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“Thea.”
“What?”
“My name,” she replied hotly. “Who I am.”
“I don't care who you are. All I care about is getting both of us out of this mess, so I can keep my conscience clear.”
Her eyes widened. “Your conscience? You have a man's head in your bag!”
He glanced down at it with a frown, as if he'd not yet considered its moral implications. By the Light, what sort of assassin had she gotten herself tangled up with?
Either he reached a conclusion or he decided it didn't matter, for he glowered at her a second later. “The hounds are still after us and the scent of blood will lead them this way with ease. At this moment, you have two choices. You may stay here, or you may come with me. If they catch you, you will be executed. If you stay with me, I'll take you somewhere safe before I continue on my quest.”
“Your quest,” she repeated.
The flat stare he gave her indicated he would discuss it no further.
A distant howl caught her attention. They both turned toward it, though there was nothing to be seen beyond the lean-to's slats. In the moment of silence that followed, she grew aware of her heartbeat drumming in her ears.
Against her better judgment, she found herself turning her gaze to the silver executioner's mask that lay on the wood. It was the same, she was sure of it. How strange that the mask that had haunted her nightmares since her brother's wrongful death might now lead to hers, too. How might things be different, if Ashvin had been presented the same opportunity? A chance to face the crime he was accused of—a crime he'd not committed, but for which he'd surely be punished—or a chance to flee?
As if to hasten her decision, the assassin slid his hand over the mask's features. He removed it from the wood pile and thrust it into his bag. Had he stolen it from the palace, or were such masks all the same? Did it matter if they were? She stared at the bag until she realized he'd placed the mask in with the king's head, then tore her eyes away.
The choices were cooperation or death. In truth, that was no choice at all. When she finally spoke, her voice was quiet, defeated, and the simple words made the assassin's shoulders sag with relief.
“I'll go.”
CHAPTERTWO
Despite the urgencythat clawed at her heart every time she heard a dog wail, the assassin moved slowly between the shabby buildings at the city's edge.
“We have few choices,” he said after a time. “We have to leave Kentoria.”
Thea could have sputtered. In another time, her family had been well off enough to travel. Her father had been a noble, part of the merchant class, a man who traveled widely and forged connections along most of the eastern sea. But those connections had been lost with him. Beyond Kentoria's borders, she had nothing.
“I don't hear you making any suggestions otherwise,” he continued when she did not reply. Had they not been in such a dire situation, she might have sworn he sounded playful.
“I have nowhere to go.” She didn't know what else to say.
“Family beyond the kingdom's borders?”
Thea shook her head.
He stared at her, his storm-gray eyes unreadable. Eventually, he glanced away. “Kentorian, born and bred. Few like you outside the upper castes.”
The comment dug under her skin. She followed him to the shadowy side of the next building before she spoke again, her voice a harsh whisper. “What makes you think I'm not upper caste?”
“You're a working woman in a peasant's dress. There are chalk stains on your skirt and a piece of string in your hair.”
Thea fought back a gasp, but she couldn't stop her hand from snapping up to her auburn locks. Searching for it with her fingertips was futile, but she still probed her loose curls, just in case. “What shame is there in working to support myself?”
“None.” He peered around the corner, then gave her an earnest look. “It just means you aren't upper caste.”
Not anymore, at least. That lifestyle had perished with her brother. She bit the insides of her cheeks and made herself exhale. How many times would Ashvin's execution plague her today? For as long as she was in peril, she supposed.
Instead of moving on, the assassin lingered at the corner of the building, his brows knit with frustration. Thea tried to follow his line of sight, but she saw nothing to warrant such concern. Whatever it was that vexed him, it existed only in his thoughts.
She cleared her throat. “Say we were to leave Kentoria,” she ventured. “Where would we go?”
