“Hey, Brynn!” Cassian’s voice reached my ears, and I spun. He was running towards me, pulling a wagon behind him.
“Hey.” I tried to hide the plates teeming with food behind my back, but they were too big, and it was awkward.
“Going to see your family?” he asked.
Busted.
“I just thought… I mean… I over-served my plate by accident, and I didn’t want it to go to waste,” I lied.
He grinned, pulling back the blanket covering the wagon. It was piled high with glass-covered catering dishes that werefilledwith food.
“Can I join you?” he asked. “Everyone left after what happened, and technically, my family paid for the food, so it’s mine to do with as I please.”
My throat tightened with emotion at his kind gesture. “Cassian, that’s… so incredibly generous.”
“No, it’s not. It’s what any decent person would do. What my brother and I have wanted to do for years. Food should never go to waste when there are hungry mouths nearby.”
I eyed the wagon. Too large for the tear in thefence. “I don’t think this will fit through the hole in the fence that I snuck in through.”
I trusted Cassian way more than I trusted Kaelric.
He gave me a half-cocked grin. “Oh, we’re not sneaking through some hole in the fence.”
Just as he said that, a horse-drawn carriage pulled up. The red velvet curtains bore the House of Draven insignia.
“But… won’t you get in trouble?” I hedged as he began loading the glass containers into the carriage. His driver kept his eyes straight ahead and didn’t seem to bother with what Cassian was doing.
He raised one blond eyebrow. “You think an hourly guard is going to question the heir of the House of Draven?”
I laughed. “Hey, Kaelric is the cocky one. You’re supposed to be humble. Stay in your lane.” At least that’s how I had them in my head.
He gave me a flirty wink that caused my stomach to do somersaults. “We’ll be fine. Is your wolf guardian coming?” He peered behind me down the street, and I shook my head.
“No. Thetraitor wolfwill not be coming to see where my family lives.” I hoped that my words had pressed across my point.
Cassian nodded, as if point taken.
After slipping into the carriage, we indeed passed through the front gates of the city with no questions asked. Cassian simply peeked his head out and bid the two guards a good evening.
Oh, how nice it must be to have power. And coin.
Chapter Eight
The Dregs also had a quiet kind of resilience. We worked hard for what little we had, and we cherished it. Underground networks of bartering and loyalty thrived here. We took care of our own. There was grit here. Fire. A refusal to die quietly, the kind of strength you couldn’t buy with noble blood or magic.
I peered up at the golden glass city of Aerlyn, finding it ironic that it was our nightly view. It was so close I could see the Elite on their balconies trying to pretend we didn’t exist. They put up the fence, but they couldn’t erase us.
When Cassian and I reached the edge of the Dregs, the driver had a hard time pulling the horses through the thin lanes of houses, some of which were muddy, so Cassian asked him to stopand wait.
When we popped out of the carriage, there were already a few onlookers. About three hundred families lived in the Dregs. Over two thousand people in all. And I knew every single one of them.
He peered around the space with wonder, eyes darting everywhere.
“Ever been here?” I asked.
He shook his head.
I didn’t know much about him. “Do you have any other siblings?”
