Eyes downcast, Genna pushed her food around her plate. “I should thank you.”
“Yes, thank you,” he said. “We owe you both our lives.”
Nes whirled at the sound of his voice. Though her clothes were dark, black pants loose around her thighs and brown shirt tight across her chest, there was no dimming the brightness in her eyes as she lookedhim over. She absentmindedly brought the doughnut to her mouth and took a bite around her smirk. He felt color flash across his cheeks, brief but sure.
He glanced at Suri. There was the slightest of smirks beneath her bright green eyes as well.
He shifted his focus to Genna as he took the empty seat next to Nes. She pushed the cup of coffee she’d poured toward him. He grabbed four orange slices and a doughnut before saying, “Explain how you ended up in the Witch’s Well.”
Genna took a large bite of toast and chewed.
He picked up a knife and began slicing his doughnut into quarters. “While in the water,” he said, the knife smooth and precise, “you said you’d made a deal with someone.”
Genna reached across the table for the water pitcher.
He set the knife down. “You said you’d been betrayed.”
Genna’s hand shook around the pitcher’s handle.
“Tell us who put forth your name.”
The pitcher toppled, splashing water across the table. No one moved to clean it up.
On either side of her plate, Genna’s hands clenched. “Captain Fell.”
He shouldn’t have been surprised. He picked up the pitcher, placing it upright. “Anything you say remains between us.”
Genna’s gaze was wary as she considered them. But he only peeled back the rind and took a bite of his orange while Nes shoved a piece of doughnut from his plate in her mouth. Suri was silent.
“I—” Genna cut off. She started again, “I have the best stats out of everyone.” She raised her chin, her eyes on him. “Even compared to the Crown. If it were me you had to fight in the Crown Duel, you would lose.”
He didn’t deny it.
“I am the best the King’s Guard has seen in over a decade, and yet no one wanted me in their legion because they’re afraid I could be the Witch. Never mind that I’m a whole year older than the Witch shouldbe.” Genna gritted her teeth and turned to Nes. “Did you know guards don’t get full pay unless they’re part of a legion?”
Nes stopped chewing. The orange in Toran’s mouth turned leaden.
Genna snorted. “We’re still expected to pick up shifts, but until a captain claims us, we get less than a gadot an hour. Ridiculous, right?”
The restriction was meant to enforce the notion that no one—no matter how skilled—could stand on their own. It was why there were legions in the first place and why the King always had his Crown at his side. But right now, Toran had to agree with Genna.
Nes swallowed her doughnut. “Sounds to me like it would make anyone a little desperate.”
“That’s a good word for it. Seeing as I had no other choice.”
He shifted in his seat. “What do you mean?”
Genna sighed. “As a Brother in the monastery, my father has devoted his life to the Goddess, Nephele. He is a procurer of knowledge. He’s the one who taught me to love languages. But for all the research he does, he never brings home money.
“My mother kept us afloat. She had a flower shop on the border of the Gash and the Ditch. My mother’s business thrived, so although my father didn’t provide for us, we were comfortable.”
Genna poked at the eggs on her plate. Nes didn’t touch the ones on hers. Both had grown cold.
“And then came the carriage accident. Some idiot lost control of his horse, and the buggy slammed right into my mother’s shop. Destroyed the whole place. We learned after that my father had been taking money from my mother—a small amount each week—to donate to the monastery. Had the accident not happened, I doubt we would have noticed. But when my mother went into her savings, she only had half of what she thought she did. What she did have wasn’t enough to rebuild.”
“What did you do?” Suri asked.
“My mother tried to find a job. But no one would hire her. Something about her being bad luck—as if she’d caused the accident.” Gennashook her head. “So I joined the Guard, not knowing it would be next to impossible to get paid for my work.”
