loosens in my chest. Such a small thing, having shoes. But I immediately feel so much less vulnerable.
“My lady.” Nella’s voice is barely a whisper. “What is going to happen to us?”
“I don’t know.” I reach for her hand again. “I don’t know anything.”
The entrance flap moves, and we both turn to find Vel standing in the opening.
Her lip curls when she sees us—the handmaiden and the princess, clutching each other. There’s contempt in her eyes, and satisfaction.
“How touching.” She jerks her chin toward the outside. “Now say goodbye. You,” she points at Nella, “back to your shelter.” She smiles at me, and there’s nothing pleasant about it. “The Eldráfn wants you.” She steps back outside, leaving us alone.
Nella’s grip tightens on my fingers. “Alleria?—”
“It’ll be all right.” The words come automatically. I’ve said them to myself so many times now, they’ve lost all meaning. “Stay here. Stay alive. Don’t do anything to draw attention to yourself.”
I pull her into one last embrace, and she holds on tight, while I stroke her hair until she finally pulls away. Then I walk toward the entrance, my fingers lifting to touch the collar nervously. But it doesn’t heat up, and nothing stops me from walking through the gap, which means Cairn must have dropped the ward keeping me inside. Vel is waiting a few paces away, and as soon as she sees me, she turns and leads me through the camp without speaking, her pace brisk and her back straight, until we reach the edge of the hollow.
Therin looks up as we approach, his eyes moving over me. His mouth curves into a half-smile which makes heat flood my face.
He knows. He saw. Every time he looks at me, he’s going to remember what he walked in on—my tunic hanging open, my back arched off the table, Cairn’s hand between my legs.
I look away.
And then I feel him.
It’s not something I can explain beyond there’s a weight to the air, a presence that presses against my awareness. I turn before I hear his footsteps, and there he is.
He walks out of the trees with the easy grace of a predator. He’s dressed in dark leather, fitted close to his body, and his golden eyes sweep over the clearing before landing on me.
For a moment, neither of us moves.
Images flash through my mind. His mouth on my breast. His fingers between my thighs. The look on his face when Therin interrupted—that raw, unguarded hunger.
I break first, my eyes dropping to the ground.
Ialwaysbreak first.
