Flamecaster (Shattered Realms #1)(92)

“It will do, I suppose,” she said, mimicking some of the finer guests at the Lady. “The servants are surly and the food marginal. But there is a view of the harbor.”

He laughed. “I’m guessing this is where King Gerard keeps some of his more valuable political prisoners.”

To be fair, it was larger and finer than the rooms at the Lady of Grace. Still, it seemed crowded with Adam in the room, especially now that she no longer wore the armor of filth and illness. At every moment, she was acutely aware of his position and the distance between them.

He was looking at her expectantly, and she realized that he was waiting for her to say something. “Ah . . . as you can probably tell, Karn made good on his promise of a bath and a change of clothes.”

“You do look different,” he said, studying her through narrowed eyes. “I’m not used to seeing you in a dress.”

She tugged at her bodice self-consciously. “This one’s a little tight across the—it’s a little tight, but the seamstress said she’d bring something made-to-measure tomorrow.” Sucking in a quick breath, she stumbled on. “I’m not used to dresses. I’ve been playing a boy for four years, nearly all the time, so it feels odd not to be wearing breeches.”

“I had no idea your hair was so many colors,” Adam said. “Copper and gold and silver and amethyst. It’s almost . . . metallic. I’ve never seen anything like it.” He reached out and fingered it, and gooseflesh rose on her back and shoulders.

“Now you know how dirty it was. My da always said that when I was a baby it looked like I stood on my head on a painter’s palette and spun around.”

Gaaah. Shut your mouth. She’d never learned to flirt—she’d had no practice at it. Besides, flirting seemed too lightweight a term to fit what was happening between them.

A prickling heat crept up from her shoulders and into her face. The memory of their kiss hung between them like forbidden fruit. Everything they said or did seemed charged with meaning. Desire crouched in the room with them like an awkward guest.

Now what? Where do we go from here? Do we back away or go forward? Maybe Adam felt the same pressure, because he seemed to be groping for something else to talk about.

“What are you reading?” He reached for the book on her lap, picked it up, and leafed through it. “Alencon’s History of the Realms? We read that at school. Highly subversive.” He cocked his head. “Karn brought this?”

He’s stalling, she thought. There’s something he doesn’t want to tell me.

When he handed the book back, she set it aside. After another siege of silence, Jenna reached out and took both his hands, looking for a clue. The only image that came to her was that of a ship, hazy-looking, shrouded in mist, more like somebody’s idea of a ship.

“I dreamed I read the cards for you,” she said.

“And?”

“And I predicted I would bring heartbreak and trouble into your life,” she said.

“Too late,” he said, staring down at their joined hands. “Heartbreak and trouble got there ahead of you.”

“You may as well tell me what’s on your mind,” she said, releasing his hands. “What’s the news? Am I to be executed? Sold into slavery?”

The look on the healer’s face said she wasn’t far off the mark. “An emissary has come from the Empress Celestine,” he said. “She’s the one Lieutenant Karn was asking you about. Apparently, she’s offering to trade a sack of diamonds, a mysterious weapon, and an army for you.” He paused, looking around the room again. “That might explain the sudden hospitality. Montaigne doesn’t want to be accused of trading in damaged goods.”

“Then he’s damned lucky you’re so good at what you do.” Unable to sit still, Jenna stood, crossed to the hearth, and poked at the fire with a stick. “Why would somebody I don’t even know be offering that kind of swag for me?”

“There’s to be a meeting in two days,” Adam said to her back. “Maybe we’ll find out then. I wanted to warn you ahead of time.”

“Good,” Jenna said, staring into the flames. “We’ll get it sorted out before this goes much further.”

When he didn’t reply, she turned back to face him. Adam was chewing his lower lip, his face all-over dread, as if trying to decide whether to keep delivering bad news or leave her in the dark.

“You’re wondering if I’m stupid or naive or both,” Jenna said. “I’m neither.” Settling down on the thick rug in front of the hearth, she patted the space beside her. “Sit with me, Wolf.”

Just for a heartbeat, she thought he wouldn’t come. But then he did, crossing the room and dropping to the floor beside her. He sat, his thigh pressing against hers, one knee up, the other leg extended straight out in front of him.

She arched her back, wriggling a little, enjoying the heat and the crackle of flames while she tried to work out what to say.

“This is an argument I used to have with my da all the time. He was the kind who saw disaster waiting around every corner.”

“See? He was right,” Adam said, fussing with his collar, as if it pinched.

“He was right . . . after sixteen years,” she said. “We spend so much of our lives waiting to be ambushed by heartbreak. Why couldn’t we be ambushed by joy? Anything’s possible, right?”