AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She snuggled into the fur-lined fabric even as she said, “I don’t need your cloak.”
“Sure,” I said, because I was used to dealing with Honor, and now I knew there was no point in arguing. I only argued with Honor recreationally, because I enjoyed it so much. “But wear it anyway. I don’t want anything that belongs to Joachim.”
Her gaze flickered my way, and I tightened, regretting saying so much. I didn’t exactly talk about my feelings.
Honor’s flare of feelings through the bond had me pushing faster through the drifts of snow. If Ebba wasn’t willing to talk, it was because the chaos god believed he could still gain a royal infant.
“Where are we going, Branok? Really?” Hanna pressed. “You didn’t get me out of bed because you missed home so much.”
I hesitated. Lynx didn’t want her to know our bloodthirsty mission, but that was insane; Hanna was going to be on our heels every step of the way. I wasn’t leaving her somewhere, potentially in danger, because Lynx didn’t want her to see the grim side of the world.
“We need to find the last surviving noble before he manages to make a vessel for the biggest asshole in the universe,” I said.
“Ebba?”
I nodded. “Your sister needs our help.”
She scoffed. “She doesn’t want my help.”
“She’ll realize how competent you are soon,” I said.
She bit her lower lip, narrowing her eyes against the harsh blast of wind that sent flurries settling in her hair. She obviously doubted what she was capable of, and I wished I could drive away the memory of the moment she’d frozen. The uncertainty that moment had unlocked.
“I wish I was more like her,” she said quietly.
I didn’t know what to say. Hanna’s feelings were all clearly visible on her skin, and it made me uncomfortable. I didn’t like it when she cried.
A figure emerged from the snow, too close for comfort; the flurries had hidden him from us. I had my hand on the hilt of my sword before I recognized Lynx.
I exhaled.
“Found him,” Lynx said. One of Caldren’s wolves had been tracking the last noble for us.
“Probably a trap.” I didn’t trust Caldren’s rebels, even the ones he swore by.
Hanna’s gaze rose to mine, and I added, “Don’t worry. We love traps. They’re fun to turn around.”
“Don’t get all jaded like my brother, Hanna.” Lynx raised his finger to point, although we couldn’t actually see a damn thing through the snow. “He tracked him to Castle Point.”
“The duke of Durche’s territory,” I said. “What a surprise that Arndt would be a traitor.”
“I’m not sure he’d consider himself a traitor for trying to end the rebels, given he thinks they’re the traitors,” Lynx pointed out.
Anyone who attacked my brother was a traitor. And a dead man. But I didn’t say that.
“Then let’s go in congratulating him,” I said. “We’ll say Caldren is dead.”
“He’s going to wonder how we know he was involved,” Lynx reminded me.
“Good.” I smiled. “I like for people to think I’m omniscient.”
“You think youareomniscient,” Lynx said. “But I’d like to think the gods are a little less petty than you are.”
“If gods weren’t petty, we wouldn’t have the common cold, Lynx.”
As we walked, Lynx’s shoulder bumped mine. Into my ear, he muttered, “They can’t know this is Honor’s sister. She’d be a bargaining chip in the wrong hands.”
The thought of anyone trying to use Hanna sent a protective surge through me. “We can have this conversation with her, you know.”
