“You’re too lovely for death.” The breathless sentiment tumbled from his lips. I was no stranger to compliments, but this was not the time, place, nor person I’d ever expected to receive admiration.
I pinched my brows together as I chided, “My lord, that is highly inappropriate.”
“Maybe. But you’re choosing death, so what does it matter?” A coy smile revealed a small dimple. Restless rabble echoed down the hall. The crowd's impatience sent the torches into a frantic dance.
The impending slice of the axe emboldened me. “You must be desperate. Using flattery as a last resort.”
“Desperate? No.” His smile fell. “But I do wish you’d reconsider.”
“I will not,” I said without pause.
His small frown deepened. “Are you always this stubborn, Reyva?”
His insulting familiarity earned him my pointed glare.
“Lady Bergmont,” I corrected him.
He gently took one of my hands between his and quietly amended himself, “Please. Reconsider, Lady Bergmont.”
For a moment, I lost myself in the gesture. In the warmth of his grasp, in the depths of the seas ebbing and flowing in his irises.
I snatched my hand away. His flattery and pleading hadn’t moved me. No, I’ve made my decision, if only to end the incessant, anxious buzz thrumming through my veins.
“All my options lead to death. At least this one will be swift and by my own choice.” My comment earned a subtle grin from the Traveler.
Yes. We’re still playing this game. Right until the end.
“Maybe. Maybe not. I suppose you’ll never know. Best of luck in your travels to the next life, Lady Bergmont.” He bowed, and I returned an equal gesture before excusing myself.
With that, I put the handsome, devious Traveler behind me. His scent filled the small corridor like an echo from the woods. Leather, moss, fresh rain, and pine. I committed it to memory and made a silent pledge to ignore any other unpleasant aromas in the coming moments.
“Do me the kindness of wishing me safe travels as well.”
I paused and looked back at him with a composed mask. Beneath, confusion and worry tangled together like a cord woven for a noose. The Traveler had proven himself dangerously clever and, yet again, caught me unprepared.
“I’m off to visit your older sister. Cova is it?”
My blood ran cold.
He rubbed at the stubble of his chin. “And your niece. But I’ve forgotten her name…”
My heart nearly stopped.
“Oh, come now. No witty retort?”
“Why?” My frosty tone snaked from my throat with a hiss. He had all the power, and he knew it. The ominous silence hung for too long. I pressed him again, baring my teeth this time. “Why?”
The Traveler closed our gap in two easy strides. He leaned his head down, and a breathy whisper danced across my ear, “We both know you weren’t truthful last night. About yourprayersor your hiddentalents.”
If we weren’t being watched by a dozen guards and an impatient magistrate, I would have slapped him. What’s the worst they could do if I did? Kill me?
But I didn’t. I couldn’t. Because I needed to know what he intended to do if I did go through with my execution.
“Let’s pretend, hmm?” I craned my neck to look at him, senses ablaze. “What does that have to do with my family?”
A perfect chorus of teeth emerged between his lifted lips. “Your heritage is special, but not completely unique. If you insist on death, it’s aloss, but not one the Hive can’t recover from. There are others. Otherspecial…living…women from your family they can choose from.”
I clenched my jaw. Rage barrelled through my bloodstream and my heart hammered so violently, I thought the Traveler could hear it. This was his move all along. Either I would agree and go with him, or he would take my sister. She’d committed no crime, but if the Hive wanted her, they would find a way.
