Page 16 of A Cruel Kindness

“If you feel ill after you Cross, please do all of us a favor and use one of the many bins available for that purpose,” Peter continued, forcing my attention away from Soren. As expected, a pang of nerves shot through my chest, but I made myself breathe through it. You know what you’re doing. You’ve prepared for this. “I’ve had enough vomit on my shoes to last a life time. And I will put you on a not so fun mission if you add to that list.”

Soren laughed under his breath. Oh, I was sure he just strolled right on through the Bridge like it was a walk in the park. I could practically see it now, me having to run after him like my tail was on fire just to keep up.

“Evaluations will take place over the next few days, though if you made it this far, you’ll be fine,” Peter said, the first encouraging words in this entire speech. Soren shuffled next to me, and I had to restrain the urge to stomp on his big foot. I didn’t need to hear a word from him to know that he was doubting how those evaluations would go for me.

The woman in charge of the remote clearly clicked a button, because the eerie, otherwordly view of the Bridge quickly changed into a photo of a menu.

For tonight’s dinner, I’d guess.

“Ooooo lasagna!” someone from the group called.

“Fancy,” someone else chimed in, sending the room erupting in laughter.

Peter whipped around to the woman in accusation, who looked like she’d rather crawl into a hole and die than spend one more minute in this room.

Given the world I grew up in, I expected Peter, a man who clearly valued order and obedience, to rip her head off, either physically or through a verbal tirade meant to embarrass her into submission.

“Well, secrets out. Lasagna for dinner,” Peter said instead, his tone neutral even though his mouth was pulled into a thin line. “You’ll be hearing from your unit’s captain tomorrow morning for evaluations and training. Line up for dinner. In order,” he added, like a mad dash for the kitchen was a common occurrence.

I wasn’t quite sure what to do, still half dazed from the information he threw at us and the unusual reaction from someone so prominent.

“What?” Soren snapped when I didn’t make a move towards the open windows leading to the kitchens like everyone else was. “Nervous about the evaluations? Didn’t Daddy teach you how to fight?”

Calling my father, the Emperor of our planet, Daddy was an intentional slight. I’d never called him anything other than Father a day in my life. “You know as well as I do he didn’t. Neither did your father.” It was willful incompetence at its very finest. Keep Royal children out of the same basic survival training they mandated in schools and the public felt bad about sending one of us into war, like sending a fawn with wobbly knees out in line of a hungry bear.

“I learned enough,” Soren said carefully. I knew that, since the very people who trained me had been the ones to train him, but I didn’t offer up that information. “They felt comfortable sending me here after all.”

“They miss you, you know,” I said without thinking, then wanted to promptly slap my hand over my mouth. Though I had a bit of a temper, one that Soren had managed to kick off better than anyone I knew in a few short hours, I didn’t make it a habit to be cruel. Bringing up his parents and sister was just that.

“Are you trying to provoke me?” Soren sneered, stepping closer to me and staring down at me over the bridge of his strong, straight nose. The thin silver ring piercing his left nostril caught the light.

“Why? Is it working?” For some reason, I wasn’t scared of whatever he did when he was provoked. Trust sank in my stomach like a stone, heavy with realization that I did trust him already, like it was a given. “Of all people, I should be the one privy to all your sore spots.”

Soren’s full lips curved into a grin. Oh no, I could already tell I’d given him the opening he was looking for. “Go ahead. Feel for them. Let me know if you find any.”

And there it was. “I’m not touching you.” It felt imperative to remind us both of that fact.

“You’re the only one allowed to touch me, princess,” Soren said, breathing in deep, reminding me that our chests were all but pressed together. I was pretty sure he’d done that on purpose. “Might as well take advantage.”

At the very last second, I caught a smile. It was like my muscles were working against me, wanting to move in one—happy—direction before I wrangled them in. “You can’t be serious.”

He hated me. My family had done this to him. That betrayal ran deeper than he likely knew.

“Very,” he said, regardless.

“Well,” I said, crossing my arms indignantly over my chest. If he really wanted to stick by that statement, he could be celibate for the rest of his life for all I cared. “The same doesn’t apply for me. Anyone can touch me if I let them.” Even as I said it, the words felt wrong, like bitter, rotten food on my tongue.

Soren’s hand slipped under my hair and around to cup my neck, yanking me towards him so that our noses were touching. “Try it.”

“Hey!” someone yelled at us, making me jerk back. Soren let me go, but not without dragging his hand down my back, right over the trunk of the tree in our Mark. “You’re holding up the line. We’re hungry.”

I realized that everyone seemed to be waiting for something. The only two people who had gotten food were Ford and Esme, who were sitting at a table away from the crowd, up on a small platform on the far end of the room. Neither of them were touching their food, nor were they speaking to one another.

“Please don’t tell me we have to get food by rank,” I gritted out, understanding dawning.

“We do,” Soren answered, making my face contort into a pained expression. Soren smiled while he looped his finger around my face, noting my frown, with his finger. “Oh, that was fun. I enjoyed that.”

My hands were halfway towards his throat, intent on strangling him, before he took off toward the kitchen window. I had to take two running steps to keep up with him. I was tall, used to shortening my strides to accommodate everyone else, but damn Soren’s legs were long. Thick too, full of strong muscle that—