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As soon as we reached the ferry station, however, we sobered enough to tie off the horses and approach the lodge to pay the admission fee. Farrow dished out enough coin to cover both our tickets as well as two extra spaces for the horses.
When we turned away to approach the crowd gathering around the Cull ferry, he took my hand, drawing me close. Most of the parties waiting to board seemed like families with only a few men traveling alone. Two such men caught my attention when they parted slightly from the horde, their gazes intent on Farrow.
They dressed a bit like
all the royal guards I’d seen that had come from High Cliff with Allera and Urban and Indigo when they’d first arrived in Donnelly for Brentley’s marriage. Except they wore Far Shore colors, and the Far Shore crest sat on their silver breast plates. Eyes narrowing when they shifted their focus to me, they seemed to tense as if preparing to attack.
“Farrow.” I squeezed his hand.
He’d been glancing the other way, scanning the crowd, but when he swung back to me and watched the slight tipping of my head as I motioned toward the men, he turned his gaze to them and immediately fell still, nearly breaking my fingers with how hard he tightened his grip.
“Fuck.”
Fear flooded from him. It was pretty much the first emotion I’d felt from him since the desert. It made my own anxieties leap.
“You know them,” I said.
He nodded once, never tearing his hard gaze from the men.
“Go to the horses,” he instructed, his voice firm. “Get the Colt ready and wait there. I’ll be right back.”
“But…” I shook my head, stunned by the command. “You told me not to leave your side.”
“Well, now I’m telling you to wait by the horses.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but he ordered, “And whatever happens, stay as far away from those two as you can get. Never trust them. Do you hear me?”
“Of course, but—”
“Good. Now, go.”
I huffed as he stalked away, straight toward the very men he’d warned me never to go near myself.
“Seriously?” I muttered, scowling after him. If they were so dangerous, why was he strolling right up to them, then?
Not following his ridiculous demand, I watched as his back muscles strained against the confines of his coat when he stopped before them. He fisted his hands down at his sides and widened his stance. He was ready to fight if necessary.
Whatever he told them, they didn’t seem to like. They each peered past him, over his shoulder, and directly at me. When one tried to step around him as if to head in my direction, Farrow dodged into his path and placed a staying hand on the center of his chest. He spoke again, and his words did not meet with their approval. They started to motion just as aggressively as he was, ready to brawl.
I hurried to Caramel, determined to help. After digging up the Colt, I slipped it into one of my skirt pockets and searched for some more weapons before coming up with a dagger stashed on Farrow’s horse. By the time I felt sufficiently armed, however, Farrow was already stalking back to me, his murderous glare savage enough to kill someone with his snarl alone.
“They’re riding the same ferry as us,” he announced, fidgeting as if he wanted to delay our trip just to avoid them.
I nodded, peering past him. “Who are they?” They were still watching us, following every move we made.
Farrow hesitated a moment before saying, “They’re palace guards.”
My eyes flared. I instinctively moved closer to Farrow. “Far Shore palace guards?” I whispered, realizing how stupid the question was, even as I asked it. Of course, they were Far Shore knights. “What’re they doing here, so far from the castle?”
Looking as if he were having trouble controlling his angry breaths, Farrow said, “They’re on a royal quest for the king.”
“Oh,” I answered, relieved. “Then they should be far too busy focusing on that to bother with us. How do you know them, anyway?”
He didn’t reply, merely glanced at them again, not bothering to hide his glare. “If they do bother us, I’ll kill them.”
Scandalized by the venomous claim, I gasped, “Farrow.”
He turned back to me. “Promise me, Nicolette. If anything happens to me, you’ll kill them with the Colt, just like you did with the archers. Promise me.”
