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Before long, he'd send something else, a document declaring that marriage license null. A statement of his death, or some other political chicanery? Strange, morbid curiosity stole over her as her fingertips parted the edges of the paper. She'd never seen it after she'd signed, never knew the name he'd used for his false identity.
She unfolded the page and a scrap of paper dropped to the floor. She started to glance down, but something on the open document caught her eye.
Gaius.
He'd signed itGaius.
By the Light, the man had used his real name!
Thea covered her mouth and didn't know if she was going to laugh or cry. She blinked hard and made herself draw a breath, then bent to take the paper from the floor. The back was blank, but a few small lines of writing decorated the front when she turned it over.
If ever you have need, speak to Rilion and it will be met.
My heart remains yours, but you deserve the best.
Do not settle for less.
The last line blurred before she finished reading and she sank to the floor. Cry. She was definitely going to cry. Her chest tightened until her ribs ached, but instead of tears, all that escaped her was a soft exhale. She laid a hand flat against her stomach, just beneath her ribs. The raised outlines of embroidered leaves and flowers greeted her fingertips. They grounded her in the moment and drew her eyes downward.
A ring of leaves and flowers encircled her, her skirt spread on the floor. Everything she thought she wanted surrounded her, yet she was hollow, incomplete.
Her hand drifted down her bodice, to the now-separate skirt. Divided by circumstances and put back together again.
Two pieces, one whole.
She had to go back.
CHAPTERTWENTY-EIGHT
The snow wasunkind to travelers. Even with the escort Rilion had assigned, Thea's contingent found progress slow, and winter deepened before they made it across the range to Heartroot.
Most of her escort peeled off there. Some would continue back to Danesse; others would wait for the lone rider who continued into Kentoria beside her.
When they reached the river outside Samara, he departed, too. She hadn't felt their presence necessary, but the prince had refused to let her go alone. It didn't matter that she'd learned to fight. She didn't have her dagger any longer, and though he'd confessed that her combat skill with a pair of scissors was impressive, Rilion was unwilling to take risks.
He had explained the plan for her return before he allowed her to set out. News of what had happened would not pass easily between the kingdoms until spring arrived. For a group of Ranorsh soldiers to press too far toward the capital could be viewed as a threat, no matter how amicable things were between himself and Kentoria's newly-crowned king.
Or, re-crowned, Thea thought. She'd heard nothing about the state of things in Samara, and while part of her wished to ride straight to the palace, she couldn't predict what might be there waiting. Gaius, she hoped, but she didn't know, and she doubted he would forgive her if she rode straight into danger.
Instead, she tied Molasses in the stone-walled garden behind her old home and brushed snow from her skirt. Her illusory trousers underneath had kept her warm, but her dress represented something now. She couldn't see herself wearing anything else.
The mare had become a gift, since Rilion didn't know how to get the horse back when she was done. Thea didn't know what she was supposed to do with her, either, but it was a problem for another time. The first thing she had to do was find out if the posters calling for her capture had been removed.
She unlocked the back door and let herself in. To her surprise, the kitchen was warm.
Had someone else taken her home? No, that made no sense. They would have changed the locks. Curious, she tip-toed to the doorway to peer into the front room.
The lanterns were lit and the room was bright. At the far end of the room, her cousin sat, concentrating hard on a seam.
Had Elia kept the shop open all this time? Bless her! Thea retreated a few steps and wiggled out of her boots. No matter how eager she was to see her cousin, she wouldn't approach her in disguise. She shimmied out of her trousers and winced when she bumped the corner of the table.
“Hello?” Elia called.
Perhaps she should have gone in the front.
“It's me,” Thea said. She shook snow from her skirts and crept around the corner to find her cousin poised like a bird ready to take flight.
“Thea! Oh, Thea!” Elia bolted across the room to seize her in a crushing hug. The moment she'd squeezed all the air out of her, she stepped back and took Thea's face in her hands. “By the Light, when we saw the posters, we thought you were dead! Where have you been? What's happened?”
