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“I d-don’t want people to know anything h-happened.” She would flaunt any social convention that existed, but she wouldn’t look weak by letting Numair all but carry her back to the damn palace.
“No one will know. I sent for Marquin and Verol. You can clean up at their house and they’ll take you back to the palace.”
She shook her head. “They aren’t here.”
“They returned early this afternoon.”
It irked her, that Numair had known this and she hadn’t.
Her brain finally warmed up enough to realize she had no idea what he was doing here. “How did you know to send for them?”
He grimaced. “The mages’ stables contacted me.”
The little warmth that had returned to her limbs fled. “What did they tell you?”
“That two men confessed to attempting to steal Kialla from the stables after you paid for a half day’s board, and that the horse was now missing.”
“Is that all?”
“That they knew? Yes.” His hand reached for the cut on her cheek, stopped short of actually touching her. “I know a whip lash when I see one, Clare. And I know who must have given it to you, but strangely, neither of the men mentioned you at all. They said only that they tried to steal the horse, and she ran off.”
“So maybe that’s what happened.”
“It’s not all that happened. I found the third man.”
Clare’s blood turned as cold as the lake she’d nearly drowned in. So stupid, to have forgotten the third.
“He said he looked into your eyes and saw his death. And the other two? They refused to get off their knees even though one had shattered kneecaps, because they insisted they couldn’t leave until they told everyone what they had done.” His piercing gaze demanded answers, but she had none that she could give.
“I did tell you,” she whispered, “that you should be afraid of me.”
He looked at her a long moment before shaking his head. “I’m not afraid of you. Now are you getting on Hellack or am I picking you off the ground once you’ve fallen off Kialla?”
Against her better judgment, she let him boost her into the saddle. He swung up behind her, settling onto Hellack’s broad back behind the saddle. When his arms came around to either side of her for the reins, the baffling increase in her heart rate told her that her better judgment would have been a fine thing to listen to. Maybe falling off the horse would knock this strange feeling out of her.
“What happened? Not,” he continued, cutting off her protest, “what you did. It’s already obvious you aren’t talking about that. What happened before?”
“They hurt Kialla.”
Numair’s eyes traveled over the mare walking at their side, no limp or injury evident.
“She’s fine.”
Clare nodded. “She is now.”
His fingers tensed on the reins and she braced herself for his reaction. His voice was almost eerily calm. “Don’t breathe a word of it. You never went back to the stables, you never saw her. You were still in the city when I sent word to you of what happened.”
Clare exhaled heavily. “Someone had to have seen me.”
“It’s taken care of.”
She decided not to ask. “What did you tell the stables? About the men?”
“That their reaction was the result of a spell I placed on Kialla to protect her from theft.”
“And they believed you?”
He shrugged. “Such magics are possible. To warrant investigating the spellwork, the Guild would have to publicly doubt my word.” And given who he was, no one was going to do that. “And I am known to be eccentric enough to have done just such a thing.”
