Page 56 of To Fight and To Fold

Thea's gaze jerked up. "What is it?"

"Prince Jarrick is training her, or something. Every few days." Rolim's expression was carefully blank as Thea blinked at him.

"The Prince of Evergale is taking multiple days a week to… train. A Tethered. Aaryn. In what?" she bit out. Like, combat training? Hand to hand, and grappling, and⁠—

"Swordsmanship. Or something of that shape," Rolim dared to tease, and then—Thea's face must have done something to reveal her devastation at even the thought, because he snapped to attention, arms falling at his side as he leaned toward her. "Skies, no, I was just kidding, Thea. He wouldn't⁠—"

She schooled her expression back into something… not so stricken, and cleared her throat. No. It was fine. Aaryn could do what she wanted—with whomever, Thea supposed. Thea had betrayed her, after all, and stolen her dragon, and left her behind, and even if they had been together—which they weren't, pathetically enough—Thea supposed that would've been the most obvious break-up she'd ever seen.

"I'm sorry, that was out of line," Rolim said suddenly, and Thea blinked. "They're really just training. He had a few of the First Guard help him move a bunch of equipment into a spare room, and Aaryn's personal guard is always with them."

"No, it's fine," Thea lied, and decided they needed to move on. Her gaze landed on the map of Evergale Castle pinned to Vaelen's board. "We should come up with a solid strategy."

Rolim sighed and nodded, getting back to business, though he clapped a hand to Thea's shoulder and his touch was warm.

"You know," she drawled, "I got a welcome home party.”

"Oh, you get a party, and I get an assignment?" he played along, and this—this was safer territory. "I see who's the favorite around here."

"You know it," she teased. "So, tell me exactly what you were thinking," she said, and tapped the map.

As they began to plan each decision, from entry points to timing, so many things brewed in Thea. Anticipation, excitement… worry.

Because now she was more determined than ever to get Aaryn away from Evergale—away from the prince. And if her determination was born from jealousy, who the scale had to know?

14

NICE HAIRCUT

Dinner was just as stilted as she’d feared, but Runa’s company kept her from running away. They dined at the end of a long table, making faces at one another when they overheard a particularly scandalous piece of gossip.

Aaryn tried her best to avert her attention away from the Tethered, as the tension between those in attendance could be felt even tables away. But alas, Aaryn found her gaze landing on them again and again, and she noticed the absence of Carissa.

Maybe she was absconding through the halls with her guard lover.

After escaping the dining hall, Aaryn traveled swiftly through the covered walkway that led to the Tethered's tower, and as far as she could tell, she was the first to arrive after dinner. Making haste, she headed for the stairs, taking them to her floor before she could be caught by another Tethered. If they even wanted to catch her. She'd done her best to avoid them after the last confrontation, but it seemed they were putting in the work to avoid her, too.

Which was… fine. It didn't matter that the only community she'd been a part of had turned their backs so readily on her.

Her pace increased, steps echoing off the stone floor. She had other things to do besides eat pastries and lounge around. Like learning hand-to-hand combat and… and reading! In her spare time she'd made progress in the book about druids.

But even what she had read so far only confirmed what the prince had confided in her.

According to the books, the druids were a wild community. Their camps often devolved into chaos because of looters and thieves, and they cared not for those who didn't agree with their ways. It sounded a little like the corner of Evergale she'd grown up in.

Years ago, before Aaryn became a Tethered and she was still finding her next meals in difficult places, she had heard… whispers. Of the druids, who were beyond Evergale's influence, taking people in. To where, no one knew.

But those words had come few and far between, and Aaryn had mostly forgotten them. Until now.

She didn't know where those whispered rumors lie in the story the book told.

Her dreams had been just as sparse, and she had not seen Starspark again. She swore the disappointment filling her each time she awoke was for him, and not because of Thea's absence.

Her door finally came into view, and a shape outside it made Aaryn falter, her breath catching as she thought for just a second, maybe⁠—

"There you are," Carissa snapped, her voice echoing around the hallway. "What do you know?"

Aaryn blinked, backing up a step as Carissa stomped across the floor in her direction. Her brows were furrowed and her lips twisted in fury as she seethed.