Defend the Dawn (Defy the Night #2)(33)

He gives me a look. “Don’t invent drama for me when your own is too much to bear.”

He’s probably right, but now I’ve found a thread to pull, and I want it all to unravel. “Who is it?” I say.

“No one. Truly.”

He’d fool anyone else in this palace, including my brother, but I know Quint far too well. I lean in. “You’re lying.”

He sighs. “You have far more important things to worry about—”

“Please tell me it’s Captain Blakemore, because that would solve the vast majority of my problems.”

“I rather doubt it would.”

“As your friend,” I add conspiratorially, “I do feel an obligation to warn you that I didn’t get the impression that he would be interested in—”

“Corrick.”

I stop.

“Honestly.” He gives me a withering glance. “It’s not Captain Blakemore, and it’s nowhere near as salacious as what you’re imagining. But that’s all you’re getting out of me this evening.”

“Fine.” I smile, and for a moment, I’m grateful that he’s given me something to draw my attention away from matters that seem so impossible. “Enjoy your visit.”

I say visit like I mean something else entirely, but Quint doesn’t take the bait. He picks up the book he was reading when I walked in. “Have a pleasant evening, Your Highness.”

“Yes, of course, Master Quint.” My smile turns into a grin. “I’ll leave the door open when I go.”

But at the door I hesitate. A moment of distraction isn’t enough to bury all my worries.

Quint looks up. He knows me as well as I know him, because any teasing disappears from his voice. “I truly wasn’t chasing you out. Sit if you need to sit. A game of chess perhaps?”

I consider it for a moment, but he clearly was waiting for someone, so I shake my head. “You’re right. I should retire.”

But I still don’t move. Quint waits.

“He’s never had to do this alone,” I say quietly.

He looks at me steadily. “Neither have you.”

The thought is jarring. But … of course he’s right. I’ve been thinking of all the risks to Harristan. I hadn’t considered that we’ll be apart for the first time since our parents died. I hadn’t considered that I’ll be boarding a boat to negotiate the price of steel with a king I’ve never met in a kingdom I know little about.

I have to force worries out of my head, or I’ll stride right back down the corridor to tell Harristan I’ve changed my mind.

But I look back at my friend, one of the few people in this palace I truly trust. “Take care of him, Quint.”

He nods. “You have my word.”





CHAPTER TEN

The Outlaw

It’s late and I’m tired.

I trudge the empty paths of the Wilds with a heavy step. The sky above is an inky black, clouds obscuring any stars, keeping the woods dark and full of ominous shadows. A misting rain fills the air. The moon is so faint it might be a memory.

I’m leaving coins with less care this morning. A handful here, a tiny stack there. I don’t look for messages in the dust or touch any waiting gifts. I just want to do what I can before there’s any chance I’ll be missed.

I dip a hand in my pouch for a handful of coins, then move to drop them beside the ax blade at the fifth house.

“Don’t be mad, Fox,” says a soft voice.

My heart trips and stumbles, but there’s a part of me that isn’t surprised. I sigh and turn. “You gave your word, Violet.”

“I know, I know.” She uncurls from the shadows, shivering in her sleeping shift. Her eyes are wild and guileless. “I started to think maybe I imagined it. You know? Like maybe it was a dream. I had to make sure you were real.”

“I’m real.” I glance at her feet, bare in the grass. A bandage is still tied tightly in place, but it’s not the same torn muslin I used. “How’s the foot?”

“Good!” she whispers, and there’s a gleeful note in her voice, as if she’s relieved I’m not angry at her. “I told my mother it happened in the stable.”

I nod and drop the coins on the stump beside the ax, then turn away to move on.

She swishes through the long grass to walk beside me.

I sigh and keep walking. Maybe if I say nothing, she’ll grow bored and go home.

I’m not that lucky. “Where do you go next?” she says.

“Right back where I came from if you insist on following.”

“My cousin doesn’t think you’re from the Wilds. You’ve got too many coins. That’s why you wear the mask, right? Why did you pick red? Are you—”

“Violet.” I round on her.

Her eyes stare back at me, wide and innocent. “What?”

“Go home.”

“But I want to help you.”

“You can’t.” I glance down. “And even if you could, you’re in bare feet. You’ll end up with something worse than an arrowhead.”

“I’m always in bare feet. I walked my toes through my last pair of boots, and Mama says there’ll need to be snow on the ground before she’ll find coins for a new pair.”