AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"What do you think of my new suit?" Kartik asks.
"Don't you think it's rather bold of you to take a job as our coachman?" I whisper.
"I said that I would be close."
"So you did. How ever did you arrange it?" "The Rakshana have their ways/The Rakshana. Of course. It is quiet. I can hear Ginger snorting softly on the other side of the stables.
"Well," I say.
"Well," Kartik echoes.
"Here we are."
"Yes. It was good of you to come see me. You look well."
I should die from politeness. "I've brought your supper," I say, offering the plate.
"Thank you," he says, pulling over a stool for me and removing the volume of The Odyssey that sits atop it. He perches on the steps of the carriage. "I suppose Emily isn't coming, then."
"Who is Emily?" I ask.
"The maid. She was to bring my dinner. She seems a most congenial girl."
My cheeks flush. "And you have decided her character after knowing her but a day."
"Yes." he says, peeling the flesh from a precious orange, no doubt put there by the congenial Emily. I wonder if Kartik could ever think of me as an ordinary girl, someone to hope for, to long for, to consider "congenial."
"Have you any news about the Temple?" he says, without looking up.
"We visited a place today called the Forest of Lights,'' I tell him. "I met a creature called Philon. It did not know where to find the Temple, but it offered help."
"What sort of help?"
"Weapons."
Kartik's eyes narrow."It felt you would need them?"
"Yes. Philon gave us magic arrows. I'm useless with them, but Feli--Miss Worthington is rather skilled. She--" "What did it ask in return?" Kartik's stare is penetrating.
"A share of the magic when we find the Temple."
"You refused, of course." When I do not answer, Kartik tosses the orange onto his plate in disgust. "You made an alliance with creatures from the realms?"
"I didn't say that!"I snap. It isn't the truth, but it isn't a lie, either."If I'm not doing this to your liking, why don't you go?"
"You know we cannot enter the realms."
"So then I suppose you will have to trust that I am doing all I can."
"I trust you," he answers softly.
The small sounds of night surround us, tiny creatures scurrying here and there, looking for food and warmth.
"Did you know that the Rakshana and the Order were once lovers?" I ask.
"No, I didn't," Kartik says after a few seconds' hesitation. "How . . . interesting."
"Yes. It is."
