“Why not both?” Avalon demanded.
“Why not both?” he agreed with a smile. “But life has a way of giving you only half of what you deserve.”
Nibbling on a corner of cheese, she eyed him up. “You always have these quotes up your sleeve, as if you’re waiting for the opportunity to say something wise.”
Hadrian’s smile grew. “Are you criticizing me?”
She shook her head. “No. I’m admiring you. If I could live for as long as you will, I’d be lucky to be even half as smart as you.”
His smile faded. “We’re almost the same age, Avalon.”
“I know,” she whispered. “But you’ll outlive me. By a long, long time.”
Hadrian set the last of his bread aside and scooted over, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. The close contact had blush returning to her face. “You want to know a secret?” he whispered in her ear, his breath tickling her skin to gooseflesh. When she nodded, he said, “If I had the choice to live forever or to die a mortal, I’d choose the second.”
Avalon laughed breathily. “That’s a fool’s choice. An idiot’s.”
“No idiot would choose a life that didn’t have you in it.”
Their faces were barely an inch apart, the captain’s breath mingling with her own.
But she wasn’t ready—not yet. Not when they were on the run and likely in danger, and not when neither of them had changed clothes in days.
So, Avalon pulled away, instantly regretting every inch she put between her and Hadrian as she wiggled into her bedroll and turned her back on him.
“Goodnight, Hadrian,” she said.
Despite that she’d rejected him, a hint of a smile lingered in his voice, albeit a sad one, as he spoke. “Goodnight, Princess.”
And when she finally fell asleep, the night had never felt so cold.
~
They waited until sunset the following day before making their way through the valley, across the rain-swollen Glorian River, and into the sprawling city of Emeraldis. It hadn’t stopped pouring until an hour ago, and Avalon’s clothes were soaked through. The sun had graced her with its presence long enough for her to wash herself in the lake that morning. Though now, as she wrang out her sopping braid for the third time since the clouds had rolled in, she wondered if she should’ve even bothered.
Since discovering the king had sent the Wraith to find them, they had decided to stay as inconspicuous as possible. And there was no better way to go unnoticed than to hide in the shadows of the night, when the air dropped several degrees, and a hooded cloak wouldn’t look out of place.
Despite the passing storm, the sprawling city was bursting with life. Paper lanterns were strung on wire throughout the tangled cobblestone streets, their colors reminding Avalon of the solstice festivals. Shops were closing for the evening, but dancers and acrobats were only just emerging to twirl out the hours in the damp streets, and musicians played at every corner. Some called Emeraldis the City of the Sleepless, and Avalon could certainly see why.
It took them nearly two hours to find Clarice Springs. After asking the owners of nearly a dozen taverns and brothels where they might find her, they finally got a lead.
Clarice was the owner of a tavern in the heart of Emeraldis calledThe Black Swan.Tucked away down an alley so narrow they nearly missed it, the tavern was…well, charming, Avalon supposed.
Aside from a sign that had seen better days, and door hinges that squealed louder than the boisterous voices of the drunkards inside, it was quite pleasant. The exterior had a fresh paint job, and the troughs out front were bursting with white and pink flowers, their petals sparkling with rain. The captain and the princess made sure to keep their hoods up as they stepped over the threshold and into the warm, crowded building.
When they finally came face to face with Clarice, Avalon nearly smacked Hadrian for staring so hard. At first, she’d blamed his reaction on the mane of fiery hair, the obscenely large eyes and lips, and the generous breasts that drew the gazes of every man—and a few women—that entered. But thankfully, this wasn’t the reason Hadrian was staring.
Not theonlyreason, anyway…
They called her Clan Hunter. She was the leader of one of several groups of killers-for-hire who hunted the clans of lesser Folk that were better off dead than alive. Clarice—fiery-haired, obscenely beautiful Clarice—was best known for singlehandedly removing several destructive clans from Elderyn. Her most impressive catch to date was a man-eating Crow of which no one had caught a glimpse in nearly a century. Two days into being assigned to kill the ancient, withering thing, Clarice had carted its severed head back to Emeraldis.
The entire city had stared.
Since then, no thieves, murderers, or drunk, horny men bothered her anymore.
“I see you’ve found the Book of Elements,” said Clarice. They were the first words she’d bothered to say since they’d arrived here. Hadrian and Avalon had just finished their third helpings of stew; Clarice had watched in silence the entire time.
The three were sitting in a shadowed corner of the tavern, as far as they could get from the rowdy men drinking at the round oak tables and the wenches perched in their laps. The air was hazy with smoke and heavy with the smell of roasted meat and fresh bread.
