Page 103 of Embers of Ruin

“I’ll take you.”

I narrow my eyes. “That was too easy.”

“You were going either way.”

“True. That is very, very true.”

“And if I refuse, you will find another route, get lost, insult someone important, and I’ll be blamed for it.”

I smile. “You’re learning, Riven!”

Another sigh. “Against my will.”

We set off down the corridor together, and for once, Cadrin doesn’t appear to ruin the atmosphere. The palace at night feels older than it does by day. Without servants moving through the halls and nobles drifting about in their expensive fabrics, Andell becomes more mountain than palace. Stone presses close around us and the shadows seem thicker. I wonder if any of them belong to Thorin…

No. I know the shape of his shadows now. I would know if he were watching me.

The memory of us in the corridor late at night rushes back to me as if it happened yesterday. It has happened several times since, and every encounter sends heat racing through my pulse, zapping through me like lightning. I nearly stumble over a rug as I allow Thorin the space to occupy my mind.

Damn it.

Riven glances at me. “Are you all right?”

“Perfectly fine!”

“You look pretty angry.”

“I thought about something.”

“Dangerous. Don’t do that anymore.”

“You spend way too much time around me, Riven. I’m becoming a bad influence on you.”

“So I’ve noticed. Not my choice, Lady Tarethyn. But you’re far better company than I expected.”

I arch an eyebrow. “You expected me to be bad company?”

“Oh, absolutely.” He doesn't even try to soften it. “Mazelle especially. We knew you hated His Majesty. If you'd made one move against him, you'd have been dead before you got anywhere near him.”

My stomach drops at the way he says it so matter-of-factly. So all those times I imagined killing Thorin…

I would've been dead before I ever reached him. Damn.

“His Majesty would’ve killed the lot of us afterward,” Riven continues with a shrug, “but that wouldn’t have mattered. We won’t let anyone get close enough to harm him.”

“And now?”

A small smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. “Now?” His gaze flicks toward the palace before settling back on me. “Now the whole guard can feel the difference.”

“Difference?”

“You’re safe.”

My thoughts tumble over themselves as I try to make sense of everything he's just said. So, to sum it up…

Everyone notices whatever is happening between Thorin and me.

Wonderful.