Sol maneuvered Copper around a fallen tree in his path with a slight tightening of his thighs. Copper must be relieved to finally have a competent rider. When he rejoined her on the path, he said, “Lord Cardis has many sons, but those two are close. They wanted to guard each other’s backs and Cardis has the connections at court to get what he wants.”
She’d thought they were rich with the talk of estates, the confident way they carried themselves. And the shock on their faces when she’d scooped that bit of rabbit into her mouth. “I didn’t realize I was speaking to nobility last night. I would have minded my manners better.”
“Neither of them stands to inherit the title. Daris has a better chance in his family. He’s a second son, though his brother is healthy and recently married. Barring tragedy, the title will pass him.”
She looked up at Sol. “Are you about to tell me you’re the king’s cousin?”
He snorted. “No. Not me. I come from farmer stock. Down near Elis.”
“I don’t know where that is.” She thought about what Casrian had said about her hiding away in her village. About Tilly pushing her to leave. Her world was very small, but it was manageable and safe. Or it had been until the witch came along.
But she was curious about the rest of the world.
Maybe she should take him up on his offer to travel to the capital. She could see her mother settled, see new places. The idea of traveling with the witch hunter for so long made her chest ache.
One time. Just once. Maybe it will break the spell…
She didn’t know if she could go back to not wanting him.
“No one’s ever heard of Elis,” Sol said kindly. “It’s not a very big town, or a particularly nice one, but none of the others treat me any different for all of that. Lew studied for the Church before joining the guard. He could argue philosophy with the bishop, but Kenet has never read a book as far as I know. He was raised up here in the wild north, born in a woodcutter’s cabin. He joined up because he loves these empty spaces and wants to keep them clean.”
She felt a blush touch her cheeks. That was one person she owed an apology to then. He’d been on watch when she’d eaten dinner, and she’d only seen him in passing that morning, but he’d kept his distance after their stupid argument.
“The captain received a baronetcy last year, and it hasn’t changed him at all. Daris called him Lord Dain for a while but he gave that up when the captain finally tired of it and clocked him in the nose. Daris won’t risk his face again.” Sol gave her a conspiratorial wink. “He likes being the pretty one of the bunch.”
There was a sinking feeling in her belly. “Casrian is a baron?”
He hadn’t told her that.
Sol shrugged and then winced when the movement pulled at his wound. “The king’s nephew was caught in an infestation and we pulled him out. The king gave it to him as a reward. I don’t think the captain wanted it much, but baron he is.”
She swallowed and looked down at her feet. She wondered how much that fact had played into Casrian’s desire to keep pushing her away. Surely, there were duties and expectationsthat a baron needed to fulfill. Casrian was big on fulfilling his duties.
She wondered what else he hadn’t told her.
Sol was watching her. She could feel that before she lifted her head. “Are you telling me this to warn me off?”
He shook his head. “They don’t treat me any different from anyone else on patrol, and that’s because of the captain. He had to fight his way up because he’s a bastard. Did he tell you that?”
She nodded.
“Titles don’t matter much to him,” Sol said. “He probably didn’t even think to mention it. But not every patrol is like ours. It’s a different world out there, isn’t it?”
She nodded again.
The trail narrowed and she took the lead, guiding Sol through the forest, past the rocky outcropping where they’d stopped yesterday, refusing to turn her head and look at the tree where Casrian had fucked her stupid.
She couldn’t afford to be stupid. She’d never been able to afford that. They’d be out of the woods soon, and she’d go back to only being able to depend on herself again.
“He’s a good man, the captain,” Sol said.
She was uncomfortably aware of the fact that Sol had heard their conversation last night. Whatever he was trying to communicate to her, she didn’t want to delve deeper.
“I know it,” she agreed.
The best.
Too good for her, she thought. If that was the point Sol was trying to make, he didn’t need to convince her. Whatever fine words Casrian had said last night, it had still meant goodbye.
