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I glanced his way. “Is that your strategy with me? Not trying any physical wooing, just mind games to sneak your way into my good graces in the hopes I’ll claim you as my mate in return?”
He grinned. “You’re not my opponent, and I don’t want to go to war with you, empress.” With a self-degrading laugh, he shook his head. “Besides, if I were trying to trick my way into your good graces, I’d probably only show you my better attributes and hide the rest. Think about that.”
I had. And I opened my mouth to accuse him of definitely only showing me his best points. Because, so far, I’d seen nothing about him that would draw a hard-limit no from me. Not even the fact that he was anti-Graykey. Hell, sometimes I was anti-Graykey. But he could also look past the stigma of the group as a whole and see each individual for their own attributes. And that was what mattered.
But he lifted his manacled hands, saying, “I’ve provided no illusions about myself. This is one hundred percent, unadulterated me. Warts and all. I’d rather you know the true me, the good and the bad, inside and out, so that when you do claim me as yours, it will be a decision made from your own mind, knowing exactly what you’ve gotten yourself into, with fully opened eyes.”
I didn’t have a disclaimer to that. I liked what he had to say too much. I liked how he respected my right to decide my heart for myself, even though the cocky part of him was sure I’d choose him, anyway. Except I didn’t want him to know that. He was already too confident.
So it was just as well that I wasn’t given a chance to respond since we’d just reached the canyon pass.
A handful of people had congregated in front of us, lining up to wait their turn for inspection and to pay their fees so they could enter the canyon. At the front, two uniformed soldiers stood guard, overseeing admission. Each traveler would expose their forearms, one of the men would splash water on them, looking for a mark, and then the traveler would toss their coin into a bucket and be on their way.
The process flowed seamlessly with everyone well accustomed to the process. Most didn’t even converse with the guards. When a party full of two wagons’ worth of people exited the canyon pass after having traveled through it from the other end, no one paid them any attention, as they would’ve been inspected for a mark when they’d entered.
I forced myself to breathe deeply through my nose as our turn to reach the front of the line approached. With a quick glance to my arm to make sure the knight’s armor was still covering my mark, I then checked on Melaina to ensure she still looked like a guard as well.
But no matter how I tried to calm myself, my heart just kept hammering out of control. We could die. In seconds. If the guards decided to throw that water on us, my mark would be exposed, and they’d attack.
My gaze caught on the spear one soldier was holding. Its pointed tip glinted brightly in the sunlight until I could almost feel the warmed heat from the steel blade penetrating my neck.
Jesus, how had I survived our first trip through the canyon pass on the way up to Pinsky without having a complete panic attack?
Indigo nervously edged his horse closer to mine, making me slice him with a warning glance. He was supposed to be a prisoner here. Small suspicious movements weren’t smart. I widened my eyes, silently asking him what he was doing.
But he only whispered from the side of his mouth, “Breathe, empress. No one here will attack you without going through me first.”
I scowled, irritated that he was reading my emotions. And as sweet as it might be for him to try to calm me, it was even more dangerous. He should be keeping his damn mouth shut right now, not worrying about—
“What do we have here?” a guard asked suddenly, making me jump and veer my attention to the man peering up at us questionably.
Shit.
Here we go.
“A Graykey prisoner,” Melaina announced, keeping her voice low and as masculine as she could. Roughly grabbing Indigo’s shackles, she twisted his arm, exposing the fake mark she’d put on him. The guards reared back immediately. A woman in line behind us gasped. A child waiting even further back began to cry.
“We’re taking him in to the king. Hopefully to get this damned curse ended once and for all.”
“Amen to that,” the guard answered, yawning as he waved us through. “Just get him out of here.”
“Will do.”
I dropped three tokens into the bucket and stepped past the guards. Behind me, I heard Holly’s hoofbeats as she followed. Someone belched. Another muttered something snide. I didn’t dare glance back when I heard someone spit, but I figured it had landed on Indigo since he cursed directly afterward.
I just kept walking forward, my head faint with worry as we started between the heavily shadowed, cool rock walls of the dried-out canyon base. Every mile or so, a guard station illuminated with torches hugged the ground, helping to light the path and keep the passage safe and crime-free.
A person could travel through the mountains without paying a fee, I supposed. But the pass cut the travel time down to half a day when it’d probably take weeks through the treacherous hilly terrain above, plus this was safer with the armed guards that staved off more than most thieves from trying
to rob anyone and chased off wild animals that may attack. Even taking the river ferry down to Moore and then heading back up to Tyler would be faster than attempting a perilous mountain trip.
Our only obstacle here was getting past the guards and into the pass. And we’d just made it.
The air hissed from my lungs as we left the knight’s station behind, and the parties traveling in front of and behind us spread further apart.
Melaina and Indigo appeared at my sides so we could ride abreast of each other.
“Well, that…” Melaina finally spoke up in a melodramatic voice. “Was so scary. I mean, the moment the guard yawned and his companion belched before scratching his balls was…” She blew out a shivering breath. “Why, I was sure that was it. We were all going to die a most violent and painful death.”
