Her laugh is a tonic I desperately needed. Llin will always be the bond that brought us together, but Llin isn’tallthere is to us. The last couple of days I’ve felt a shift between Caz and me, and I’m grateful I get to share in her friendship, her humour, and her kindness.
‘That’s not exactly what I meant,’ she replies.
‘I know, but it’s true.’
We continue to chat quietly, but after an hour of riding I’m struggling to concentrate. The bladder comment really wasn’t a joke, and it’s reached the point where I’m seriously uncomfortable.
‘We’re going to have to stop,’ I say to her. ‘I’ll just be one minute.’
‘I’d go into the thicket if I were you,’ Caz replies. ‘Unless you want to give the boys a show?’
She’s right. Benny and Ruben are still behind us, and so I dismount and dash into the thicket, desperate to relieve myself before they catch up.
‘I’ll move just up there,’ Caz calls. ‘There’s a clearing with better grass for the horse.’
Fortunately, I’ve just found a suitable place to crouch when the boys’ voices reach me.
‘No.’ Ruben’s tone is unusually sharp.
‘Will you lower your voice? Caz and Rose are just up ahead,’ Benny hisses back.
‘Then stop,’ Ruben bites back.
Nerves twist my stomach. These two men possess some of the sunniest personalities that I’ve ever met, and I don’t believe the tension between them is because they’re fighting for the title of most good-natured. So what’s going on?
Ruben speaks again, although at a substantially lower volume.
‘There is no way we can meet Arle with the bloody prince tagging along,’ Ruben whispers.
‘It’s fine,’ Benny leisurely assures him. ‘I’ll come up with something, a reason to split up the group.’
‘We should just go to Rowell and forget meeting Arle, like I said. The whole thing is too dangerous even without Kyor along for the ride. With him here, it’s suicide. He’ll know who Arle is. He’s the most famous rebel out there, and if he makes the connection between the two of you, he’ll fry you like that damned tree.’
‘I promised Arle coin, and I won’t let him down,’ Benny says firmly. ‘Even rebels need food.’
My mouth drops open, and my heart thunders in my ears.
Benny and Ruben are talking about rebels.No, they’re talking aboutfundingthe rebels.
My mind flashes to Peter – Ruben’s best friend – his eyes wide and unseeing in the moments after Mortidem took him.
My mouth is dry, my brain scrambling. I accepted that Peter was a rebel when I recognised the smoke tattoo he wore with such pride on every dead rebel at the ball, but Ruben? There are no tattoos on his body. I would know as I’ve seen every inch of it. And he wasn’t there that day at the palace when the rebels stormed in and killed Zelle.
But … Benny was.
I stifle a gasp that cramps my lungs as I try to draw a breath. Benny has made no bones about his dislike for King Korvane, hasn’t evenattempted to hide it. But to go as far as to join the rebels?Fundthe rebels? Korvane would kill him.
Fuck.
Kyorwould kill him.
The rebels killed Zelle, and if Kyor finds out Benny was involved …
I feel sick. As the boys ride on, I remain crouched there, frozen.
Benny was responsible for Zelle’s death. That’s the way Kyor’s going to see it. And discussing it here? In the open? Fucking idiots. What if Kyor had heard them?
A glimmer of relief flickers. Luckily, he’s been ranging ahead, scouting a safe path for us all.
