It’s been only a handful of days since Dante and I last saw each other, since we laid together in his tent, and yet it feels like years have gone by since that afternoon.
I almost speak his name, but swap the two syllables out for three. “Altezza.” My voice sounds breezy. I’m hoping only to my ears. “What brings you to Tarespagia?”
His blue eyes gleam as brightly as the golden beads adorning his long braids. “You.”
Sixty
Dante’s answer reverberates against the golden gates separating us from Tarespagia.
His horse is soaked in sweat, as are the horses of his close guard, as though they’ve been galloping through Selvati. “The entire kingdom is looking for you.” His tone is as tight as the fold of his lips
“Really?” Furia prances a tad nervously. I smooth my palm over his black coat to help settle his nerves. “Why on Earth is the whole kingdom looking for me?”
“Because you ran away.” He says this quietly, as though he doesn’t wish the others to hear our exchange.
I coax my eyebrows into an exaggerated frown. “Why would I run away?”
Tavo gestures between Sewell and me. “Who’s your new friend, Fallon?”
A briny breeze bends the tall palms planted along the gates and flutters my loose locks.
I tuck the frolicking strands behind my ear. “He’s my horse’s steward.”
“Is he now?” Tavo’s eyebrows spike. “Since when do you have a horse?”
“Since I decided to ride to Tarespagia to meet my great-grandmother before the king tosses me to the serpents. I thought it’d be nice to see her at least once in my life.”
Every last bit of tightness leaks out of the prince’s beautiful face. “Fallon,” he breathes out my name, and it feels like a caress, like a sigh. “You’re not going to die.”
No, I’m not. But that’s because I’m not planning on swimming in Mareluce. “Did you ride all the way here, Princci?”
Furia paws the ground, apparently impatient to get going.
“I—” He swallows. “I came by way of sea.” He probes my face with his keen eyes. “The footpath the commander uncovered flooded.”
“That must be why the land trembled after I crested the mountain!” Although Dante and I soon will have no more secrets from each other, it’s necessary I keep some from him until Morrgot is whole.
Dante scrutinizes me with such thoroughness, I worry he’ll catch the too-rapid flutter of my pulse.
After an agonizing minute, his gaze retreats from mine and alights upon Sewell, whose eyes are cast downward in the deference expected from humans. “Did this man accompany you in your travels?”
“Yes.” I’ve always been a skilled liar, but lying to Dante feels wicked. How I wish I could pull him away from his entourage and let him in on the secret that’s three crows short of changing our lives.
Tavo’s long red hair snaps wildly around his shoulders. “Did you see anything interesting during your voyage?”
Is Tavo asking about the Sky Kingdom no one speaks about? “Trees. Clouds. More clouds. There are alotof clouds in Monteluce.” I almost make the mistake of speaking of the ambush, but that would lead to me confessing my awareness of the bounty.
“Is that all you saw?” Suspicion sets Tavo’s amber eyes alight.
I slide my lips together. Should I let on about thebirddom or should I play dumb? I glance upward again, hoping Morrgot will ferry over his opinion on the matter.
Mention it. It’s too imposing not to have been seen.
Awesome.I’m about to tell Dante, when everything inside of me stammers to a violent halt. I didn’t ask Morrgot out loud, which means . . .You can read my thoughts?!
Speaking into someone’s mind is one thing, but eavesdropping on someone’s thoughts without their knowledge of it? That’s . . . that’s—I feel duped. And stupid. And angry. Oh,soangry.
We’ll discuss the matter later, Fallon.
