Slipping her hand under Rowena’s head, Robin led the tired horse into the open stable next to the inn. “You deserve a good brushing,” she said to the large animal as she directed her into an empty stall. “Thank you for carrying both of us.”
Ian followed her, holding out a brush and blanket he must have picked up at the stable entrance.
Robin took the brush and ran it over the horse’s warm muscles as Ian used the blanket to wipe Rowena dry.
“Where to next?” Ian asked as he folded the blanket and draped it over the horse’s back.
“I am afraid to hope,” Robin replied, scraping the brush against the stall’s wall to clean it, “that you would remain here at this inn while I go to retrieve your sister from the agreed-upon meeting place?”
“Hah.” Ian shook his head. “That hope is useless.”
“It was worth the ask,” Robin replied, not surprised by his answer. She stepped out of the stall.
Ian followed. “Especially after the targeted attack we both just endured,” he said, “I will not sit here idly while she might be in danger. I did not come here with you to remain at an inn, as lovely as it appears to be.”
Robin smiled at his jest. “Where we are about to go,” she said, choosing her words carefully, “is the last place I can bring a member of the royal family.”
Ian stared at her for several moments, as though he could not comprehend her words.
They stood just inside the stable door. She did not want to move back into the rain until they had decided their next course of action.
“But Meena is a member of the royal family,” Ian finally said.
Robin bit her lower lip, holding in the words she needed to say, knowing that they would hurt their recipient. But also knowing they needed to be said. “I trust Meena.”
Ian’s thick, dark brows instantly knit together. But he nodded, as if accepting her words. “I see. Then how do you suggest we proceed?”
Relieved at his calm acceptance of her lack of trust in him, Robin answered readily. “You could remain here until I return with your sister, or you could come with me but wear a blindfold when I require it.”
Ian considered her request. “You are asking me to put my safety in your hands—to trust you—after you clearly told me that you do not have the same trust in me.”
Robin pulled her cloak more firmly around her, glad for the subtle magic that kept it dry despite the rain they had endured. “Yes,” she started. “Well, no. It is not the same trust. I have proven to you over the last several hours that you can trust me with your life. If my intentions were to harm you, I would not have saved you from attackers and brought you into a well-populated town.”
“You also attempted, in the last several hours, to rob me of coin,” Ian said. “In fact, you succeeded in that.”
“Half of your coin,” Robin said. “And it was Erich’s coin, not yours. Besides, that was both harmless and necessary.”
“Necessary?” Ian asked, his voice incredulous.
“Yes,” Robin replied. “Erich did not need it. I know those who do. But we are wasting words. If you would stop interrupting me, I can return to my original point.”
“That I should trust you immediately after you declared that you do not trust me?” Ian said.
Robin appreciated that he had restated her point, but not that he had interrupted her again to do so.
“As I was saying,” she said, her voice picking up speed and volume to ensure she made her point, “it is a different kind of trust. I am asking you to trust me—again—with your physical safety. A task I have already proven capable of. It is not my physical safety I am hesitant to trust you with.”
She stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath. The wall of rain just outside the door felt like it was blocking her in. It would take some time yet to travel to the meeting place, and she was anxious to be moving again.
“My next location is a well-guarded secret,” Robin continued. “And if you had the knowledge of it, it would conflict with your sense of justice as Crown Prince of Iseldis, and Captain of the Royal Army, and son of Frederich Sirilian.” Robin heard the way she had spat out the last few words, which were not actually a royal title, with more venom than she had intended, and she hoped Ian had not noticed. She rushed forward to cover her anger. “The breaking of that kind of trust could put countless lives, both innocent and brave people, in danger.”
“I know that you are part of River’s Talon,” Ian said. “And I respect the work you have done to aid the Majis.”
“You know too much already,” Robin replied. “I cannot risk telling you more. Either you stay here at the inn, or you agree to a blindfold. Which option do you prefer?”
“Why the secrecy?” Ian replied, not answering her question. “You have worked with several members of my family, and we are now working toward the same goal.” He took a step closer. “Do you mean to simply disappear again after this?”
Robin hugged the cloak around herself tightly, holding her ground against the frantic note underlying his question. “I haveno need of your help. After we find Meena, yes, I will go back to my own work and keep my secrets to myself and those I trust.”
