He shook his head, surveying my eyes. “No, it wasn’t. Not everyone believes in those principles. Some think power makes us superior, that it entitles us to the land and everything on it. Those people usually despise humans. Some of them, like the vermin in the alley, are violent. It’s the reality.”
I gazed at the window, at the darkened sky beyond.
What a delightful target I was for those Scions to aim their contempt at.
“I suppose it’s a good thing you convinced me to train with you and Gwin, though it hardly made much of a difference in the end. But if there hadn’t been three of them...” I considered.Maybe I would have been able to run. Maybe not. “Were you thinking I’d need to defend myself when you told me to learn?”
Reagan reached out, tucking a damp strand of hair behind my ear. His gaze held mine. “It crossed my mind, but I figured that as long as you’re with one of us, nothing like this would happen.” His mouth tightened, and my eyes flickered to it before returning to meet his. His hand lingered at the side of my neck, a finger caressing it, even though all the wounds on my face had likely vanished. “You fought back, then, against the three of them?”
I shrugged. It hadn’t been enough. As much as the memory churned my stomach, there was a kernel of satisfaction in knowing they had bled and suffered even worse.
“I’ll have a ward on you from now on,” Reagan murmured, his eyes hard. “You can’t be hurt again.”
Those words hung between us.
My heart thumped faster, and I stared into his tired, hooded eyes. The power he had used had clearly taken its toll on him, but exhaustion didn’t dull the intensity of that gaze. I could see the unspoken words, feel them in the way his thumb brushed against my neck.
Closing my eyes, I let the gentle touch that had mended me soothe my nerves. I wanted to focus on this, his warmth, rather than the harsh grip of those men.
“How did the meeting go?” I asked, forcing my tone back to that of the emissary, trying to put distance between myself and my thoughts.
Reagan lowered his hand, exhaling.
“We have new terms,” he said. “Our costs will drop a lot. And we’ve got a new deal. Relics.”
My brows quirked up. “That’s good news, then.”
“Very good. Your suggestion got us a deal. It was clever, very fitting for a merchant’s daughter.” A smirk ghosted across his face. “You’d make a good emissary, Jan, if you’re interested.”
He cocked his head, waiting for my response.
I weighed the offer, turning over both sides of the coin. The prospect of securing a successful negotiation that would aid his estate. The risk of being hunted by mages seething with hatred.
I kept my expression carefully measured. “I guess that depends on what the pay looks like.”
He chuckled, shaking his head. “We can talk about your payment right after we get out of these wet clothes.”
CHAPTER 18
My mind ran amok all night with thoughts of black cloaks swirling, dark forests, rancid breaths, snow-laden trees, and shadowy caverns. No wonder I woke up feeling on edge, sweating through the sheets.
I was clinging to the events of the previous day that still made me sick to my stomach. Yet that feeling also brought to mind Reagan’s brutal response to those Scions. How he broke them as if they were nothing, barely a threat at all. How gratifying it would be to do the same.
Maybe there were other ways besides physical fights that I could use to defend myself, even as a human.
It was late morning when I forced myself to get up, knowing we would soon be leaving Erisea.
Reagan was still seething over the attack in the alley. He’d been in a foul mood at dinner.
There was an edge to his reaction, one that traced back to what he’d said after the cavern, that I still didn’t understand. Ihadn’t asked that day, and he hadn’t brought it up, but it had me trying to read him.
I’d done my best to remain undaunted. Alameda explained how they had a one-way portal for the staff members who lived far from the castle and couldn’t fling to their homes. She and Coriander had apologised repeatedly for the attack, visibly appalled by the presence of such violent folk in their city.
As I readied myself, dressed in a white button-up shirt and blue denim with boots, I counted down the minutes before I could feel the crisp air in Mountheim. I vowed to never wear summer sandals for a long time. Thankfully, they didn’t quite belong in the cold weather of the woods and snow-capped mountains I would call home for the following months.
I left the room, trying to haul my very heavy duffel bag with me, not realising I couldn’t carry it until I had to. Now it had fallen on the floor, feeling as if a load of bricks had been dropped on top of it.
“This isn’t going to work,” I muttered under my breath.
