I clenched my hands when his face came to mine. “I haven’t touched you,” he replied quietly, his accent even stronger. The warrior flicked the collar of my jacket so a rush of wind found its way inside. “I touched this.”
My eyes nearly rolled into my head. “Listen to me, you?—”
He came even closer, his breath warming my face.
“Watch your mouth,” he warned as something cold slid against my neck.
The warrior had crossed his axes with each blade resting against my collarbone.
I sucked in a breath when a sharp edge glided against my skin.
“You didn’t take the heir’s help,” he said, his head moving toward Ivren, who was watching us from over his shoulder.
“I don’t need anyone to help me,” I replied.
“Lie again.” The soldier laughed quietly when goose bumps rose on my skin where the cool steel touched it. “I will not kill you right now. It’s not worth the scolding. Especially as someone else will do it soon.” Dropping the axes, he stepped back. “The dark of night cannot always save you.”
“I know that,” I mumbled, earning myself another glare.
He reached out again, but this time I anticipated it and was able to slip under his arm.
“Cute,” he snapped. “Now. Move.”
He wasn’t leaving until I did as he said, so I spun, keeping my ears open to ensure he wouldn’t come for my back if he changed his mind about the killing thing. I remained vigilant the entire time I followed the others, even though my mind was splintering like the branches on the trees around me as I worked to understand what had just happened.
We were headed toward the docks, and the sound of whispering wood rose across the water, the sense of too many watchful eyes rolling up my spine. As Guner headed to a ship at the end of the dock—I recognized the figurehead in the bow; it was the one we’d been on yesterday at the lake—I wiped my dirty hands on my leathers.
The Hird was ruthless. It’s why it was nicknamed Fenrir’s Pit—to make it out, we had to survive the beast that was the trials and the academy. But what Guner had done?
It was personal. I was certain of it. He was angry that he hadn’t known I would attend instead of Lika—angry that one of us was here at all.
The wood beneath my boots squeaked, and I stared down at it when the ships around me quieted as if they knew the fate that had befallen my family—as if they knew our wood no longer sang or gossiped or sailed across the vast seas.
“Watch where you’re going.”
I focused my eyes when Darcke hissed in my ear, and I nearly stumbled when he overtook me. “Weak,” he hissed. “Another thing for my list.”
“Asshole,” I whispered loud enough for him to hear me, but quiet enough I could pretend like it was nothing when his back stiffened. He didn’t spin around, though, didn’t look at me at all as he walked the brow to the ship. Hurrying after him, I headed to where heirs stood to the side, waiting just a few feet away from the gangplank.
As I came up beside Rakkel, she grabbed my hand and pulled me up before her.
In silence, she spat on her sleeve, then rubbed the harsh fabric across my chin and above my mouth. It came back stained red when she was finished. While I wished to offer her a smile, I was too furious, so I placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed instead.
“We’ll get him back,” she whispered, eyes slicing to Guner. “He won’t get away with this.”
It was a sweet thought, but if the king wanted Guner here, there wasn’t much we could do.
“Are you all right?” Ivren whispered.
I didn’t have time to respond before a horn was blown.
Our faces lifted to the captain’s deck as some of Darcke’s men pulled up the squeaking brow. Guner glowered at me for a second before turning his gaze out over the two hundred karls spread out across the ship.
“Now that everyone has arrived, we canfinallyget started,” he said, and I wished I was skilled with the bow, because it’d be quite easy to steal one of the warrior’s bone ones and send an arrow straight into that big mouth.
“I wouldn’t.” Ivren’s warm breath hit my ear. “The king likes him too much.”
I expelled a sigh that made Ivren laugh. Rage made my limbs twitch, so I turned to the water instead, closing my eyes for a second. The gentle hum of the waves and wood softly swimming in it wrapped around me, quelling the worst of the fury.
