Page 62 of Shardless

The growl was unmistakable this time. “Who?” Skye demanded.

“Why?” Taly asked, unfazed by his obvious disapproval. She wasn’t at all surprised by hisreaction. She knew he still saw her as some kid he needed to protect, and that incident in the street this morning already had his hackles raised. “So you can go rough them up? Defend my honor? No.”

“Wait. Them?!” Skye pulled at her shoulder, turning her around to face him. “Just how many men have you slept with?”

“A lady never kisses and tells.” With a wink and a smile, she elbowed him in the side. “Besides, this is all a bit hypocritical coming from you, don’t you think?”

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” Skye replied evasively.

Taly smirked and shook her head as she moved to stand. Skye had always been very tight-lipped when it came to his love life, and she could tell that this was a topic he really didn’t want to discuss. For Taly, however, that just made it all the more fun.

“You think I don’t know how much of a‘ladies’ man’you are when you go to the Dawn Court? Hmm? You think I don’t know that you have a new girl every night? By my estimation, your number is way higher than mine.” Skye was about to say something, but Taly interrupted him. “And don’t even try to deny it. Just because you were attending fancy balls in Arylaan all those years doesn’t mean that word didn’t travel. Villagers doloveto gossip about the highborn nobility. Whether you like it or not,you, my friend, have areputation.”

“I met a lot of women in Arylaan, but I didn’t sleep withallof them,” he said defensively. “Sleeping around is expected at court.” When Taly just continued to stare at him, humor evident in her expression, he threw his hands up. “What?! Itis! And Shards, those balls are always so dull. Most of the time, I just pair up with the first noblewoman I meet that can string a few sentences together and then people draw their own conclusions come morning. Regardless of what actually happens, I get to leave the ball, and she gets to use my name the next morning to social climb. Everybody’s happy.”

“I’m in awe of your generosity, milord,” Taly chirped as she gave him a teasing smile. Sobering, she slapped him on the shoulder. “But you still need to get over yourself. We’re all grown-ups here. Now come on. It’s already well past midday, and we need to get going if we’re going to make it to Della before dark.”

“Sure,” Skye replied irritably as he gathered his supplies. Pushing himself to his feet, he took off in the direction of the public stables where they had left their horses tethered.

Taly frowned as she watched him walk ahead of her. She could tell that he wasn’t happy, but, in all honesty, he was just going to have to get used to the fact that she wasn’t a kid anymore. It was inevitable that she would end up having relationships with other men. Even though she had lived a sheltered life back at the manor, she was an adult now. With adult desires.

Why was that so hard for him to understand?

Chapter 13

-An excerpt from Della: A Visitor’s Guide

The capital city of the Fey Imperium, Della is the ideal destination for your next holiday. From the sparkling waters of the Arda to the glittering spires of Infinity’s Edge—the Lucent City boasts a never-ending parade of wonders, ready to delight and amaze.

Skye felt inexplicably irritated as he rode side-by-side with Taly, heading south on the island’s main highway. He had no reason to be upset—none that he could articulate, at least. But despite his attempts to redirect his thoughts, his mind kept wandering back to Taly’s little show at the Swap that morning.

Taly can do what she wants, he reminded himself for not the first time.

Shaking his head, he tried to focus on thestriking scenery around him. Despite the heavy rains of the past week, it was a beautiful day for a ride—almost annoyingly picturesque. The late afternoon air felt cool against his skin, and scattered rays of sunlight filtered through the canopy, painting the forested road in dappled shade. The plodding of the horses’ hooves on the cobbled pavement and the songs of the crickets and sparrows were the only sounds that could be heard echoing through the trees.

Taly had long ago given up trying to draw him out of his bad mood, and she rode on the far side of the road, staring off into the distance as they approached what used to be the outer edge of Della. This tiny township was located almost in the exact center of the island and served as a crossroads of sorts—almost every town on the island connected to Della in some way. Given the amount of traffic it received, Skye was always surprised that the village remained so small. It seemed everyone that passed through just ended up leaving again.

Of course, when the Time Queen was still alive, that wasn’t the case. Before the Schism, Della was the capital city of the Fey Imperium and the home of Infinity’s Edge, a magnificent crystal citadel from which the High Lady of Time once controlled every gate on the island.

Now, however, in the wake of the Sanctorum’s holy quest to eradicate time magic, Della was only a humble village. The last vestiges of this once-sprawling metropolis consisted of little more than a tavern and a few rows of houses that lined the main road. Most of Della’s infrastructure had either been destroyed during the Hunt or reclaimed by the forest after the fires were finallyextinguished.

“Is it just me, or do the roads seem a little… empty?”

Skye jumped slightly. He had been so lost in his own thoughts that he had failed to notice that Taly was no longer staring off through the trees and was instead looking at him.

“I noticed that too,” he said, pulling his horse up beside her.

Wrapping her reins around the horn of her saddle, Taly pulled out her scouting notes. “We haven’t passed anyone for almost two hours now. Considering that the Seren Gate is open right now, these roads should be filled with travelers. I’ve been through my notes backwards and forwards, but I can’t come up with a reason why. There was a tree blocking the road south of Della, but that information is a few days old. It should’ve been cleared by now.”

Skye frowned. “Thatcouldexplain it. If the tree damaged the wards, people would have had to cut through to Bago to get to Ryme.”

“Maybe,” Taly said, frowning. “I still don’t like it, but, then again, this part of Della always puts me on edge. I did a few jobs around here with some buddies, Syn and Caleb, and they always liked to tell stories about the ghosts of time mages still haunting the forest around the old palace.”

Skye barked out a laugh, his bad mood evaporating. “Don’t tell me you still believe in fairy fire. How many times do I have to tell you? The dead can’t come back from across the veil.”

Taly rolled up her papers and tried to swat him in the face. This only made Skye laugh harder. “It was real! I saw it outside my window every night for a week—a glowing, blue orb of light. Iswear to the Shards, I really saw it!”

“Of course you did,” Skye agreed sympathetically, his shoulders still shaking.

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