A Promise of Fire (Kingmaker Chronicles, #1)(108)

My heart hammering, I run to my old room in the barracks, dress, and then come out as if I’d been there all night. I try not to walk crooked. Maybe Griffin was a little rough? Or maybe this is how I’m supposed to feel—tender and a bit slippery. Regardless, as soon as the adrenaline of running away wears off, a dull soreness sets in.

I find Flynn and Kato in the refectory. They greet me with raised eyebrows since I haven’t had breakfast with them in a while.

“No food in the castle?” Kato asks.

“Food’s better here,” I say, sitting gingerly.

Flynn hands me his juice, which he never drinks. “Fight with Griffin?”

I choke on the sip I was taking. “Not exactly.”

“You’ve got rosy cheeks this morning.” Flynn’s forehead creases as he studies me a little too hard. He means I’m blushing kalaberry red.

“And a suck mark on your neck,” Kato adds, leaning in for a better look.

I shove his chin, pushing him back. “Don’t mess with me. I can punch again now, and it might actually hurt.”

Kato looks intrigued. “How did that happen?”

“Don’t ask. Please, don’t ask.”

He grins, and I’m pretty sure I turn even redder. I get hotter, anyway.

“How’s Griffin?” Flynn asks.

I roll my eyes. “How should I know?”

They burst out laughing, and I scowl. “Fine. Smug and self-satisfied, as usual.”

“Should he be?” Kato’s still grinning. He’s wiggling his eyebrows now, too. I consider burning them off, but I don’t want to accidentally blind him.

“That’s none of your business. Who knew that men were such nosy gossips?” I press my pendant into my chest, glad I have a piece of the Ice Plains to keep me from spontaneously combusting.

Flynn holds out his spice cake. My stomach instantly growls loud enough to be heard three tables over. I’m hungry again!

“That’s yours,” I say, staring at it.

He shrugs. “I don’t need it, and you need to fatten back up.”

Fatten back up? I’m not sure how to feel about that. I take the cake, though.

“Since you probably can’t ride today, or even walk, what should we do?” Kato asks.

Coughing, I blow spice cake crumbs all over the table. “Excuse me?”

“It’s just that Griffin isn’t, er…”

I narrow my eyes at him, and Kato actually turns pink. Ha!

“Known for his gentle nature,” Flynn provides.

“And how many women know that?” The snap in my voice sends their eyebrows bouncing up.

Kato grins again, obviously enjoying my reaction. “Enough for him to know how to please the woman he wants to claim.”

He’s had plenty of practice, then. Lovely. But they’re wrong. Griffin was careful with me. Or maybe I wouldn’t know gentle if it bit me in the ass.

“So, can you walk?” Flynn asks.

I resist the urge to roast them both alive. “I got here, didn’t I? We’re not talking about this anymore. Ever. I have some unexpected last-minute shopping to do for the realm dinner, and you two are taking me to the agora.” I look back and forth between them, giving them my frostiest stare. “And we’ll walk, not ride.” There’s no way I’m getting on a horse today, even one as good-natured as Panotii.

They make noises that sound suspiciously like man giggles.

Griffin strides into the refectory, sword strapped on, boots clomping, and spitting mad. Uh-oh.

He marches straight to our table, hooks his foot around the leg of my chair, pulls it out with a screech of wood on stone, and then drags me up with a biting grip on my upper arms. My heart starts galloping like a herd of Centaurs. I have to tilt my head back to look at him.

“Don’t disappear on me, Cat. Don’t.” He drops me back into my chair, and I land on everything that’s sore. “We’re going to the agora. Now.”

I take a slow breath through my nose, refusing to shift on my seat to find a more comfortable position. “The realm dinner is tomorrow. You have other things to do.”

“I told you I’d take you.”

“I’ll go with Flynn and Kato. We’ll take the girls.”

A muscle feathers along his jaw. I look at him, my expression open and honest. Last night, I altered the course of my entire existence. Adjustments like this don’t come easily for me. I need time. He must know I need time.

Griffin exhales loudly and then nods. “Be back in two hours, or I’m sending the army after you.”

“Three,” I say. “I’ll need to be fitted for a dress, if you’ll recall.”

His nostrils flare. So do his eyes, but not with anger, and heat whips through me. He nods again and then drops a bag of coins onto the table.

*

Jocasta, Kaia, and I walk ahead. Flynn and Kato trail a few steps behind. We make our way through winding streets lined with whitewashed homes shaded by overhanging roofs, deep-set windows, and cypress and citrus trees. The cooler, rainy season is approaching, but for now the air is still sunny and dry. Sinta City glows on days like this, but now its radiance is reflected in the faces around us. There are practically no beggar children since most of them are employed at one or another of Piers’s building projects, and the invalids and aging soldiers who used to line the streets sweating in the sun with their hands stretched out for coppers are now somewhere in the shade. Griffin started distributing pensions, even to the people who fought against him. Go figure.