The Girl King (The Girl King #1)(91)

Lu huffed in annoyance. “I was distracted.”

“Yes,” Nasan agreed. “By my brother.”

“If you tried even a little, Nasan, I bet you could be less of a pain,” Nok muttered, face flushing.

“I’m sure I could,” Nasan agreed amiably. “But what would be the fun in that?”



Lu took the first watch that night, sword unsheathed across her lap. Sleep came reluctantly to her lately, and when it came at all it was marred with dark, bloody dreams.

The wood was silent save for the even breathing of her sleeping companions, and the whine of the occasional mosquito. As they drew higher into the Yunian foothills the air had grown chillier—hard on their fingers and toes, but making for far fewer insects. It was an exchange Lu was glad to make, at least for now. She might be less glad of it if it got any colder.

“Hey.”

The voice came soft beside her. Instinctively, her grip tightened on the hilt of her sword, but her fingers fell away when she looked through the dark and saw Nokhai’s face, wan and starkly shadowed in the moonlight. The worry of danger passed, but her heart quickened anyway.

He closed the distance between them and sat, near enough that she could feel the warmth of him radiating through his wool tunic. “You should sleep,” she whispered.

“Can’t.” He didn’t sound too concerned, though.

“Not surprising,” she said carefully. “You must have a lot on your mind.”

It was hard to know how far she could wander into his thoughts before he pushed her back out, but tonight he just shrugged. Let her stay.

“That’s one way to put it,” he said.

A pale slash of his face was visible in the moonlight, just enough that she saw the smile quirk quick across his mouth.

“I can’t help but feel like all of this means something, you know?” she said. “You finding your sister like this. It feels like . . .”

“Fate?” he said.

She looked sharply at him to see if he was mocking her, but the black pools of his eyes were wide and open. Earnest.

“Yes,” she said, her mouth dry. “Fate.”

She moved closer. He watched her with quiet interest but didn’t object, so she pressed her shoulder to his. She felt his breath puff against her cheek, in the shell of her ear, waiting for her lips to seek his. She didn’t make him wait long.

He kissed her back. She pulled him closer, surprised at the hunger with which he met her. He touched her, just below her ribs, then his hand jerked away when he realized what he’d done.

“Sorry,” he whispered, the words warm against her lips.

She shook her head, making a wordless sound of frustration as she guided his hand back to where it had been. He opened his mouth in surprise and she covered it with her own.

A ways off, Nasan snorted and mumbled something blearily. They froze, but she lapsed back into deep, even breaths.

“Do you think she’s really asleep?” Lu murmured.

“Nasan?” He pulled back and made a face. “Do we have to talk about my sister right now?”

Lu laughed, nudging his chin with her nose before burying her face against the heat of his neck. “She doesn’t seem to like me much.”

He stiffened. “Did she say something?”

Damn. “No,” Lu said quickly. “No, of course not.”

“Not everything is about you,” he told her. He pulled back, the cold of the night air quickly filling the void left by his body. “Nasan’s been through a lot.”

“I know—”

“You don’t,” he cut her off. “You can’t.”

Lu pursed her mouth and stared at him, but he either didn’t notice her gaze through the dark or refused to meet it.

Later, bedded down sleepless on the cold ground, she would think: He is a boy covered in hidden wounds. Each time she thought she had figured out how to safely embrace him, her fingers probed across his skin and found a new break.



Two days later, Nasan halted their trek to tell them unceremoniously, “There’s a lake over the next ridge. The gate is along its shore.”

“You’re certain?” Lu pressed.

“Of course,” Nasan retorted, clearly offended. “I know where I’m going, Princess. Don’t expect to see much, though. Like I said, Yunis only appears when it wants to.”

Lu rolled her eyes. “So you’ve mentioned a few hundred times.”

Nok interrupted before Nasan could respond, as though sensing a spat coming on. “Maybe we should stop here and one of us can go scout to make sure the way is clear.”

“I’ll go,” Lu and Nasan said immediately, in unison. Then they turned to one another and glared.

“You’re not going together.” Nok shook his head. “You’ll kill each other before you even get to the top.”

“There’s no way I’m not going—no one is as familiar with imperial scouts as I am,” Lu said at the same time that she heard Nasan protest, “I’m the only one who’s been here before, you wouldn’t even know what to look for!”

Nok put his face in his hands.

“Forget it,” Lu said. “Let’s all just go.”

Nasan frowned grudgingly. “Fine by me,” she said.