AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It is. He left her to her demons, and I’ve done the very same thing.” He pushed to his feet, his hands trembling. There was a wild, almost desperate light in his eyes. “I need to get out of here.”
Desfan stood at once. “I’ll come with you.”
Karim shook his head, but he didn’t say anything when Desfan followed him to the door. They exited the suite and strode down the hall, Karim limping slightly. Desfan thought his friend must have a destination in mind, because he walked purposefully. It wasn’t until they turned down a narrow corridor that Desfan realized where they were going—the gardens.
The moment they stepped outside, Karim walked faster. His limp was more pronounced as he moved closer to a run. Even though night had fallen, the gardens were lit by interspersed torches and moonlight. The air was sweet with the scent of flowers, but Karim didn’t seem to notice that as he hurried down the pebbled path.
“Karim?” a voice called out.
Desfan and Karim both turned, to see Razan. She had a book in her hands, and she was just rising from one of the garden’s many stone benches. A nearby torch perfectly illuminated the concern in her dark eyes.
Desfan tensed. A confrontation with Razan was the last thing Karim needed right now. “Razan,” he began, but she didn’t even look at him.
She dropped the book on the bench and crossed the short distance to Karim. She was tall, but her head still had to tilt back a little so she could meet his gaze.
Karim was breathing too hard, but he said nothing, and neither did she. They just stared at each other.
Without a word, she wrapped her arms around his waist and tucked herself against him.
Karim’s arms hung by his sides, and his chest rose and fell with each barely controlled inhale and exhale.
Then—shocking Desfan to the core—Karim’s arms went around Razan’s shoulders, and he crushed her to him, his head buried in her long dark hair.
When Karim’s breath hitched, Desfan eased back a step. He turned and quietly headed back toward the palace.
Just before he went inside, he glanced over his shoulder and saw they were still locked in each other’s arms. The torchlight flickered in the breeze, but even without that distortion, it looked like Karim’s curved back was shaking.
Razan only held him tighter.
Chapter 18
Clare
“Youtrulytrustmewith this?” Latif asked, his expression disbelieving.
The Mortisian man sat across from Clare in the princess’s sitting room. Bennick sat on the settee beside Clare, though there was no doubt he was still a soldier at full attention. His back was straight, and he watched Latif with a gaze as sharp as a blade.
Bennick didn’t trust Latif the same way Clare did, but he trusted her, and that meant more than she could express.
Latif was a middle-aged man with a face weathered from years on the sea. He had dark hair and brown eyes, which—at the moment—somehow managed to be both wary and bewildered. He’d been brought up from the prison, cleaned up, and then shown into the princess’s suite. Despite the guards that had surrounded him, his confusion had been clear when he’d entered the room.
If anything, his confusion had grown as Clare outlined what she wanted him to do.
“Yes,” she said, answering his question. “I trust you. And I need you.” She clasped her hands on her lap and tried to explain her reasoning. “I can’t go myself, and I need to send someone I know is impartial. If my suspicions about Prince Grandeur and the Hunt being behind the deaths of my brothers are correct, I can’t trust Commander Markam’s investigation to be truthful. I can’t trustanyonefrom Devendra. I need you. If you do this for me, Serjan Desfan has agreed to release you from prison—but you will be banished from Mortise once you’ve completed this investigation for me.”
Latif’s throat clenched, but he nodded. “Kiv Arcas explained that before he brought me up here.”
“Will you do it?” Clare asked. Her heart and lungs were frozen as she awaited his answer. If he refused, she didn’t know who else to ask.
Latif still looked surprised that she would trust him, but he bowed his head. “I would be honored to do this for you, Clare.”
Her shoulders relaxed. “Thank you.”
Bennick cleared his throat, drawing Latif’s eye as he spoke for the first time. “You’ll be conducting your own investigation, but I’ll give you a letter of introduction you can give to my father, or any member of the city guard if that becomes necessary. It can give you access to their investigation notes, or protect you from any questions they may put to you. You do not answer to them—you answer to me and Clare.”
“Of course, Captain Markam.” Latif hesitated. “If the princeisresponsible for the fire . . . what should I do?”
“Don’t attempt to do anything,” Bennick said. “Bring whatever proof you can to us, and then your part in this will be done.”
