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“Then… I’m also sorry I’ll be the reason for that.” Violet let herself sink into the bed. She missed her own parents and her sister. She’d been so young when the Crown had taken her away from them. She was three and twenty herself now, so Thalea must be twenty. Violet spent countless waking moments wondering what she was up to. Whether her vibrant imagination was painting a different picture of her sister than reality.
Had she been in love? Had someone courted her? Perhaps she was even married already?
The Crown had seized her at eleven years of age, and the voice of her mother was all but an echo. Gavin had stayed with his family until he was eighteen, longer than anyone else she’d met in the army.
It didn’t mean she wanted him to suffer the same.
Emboldened by her need to make it better, she reached for his face with trembling fingers. She traced the edge of the pink scar on his chin, smooth beneath the prickle of his beard. “I wish you hadn’t jumped in front of the knife that night.”
Gavin’s breath stuttered, and his dark eyes searched her face. His turn to choose whether to give her another chance, or continue on with their constant bickering. “I know.”
They stared at each other, the air crackling with a different kind of tension. Her gut twisted, and her skin grew sensitive to even the touch of the linen fabric of her shirt.
Then she let her hand fall away from his face, and the moment broke.
Gavin cleared his throat and sprang to his feet. “What happened to us wasn’t good—I don’t condemn you. I blame the Crows.”
Interesting that he was leaving the Crown out of it. Gavin had called the King “fair” at one point, hadn’t he? Presumably if you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, the monarchy would appear less evil. But that was not a debate she wanted to get into right now, not when the weight of their conflict was lifting and she could breathe.
He continued to dress her wound, and Violet couldn’t stop fixating on the places where his fingers touched her leg. Would he brush against her inner thigh, test the edges of how far she was willing to let him go? Maybe she wouldn’t stop him at all. She struggled to focus on anything other than the tingling between her legs. A truce sounded better right now. The two of them working together while they both crossed the mountains, found the shifters, and stole their way out of the kingdom.
She didn’t desire to be alone… not really. Her odds of survival would be much higher if she had someone to trust if a Crow caught up to her.
Was she ready to take a leap of faith with Gavin? To trust that he wouldn’t betray her like everyone else she’d cared about?
“Do you have siblings?” she asked, choosing the path of vulnerability. Hopefully it wouldn’t come back to haunt her. She already breathed more easily, as if a bag of stones had been lifted off her.
He peered at her, and his features softened as if he understood what was happening. His cheeks turned a light pink shade. “I have a younger sister, Elina. She is thirteen.”
The corners of Violet’s lips tilted up. She watched him stand and walk toward the table. He drew out wrapped bread and some cheese from his satchel and brought it over to her. “It’s fresh from the bakery. What about you?”
“What about me?”
“How old is the sister that’s waiting for you at the edge of the mountains?”
Violet paused mid-chew, her heart hammering in her ribcage. “You know?”
“That your family’s village is nearby, and that’s the reason you headed this way? Yes.”
She sighed, shaking her head at her stupidity. “I thought they’d sealed the records unless a member of my household requested them?”
“We are married, Violet. Remember? In the eyes of the Crown, we have been one ever since we both received the letters.”
Right. “So what, you went out searching for my history when I left?”
His damp shirt stuck to his back, revealing the shift of muscles beneath it as he strolled across the room. It was hard not to get caught up in his fluid movements. Or the way his messy hair accented his handsome features. Or his easygoing personality. Or…
“I looked into you the moment I learned you were going to become my wife.” His tone was unapologetic, and Violet found she couldn’t be upset about it. She would have done the same, had the Society of Crows not restrained her in her bridal chamber while she awaited the ceremony.
“Did you tell anyone about my family’s village?” she whispered, and fear crawled up her back. The palms of her hands grew sticky with sweat.
“I didn’t tell anyone where I was going. Julius commanded me to head west. The coastline is closer to the Iron City, and they assumed you were leaving the continent as soon as possible.”
He was pacing the room like a caged cat, but she believed his words. Gavin dragged a chair underneath the doorknob, blocking it, and let his hand fall against the wood. He cast a spell under his breath, and a ward clicked into place right before her eyes, shining orange like a glowing shield of air which surrounded them.
She frowned. “Are we expecting company?”
“Laura mentioned that a few travelers arrived late last night.” He hesitated. “She’s also offered her place for us to stay. It might be a good idea if the Society of Crows is here, they’re less likely to search a random, non-magical citizen’s home.”
