Down the hall, he held open the door like a proper nobleman, allowing me to pass through first. I stepped inside the cramped space, noticing a bed so small I doubted I’d fit on it. He started to follow me in, but I pivoted, halting his entry.
“Oh, no,” I said, placing a hand on the doorframe. “Not tonight. I want privacy.”
He stopped short with a furrowed brow. His mouth was pressed in a firm line, and I tore my gaze away from his lips. Something low in my belly fluttered at his proximity, and I cleared my throat, trying to hide the blush that crept to my cheeks.
“Why?” he asked, eyes narrowed.
I heaved a dramatic sigh and braced my weight against the door. “I’ve been plastered to your side for weeks, sleeping among your men under the moons. My only privacy has been a blanket between us and trips to relieve myself. Please, just this once, give me space.”
My stomach clenched as I erased all sign of nervousness from my face and lifted my eyebrows in a pleading gaze.
I hoped it worked.
He took a deep breath, and I grinned, knowing I had won.
“I’ll be right outside your door. Urien will be at the window.”
I swallowed past the lump in my throat and lunged, grabbing him in an embrace. He grunted as I squeezed my arms around his middle, pressing my cheek against his chest. It would be the first and last time I held him—I would allow myself this moment.
Sainte didn’t move, his muscles clenched and tense. When I backed away, his eyes were wide and somewhat horrified. My heart twisted, and I ignored the stab of betrayal.
“Thank you.”
“Elspeth—”
I backed into the room.
“—don’t run.”
“I won’t.”
I shut the door on my lie, chewing my lip. I hated this. Why did he have to make this so hard? Why couldn’t he just leave me alone? Or at the leastactlike a bad guy so that I could actually be mad at him?
Rubbing my chest to ease the deep ache, I approached the window—a mere hole covered with thin fabric to keep bugs out. The road below was empty, save for a few patrons meandering about. Urien wouldn’t be down there yet, likely engrossed in watching Grimm.
With another glance at the door, I sucked in a steadying breath. This was it. I was done playing his game. It was time to make my move, not follow his lead.
I turned back to the window and slowly ripped the edge of the fabric.
Chapter 7
The chestnut mare went lame after my second day on my own. I didn’t know enough about horses to determine if it was due to a stone in her shoe or something more serious. Perhaps she was simply fed up with my rambling conversation and inexperienced riding. I removed her tack, keeping the bridle for trade and the blanket for warmth, then sent her west, hoping to confuse Sainte and his men.
By my fourth day, I had traded the bridle for a hunk of musty cheese and hard bread. It was a poor exchange, but I didn’t have many options. Most folk just eyed me warily and crossed the street. I ended up taking another road east, hoping if I followed it, I might get close enough to Landing’s End to know my location.
My current predicament found me with a gnawing ache in my belly, a stark reminder of my unmet hunger, running from the man I tried to rob in the dead of night. I sprinted through the darkness—a tiptoeing, prancing gait, but running nonetheless. It was the best I could manage in the utter black. The sky was veiled in dark clouds, obscuring even the faintest glimmer of moonlight that tried to filter through the dense canopy overhead.
As I sped through the forest, my foot caught on an exposed root, sending me sprawling. My palms slammed against the damp earth, and I shoved myself up, leaves rustling under my frantic movements. I knew my pursuer couldn’t see me, but my clumsy escape was a symphony of noise, betraying my position.
Low-hanging branches and thorn-covered brambles slashed at my arms and legs as I fled. If I’d only triple-checked the man was asleep, I wouldn’t be in this situation. I had hoped to securesomethingto fill my belly, but instead, my efforts led to stumbling through the woods in a hunger-induced haze.
Footsteps crashed behind me, closing in fast, and I mustered energy from somewhere, forcing myself to move faster.
Ahead in the darkness, it looked as if the trees thinned into a clearing. Were my chances better in the open? I might outpace him on even terrain. Mind made up, I propelled forward. I burst through that treeline, taking a glorious bush-free step–
Right into a ditch.
I fell flat on my face, nose smarting as my head smacked into the dirt.
