Page 28 of Lies Within the Darkest Tower

The rest of the crowd grumbled and whispered and gave the Lord Commander dirty looks, but they all retreated, leaving me alone with him.

“Are you all right?” he asked, looking down at me with his strange, silver eyes.

Something powerful and breathtaking zinged through me, stealing my breath and making my thoughts stutter, but it was gone before I could figure out what it was or what it meant.

His grip on my upper arm tightened, steadying me, as he stepped back, his gaze searching mine… for what? I had no idea. “Are you all right?”

I nodded and fought to regain my mental balance. I wasn’t even sure what my mind had tripped over. But to figure that out, I needed to look away.

Except just like with Lord Quill, I couldn’t. My gaze slid down his body of its own volition, taking him in.

He looked exactly like he had when I’d seen him in the Black Tower’s bailey. My dream hadn’t softened his features or hardened them. His dark hair — and the light was still too dim for me to tell if it was dark brown or black — was still half tied back in a topknot, the three scars still ran over his nose and across his cheek, and he still wore his black leather armor.

Only two things weren’t the same: he wasn’t bristling with weapons, and the look in his eyes was kinder, warmer, as if he didn’t think I was a fool and hadn’t unnecessarily risked his and Grefin’s lives by stepping through the ring after dark. I wasn’t just a child that had been thrust onto him, I was a woman who’d needed rescuing.

And I guess that was my mind telling me that as much as I wanted to be strong, that wasn’t all I wanted to be. I’d made a reckless decision that had — most likely — permanently changedthe course of my life. A life that could end up being very short if I made another foolish mistake in the Gray or someone found out my secret.

I’d had to be strong for years against Edred, trying to be obedient and unnoticed, but unable to stop myself when he hurt my brother. If I could have just let it go, I wouldn’t have been beaten so often. But I hadn’t been able to just stand there and watch. Just like I hadn’t been able to let Sawyer be bound to the Black Tower when I knew he’d die.

And I had to keep being strong, because everything was only going to get harder and more lonely. It wasn’t safe to let anyone get close and there wasn’t anyone I could turn to for help. Which was why my dream was turning the Lord Commander of the Black Guard, someone who I knew didn’t like me, into an ally.

At least it was better than having him snap at me in my dreams, too.

“Some of the younger men still need to learn patience,” he said. “I’m Rider.”

I stared at him. Not Lord Commander or Lord Rider. Just Rider.

Of course, I’d dreamt myself into being a fae, which meant I was his equal… or as equal as a fae woman got, so why not just-plain-Rider? I didn’t know much about fae culture or etiquette, but it seemed in this dream that I didn’t have to be subservient to him. Guess that came from Talon’s strange lecture about never looking down and only showing deference to the captains and Lord Commander of the Guard.

“Ah,” he said, his voice gruff, his attention jumping past my shoulder. “Just the person to show you around.”

I turned to see who he meant as a stunning fae woman with silver spots circling her neck and trailing over her collar bone like a necklace saw us and started heading our way. She was just as breathtaking as all the other fae I’d seen. More so, since shewas a woman, something very few humans had actually seen. She wore a black dress made from a similar material as gauzy as mine that fluttered behind her when she walked, and her hair was dark like Lord Rider’s?—

No. Just Rider.

“I must be seeing things,” she said, her voice sweet and soft and edged with a laugh. “Are you actually in the Garden talking to a woman?”

“Not intentionally,” he huffed, making her laugh in full which made him scowl.

“Pardon my brother,” she chuckled, sliding her attention to me. “I’m not even sure he knows what the word courting means.”

“You know very well I’m not here to find a mate?—”

“Which is why it’s so shocking to see you in the company of a woman,” she interrupted. “I’m Lark.”

“Sage,” I replied without thinking.

“Yes, well.” He rolled his eyes at his sister. “Thechildrenhaven’t learned what courting means, either. She’s new and still looks stunned from manifesting. I’m guessing it’s your first time,” he asked me.

“My first—” Manifesting? This dream was getting stranger and stranger.

“I’m here for a meeting,” he added without waiting for my response and turned his attention back to Lark. “I can’t wait until she gets her bearings and remembers how to put those children in their place. Can you show her around?”

“Any other day,” she said. “But the priestess is blessing the pool and all of my mates are here, not just manifesting.” She pressed her hands to her belly in a way I’d seen many pregnant women do. “Tonight’s the night. I just know it.”

Something dark flickered in Rider’s eyes so quickly I was sure I’d only noticed it because this was my dream. Then it vanished as he offered her a warm smile. “It will be.”

“I’m sorry I can’t show you the Garden,” Lark said to me. “But I have no doubt I’ll see you again and then I can show you all the little nooks just for us women that the men know nothing about.”

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