“Not dead yet.”
But that only confused her. “If that’s the case, then why don’t they all attack you now?”
“They’re a nation of bureaucrats and lawyers. Everything to the letter. It’s why they’re so frustrating. In order to kill me, they have to have the proper paperwork and credentials. This isn’t Thassalia or Vaskalia where anyone can kill someone they don’t like. Their citizens don’t start fights or break their stringent laws. The onlyaþaswerewho can come for me is the one I’m seeking and those he contracts with to help him eliminate his threat. The rest will stay out of his matters. It’s why they’re eye-balling us with hatred, but aren’t moving in to stop us.”
“That is so…” She couldn’t find words, so she settled on, “messed up.”
“Yes and no. At least here you know who your enemies are.”
There was a lot to be said for that. She’d spent her entire life on high alert. Watching every shadow and waiting for the next attack.
Sadly, she could tell Xaydin had done the same. It was a hard way to live, and no one should have to go through it.
Without thinking, she took his hand.
Xaydin almost jumped at the unexpected contact. The softness of her hand was unlike anything he’d ever known. Or that he could remember.
Before he could think, he gave her hand a light squeeze and turned to smile at her.
A smile she returned bashfully as she bit her lip and quickly glanced away.
Yet her hand remained in his.
Masakage put more distance between them.What are you doing?
Xaydin fought the urge to glance over his shoulder at his brother.She’s reaching out.
Maybe. Just be careful.
Always.He wasn’t a young, naive fool. He more than understood what was at stake. How quickly friends turned to enemies.
Often over nothing. Petty jealousies. Imagined slights that were never intended. Creatures used those and more to justify hate so that they could tear down a friend or lover.
Xaydin would never understand it. Even now, with Gisela reaching out to him, a part of him was wary. Good things never lasted.
Bad things went on forever.
Or at least they seemed to. He hated that most of all. It was why he chose to live alone, away from the world. Away from family and friends. That way, he couldn’t be hurt.
While it could be lonely, it was safe, and safety was something he’d had too little of in his life.
But as he walked with her hand in his, he knew that it was something much more than a light caress. She trusted him. That was so rare in his world that he wasn’t even sure what to think about it.
And as they reached the tavern, she released his hand so that she could place it on her sword. While he was glad to see her caution, it saddened him that she had the same instincts he did.
She was a princess. She should have been sheltered and taken care of like the others of her ilk. If he hated Meara for no other reason, it would be for this.
But then who was he to talk? His mother had been just as bad. She’d birthed them and then vanished. All the years they’d been tortured in Meara’s court, his mother could have come and freed them.
She’d chosen not to.
If anyone could have negotiated with the bitch-queen, his mother would have been the one.
Instead, she turned a blind eye and left them to suffer.
Pushing that out of his mind, he led them to a table in back where he could watch the door and not worry about anyone sneaking up on them.
Gisela turned her chair so that she could watch the door as well. “Want me to turn into a dormouse and see what I can find out?”
