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“I know.” I smiled tenderly up at him. “I understand why you don’t want me to go, and I also appreciate that you know you can’t stop me. But most of all, I want us to do things together.” I hesitated, afraid to keep going. “That’s the future I want, Nik. Doing things together with you for the rest of my life.”
I held his gaze, even as the color drained from his face, his arms going rigid around me. For a long moment we stayed locked there, motionless.
“I wish…” He shuddered again. “There’s nothing I want more, Delphine. You know that, don’t you?” He sounded desperate. “But I won’t turn you into an outcast at my side. I can’t do that.”
I nodded slowly, fighting back tears. Did he really think it impossible he could return from being a reneger?
Swallowing, I forced a brisker tone. “As I said, we really do need to think about practical matters. It’s all well and good for me to say I’m willing to go into the law keepers’ hall to confront Miro, but how am I going to get inside? From Hayes’s experience, we know they’re not just letting people walk in.”
“Especially not you,” Nik said, relaxing slightly at the change in topic. “Of all of us, you’re the one whose face Grey and his followers know best. Most of them still haven’t actually seen me, and even Grey himself has only seen me briefly on a couple of occasions, both at night.”
“So going in the front door isn’t an option,” I said. “And I’m guessing any back doors are sealed tight.”
Nik let me go, pacing a few steps away and staring into the darkness of an empty stall, clearly thinking.
“If it was just me, I’m confident I could get in,” he said. “All the law keepers’ halls across Tartora are the same, and I’ve spent time at two of the ones in the capital. If you can climb up to the higher levels, the design of the windows…” He trailed off as he looked back at me.
“Given your height and all those arm muscles, I’m quite sure you could do it,” I said. “Me on the other hand…” I held out my arms and did a spin on the spot. “We’re going to need a different plan, I’m afraid.”
A sudden throat clearing made us both startle. Nik strode forward to shield me with his body, but it was only the stable master who stepped out of the shadows.
“I wondered who was making a ruckus in my stables,” he said gruffly, eyeing us disapprovingly.
I flushed, hoping he had only just come out to investigate and hadn’t seen our earlier interactions.
“Apologies,” Nik said curtly. “We’ll return upstairs.”
He took my hand, starting to lead me toward the stairs. But the stable master cleared his throat again, making us stop. A chill ran through me. Had he recognized Nik?
“I might be able to help with that problem of yours.” He looked at us expectantly while we stared back at him blankly.
“Problem?” I asked tentatively when he stayed silent.
“Getting into Miro’s lair,” he said matter-of-factly. “Not you.” He eyed Nik’s height disapprovingly. “But I could get you in.” He nodded at me.
Nik frowned, taking a step toward him. I wasn’t sure if he intended the effect to be menacing, but I would have backed away if I’d been the other man. The stable master held his ground, however, looking unbothered.
“Couldn’t help overhearing that last bit,” he said. “The girl said she couldn’t climb in, so seems to me, she’d be better off going through one of the doors.”
“We understand they’re not allowing people to just walk in anymore,” I said cautiously.
“Aye, that’s the case,” he said. “But some people are allowed in.”
I waited, eyebrows raised, and he sighed and continued. “My brother-in-law supplies fresh produce to the hall. He takes a hand cart all the way through to the kitchens and storerooms from what he’s described.
“Why would you help us?” Nik asked. “Why would your brother-in-law?”
“I may be an old stable master in Eldrida,” the man said, “but that doesn’t mean I’ve never been anywhere else. I’ve visited the capital more than once. Seen the royal family, even, a number of years ago now.”
Nik stiffened, and I gasped.
He gave a raspy chuckle. “I always had a way with faces. Your hair’s changed, but your face is the same. And that sister of yours hasn’t changed a jot. You can’t fault a man for being curious about royalty, renegers, and master mages hiding out in his stable.”
“You were listening upstairs?” I asked, mentally scrambling to remember everything we’d said.
He shrugged. “Didn’t quite understand everything. This whole mesmerizing business is a mite confusing. But I got the gist, and it explains the strangeness that’s been going on here lately.”
Nik’s stiff, threatening posture hadn’t changed, but I placed a restraining hand on his arm, my eyes on the man as he continued.
