Page 20 of Blood & Roses

We kept mostly to the woods, pausing only to rest briefly here and there as we pounded a snowy path south away from my sisters.

A pang of terror gripped me, thinking of my sisters as we headed for the capital. The last time I’d left them for any length of time was twelve years prior. I’d left in search of any word from Mother and Father after they didn’t return home, but I had never told my sisters that the High King refused to see me; only that there had been no word or sign of our parents and that we must keep going as if they were gone.

Lis’ shadows had burst out of her that day. Calli and Ella had cried inconsolably. Sera and Mora had been at each other’s throats, and it was up to me and Lena to keep us together and fed and alive. Lena had taken on the role of comforter, and I…I had found my first job that day.

There was nothing much to see as we traveled. Aside from Mysthaven, there were a few inconsequential towns, a lot of barren forest, and miles of frozen farmland. The land seemed to be slowly dying under the endless winter, and it was a miracle that a city like Fairwind was able to survive at all.

The elven kingdoms got by on trade, mostly from the human lands to the south. But half-elves and quarter-elves tended to be unwelcome in the kingdoms, so we eked out a meager existence onthe outskirts.

I wondered if Tristan might be different, with a half-elven brother. Perhaps Elandor was more tolerant than Frostwood, where my father hailed from.

Rowan slowed as the shadows elongated, afternoon bleeding into evening as the walls of Fairwinds came into view. With a shake of his head and a chuff of air, he knelt, my sign to dismount.

“Gods,” he groaned after shifting back into a male, stretching his arms and legs and grimacing in pain. “Everything hurts.”

I was also stiff and sore from riding bareback all day, but I didn’t say as much. Owl was nowhere to be seen, so I assumed he’d already flown into town and found a nice place to perch for the night.

“Are you sure we should risk going into the city?” I asked, looking around at the frozen land and despairing. It would be a cold night if we camped in the woods rather than staying in one of the city’s boarding houses, but if Rowan were recognized, we might be targeted by the queen or her hunters.

Rowan shook his head. “I need sleep if I have to run to Elandor tomorrow,” he said, holding out his hand to take the pack from me. He slung it over his own back, adjusting his bow more securely as he began the slushy trek toward the town. The snow had been cleared somewhat but was still deep enough to make walking exhausting.

“We should keep a low profile,” I said, trudging after him, cold and tired and sore.

“You mean I shouldn’t announce that we’re on a quest to kill Queen Amira and save Prince Tristan from false accusations of murder?” he joked.

“I hate you,” I said, scowling at the back of his hooded head and imagining throwing a rock at him.

Rowan turned, grinning. “If looks could kill, Isolde.”

He took my hand in his, making warmth shoot up my arm. It was our first meaningful touch since the kiss that morning, and it made all of the feelings I had been pushing to the bottom of my feet perk up with interest.

Rowan didn’t seem to notice, dragging me along with him into Fairwinds.

The city was less of a city and more of a very large village. It had none of the grandeur of the larger cities of the Elflands, but there were people about doing business and returning home from a day of work. Victor Gold had done most of his business in Fairwinds, but I hadn’t been to the city in years and knew none of the businesses or townsfolk.

We spent far too long looking for an inn or boarding house that might have vacancy. Fairwinds was poor like all border villages and towns, and I hoped that meant someone would want to host us and take our coin.

The first place we tried was full, and the second was a tavern but without any lodging. We paid for some stew, and I tried very hard not to think about Rowan’s lips as he ate. He charmed the ownerinto giving us directions to a place that likely had occupancy, which was, of course, in the dirtiest, seediest part of town.

I was glad for the cold steel of my daggers as we passed leering, desperate faces and what were likely criminal dealings. Although, to be fair, who was I to judge? I was currently on a job to assassinate someone.

The owner of the boarding house was a surly half-elven female who insisted that she had only one room left. It was tiny and cramped and freezing, and she charged us double what it was worth.

I balked when she deposited us at the door of the room.

“We need two beds,” I argued, whirling on the female. I had read romance novels. I knew what could happen if we shared, and based on our kiss this morning, I wasn’t going to take the risk.

“It’s this one or nothing,” the female said, grinning through rather broken teeth. “No refunds.”

“This is fine,” Rowan said, propelling me into the room before I could argue and bolting the door behind us.

“This isnotfine,” I insisted, hissing at Rowan as he dropped the pack and practically fell onto the bed. The very small, very singular bed. “We can’t share.”

“Why not?” Rowan drawled, cracking one eye open to look at me as he groaned in apparent ecstasy. “It’s one night, Isolde.”

“That’s one night too many,” I complained, cringing at the grimy wallpaper and dirty window and too-tiny space. The bedprobably had bed bugs. And there were probably mice. Gods above, I didnotwant to look in the communal bathing room.

“I vow to leave your virtue untouched,” Rowan joked, still looking at me through half-lidded eyes. “I’m too tired to seduce you tonight, anyway.”