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After tugging something white from her pack, she flung the cloth over her shoulder and then hopped up onto a large boulder that jutted out over the brook. There, she climbed up toward the peak, making my heart leap with fear for her safety. But she was so surefooted I needn’t have worried. It was still strange to watch an old woman scale the rock with such ease and grace, though.
Once she reached the top, she scanned the area surrounding her, checking to see if she was alone. And then she began to shimmy out of the worn, brown cloak she wore.
My eyebrows lifted. I eased in closer.
Stripping completely bare, she hung the white cloth from a nearby tree branch and eyed the cool waters below. The glamour wasn’t complete, I realized. Under her clothes, the skin was merely a flesh-colored blur with no defined details. It looked really odd.
Naked, my mate dove into the water.
My smile spread. Now we were getting somewhere.
The one thing I knew about glamours was that they were susceptible to the elements. Too much exposure to fire, dirt, high winds, or water, and the glamour washed away completely.
No matter how good her glamour was, it wasn’t going to last after being submerged in the spring.
So whoever rose from those depths would bear my partner’s true image. And I, for one, couldn’t wait to see what he or she really looked like.
Chapter 5
Quilla
The water felt good: crisp, refreshing, and cleansing.
I swam around probably longer than I should have, my fingertips growing wrinkled and pruned in the process. But Melaina would return any moment, and she’d no doubt have something snide and degrading to say if she caught me in the water without any clothes on.
Knowing I should move, I lingered, anyway, floating on my back and closing my eyes as I turned my face toward the
warm beams of sunlight that streamed through the branches of the overhanging trees.
My mind drained of thought, and my bones went liquid and limp, enjoying the moment of peace. Yeah, this was nice. Lips lifting with a languid smile, I lifted my lashes and focused on the blue sky above.
He had blue eyes, my brain reminded me. I’d seen them clearly when he’d winked at me in the market when I was disguised as the little girl. They’d been such a brilliant, alive blue, too. Way too blue and pretty for a cold-blooded killer.
My brow furrowed.
The High Cliff soldier had been following me for a solid week now. I’d even shed three different disguises to avoid him, but he kept getting right back onto my trail. It was exasperating, and a bit frightening, if I wanted to be completely honest.
If this kept up, something was going to have to be done about it. I might actually have to kill the blue-eyed dreamboat. I shuddered over the mere possibility. I hadn’t yet been forced to kill anyone, and it wasn’t something I liked to think about. But now the thought was there, and it bothered me.
Tranquil time over, I flipped upright in the water and wiped wetness from my face before paddling toward the shore where the rock overhang was. Gripping a tree root, I hoisted myself up until my bare toes got a good grip on the natural stone steps that were worn into the ragged side of the rock. Then I climbed. Once I reached the flat, jutting top, I grabbed the hanging frock I’d left waiting for me, and I shrugged it on.
Then I perched myself above the brook and concentrated on wringing dry my long mass of hair. As water evaporated from my skin, I curled my legs under me and wiggled my bare toes in delight, giving them a little freedom.
No matter what disguise I wore, I usually had thick boots on underneath. It felt nice to have them out in the open air for a few minutes, able to breathe a little.
Behind me, a twig snapped. I froze with my hands still wrapped around thick locks of damp hair and forgot to exhale.
But what was that?
Had he found me again?
No. He hadn’t been anywhere around when I’d left the settlement. At least, I didn’t think he had. It was probably just an animal. Lord, it better be an animal. I wasn’t sure what I’d do if—
“So, this is what you really look like, is it?”
Shit.
With a gasp, I whirled around to find the High Cliff knight there, easing toward the rock boulder I sat upon. Seeing my reaction, however, he pulled up short and lifted his hands to show me he carried no weapons.
