Page 12 of Queen of War and Ruin

The man laughs, a sound that’s almost identical to a bark.

“And why’s that?” he asks.

He meets my gaze, daring me to lie to him. I’m sure he knows we’re trying to avoid the toll station. And, hells, he’s probably already figured out we’re trying to avoid attention from Vsenrog.

But, my mind whispers, we still need them. Moving through the toll station gives us time. Time that could mean the difference between life and death for Lilias’s brother and everyone else in that abandoned hunting camp.

“It’s my fault,” Lilias blurts.

Both of us turn to stare at her. Her cheeks flush, and she fiddles with the hem of her cloak.

“I— I don’t like traveling,” Lilias continues, her voice trembling. “And these mountains, they scare me. I just— I think we’ll be safer with you?”

Her voice lifts at the end, making her words a question. She gives Toth a gentle smile and all but bats her eyelids at him. Gods, if she’d tried to manipulate me like that on our wedding day, I don’t know if I would have survived.

Toth grunts and spits on the ground.

“You fucking idiots,” he says. “You thought it’d be fun, didn’t you? Running off together?”

My mouth falls open. I turn to Lilias. She’s pulled her cloak tight around her chest, making her look both frightened and amazingly attractive. Toth shakes his head.

“Let me guess,” he says, turning to Lilias. “Your new husband’s not quite the protector you wanted, huh?”

Lilias turns away. The man sneers at me.

“Fucking idiots,” he says again. “You running from her husband? Or her father?”

Damn. So much for the story I’d prepared about traveling to visit my sick aunt. If this man thinks we’re rich idiots running away together, he’s going to want coin. A lot of coin.

“My father,” Lilias replies without missing a beat. “He wanted me to marry someone else.”

Toth chuckles. “Maybe you should have, sweetheart, if your new husband makes you stand by the side of the road like this.”

He grins at me, and the bright, sunlit day seems much colder.

“You steal a pretty woman,” Toth sneers, “you better have the coin to take care of her. And if you want to travel with us, boy, it ain’t gonna be cheap.”

Lilias lifts her chin and clears her throat, looking every bit a princess. “Your horse is limping,” she declares.

The man frowns, then glances back over his shoulder.

“What in the hells?” he snaps.

“The mare,” Lilias says. “She’s limping. And your harnesses aren’t adjusted properly. You’re going to strangle your oxen.”

The man’s eyes flash with anger. “The fuck are you talking about?”

“My husband is a farrier,” Lilias says, and I have enough sense to keep my damn mouth shut. “We can help you. If you let us travel with you.”

The man narrows his eyes as he stares at Lilias.

“Farrier’s services don’t come cheap,” Lilias says in a voice so sweet it almost makes my teeth hurt. “I’m sure that would be adequate compensation for joining your party, at least until the toll. We can’t be that far from the station, no?”

The man spits in the dirt again, and his shoulders round forward. If we were playing cards in the back of a pub, I’d expect him to start throwing punches right about now. Instead, he just grunts.

“I’ll need coin for the toll,” Toth finally says.

“We have coin,” I reply.