“Hmm? What is?”
“You are. Reckless, but clever.”
His compliment warms my chest. “I try. Not the reckless bit.Thatcomes naturally.”
A soft puff of air blanches the air. “You’re not what I was expecting, Miss Ríhbiadh.”
“Should’ve lowered your expectations, Vizosh.”
His fingers grow stiff again. “That’s not how I meant it.”
“But you still don’t trust me enough to release me?”
The pressure of his fingers vanishes, and he reemerges from the ether. Even in his maladjusted red pants and matching top, he appears regal, surely due to his proud bearing. “Still there?”
“Still there.”
13
ISLA
Though the sun doesn’t dip beneath the horizon, the air grows noticeably cooler the deeper we trek beneath the fir canopy. It slinks through my shirt and nestles inside my boots, numbing my raw feet.
“What I wouldn’t give to be sitting in your steam chamber right about now,” I muse.
Although I suggested making him invisible, he dismissed my offer. Apparently, the woods here are patrolled by the Fae, so even if he were to be spotted—which is likely, considering the blunt color of his getup—all he’d suffer would be a little ridicule for his choice of accoutrement.
On that note… “Are your ass cheeks freezing?”
Konstantin coughs. “What?” Cough. “My—” Cough. “What?”
I smirk at his discomfiture. “Didn’t your pants rip when you sat down earlier?”
“Oh.” The corners of his mouth hook up ever so slightly. “I do believe it’s the first time anyone has enquired after myass. Much less worried about it being cold.”
“I’m considerate like that.”
We drift back into silence for a while, but then the question I’ve been meaning to ask since we left the tavern prickles my mind. Given how isolated we are, it feels like as good a time as any.
“Is Salom truly a butcher?”
“He’s worked for my family for three centuries.” I frown, until he tacks on, “He doesn’t kill out of spite or for sport. It just comes with the job description.”
That reassures me immensely. Especially since Bisnonno holds Salom in high esteem, and my great-grandfather doesn’t have any regard for people who dole out unjustified punishment because of their rank.
“Is Salom aware you impersonated Lev?”
“No.”
“So no one’s looking for you?”
“I’m not a child, Miss Ríhbiadh.”
“True, but youarethe king. If my father vanished, my mother would immediately sound an alarm.”
“I don’t have a wife.”
“But you have siblings who care enormously for you.”
