Page 85 of A Rose Among Snakes

Enverro jerked his chin toward Velian, his eyebrows twitching up. “Not by me,” he whispered pointedly. The scowl on Denzen’s face first turned to confusion, his brows pulling together as his eyes narrowed, and then his mouth opened before he hung his head.

Velian set the firewood down and eyed us all with skepticism.

Paolef approached and said, “Boss, I’ve checked the saddle bags, and I can’t find any food.”

“Did you not pack enough?”

“We packed plenty. I don’t know what happened to it, but I can guess.” Paolef shot an accusing glance at Corman, who still held his collection of firewood.

“I can explain,” Corman said, wincing. “When I was riding earlier, I guess I didn’t buckle my saddlebag closed and my horse tripped and it knocked the bag loose, but I didn’t notice until too late. I lost all the food.”

“That doesn’t explain the small amount I had in my bags,” Paolef retorted, crossing his arms.

Corman dropped the wood on the ground and rubbed the back of his neck. “I, uh… I got hungry on my watch last night. I figured we would restock today, but I forgot to mention it earlier.”

Everyone groaned and Velian closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. He looked up and pointed at Denzen.

“I want you to go into town and see if the baker or anyone is still willing to sell you anything.” Denzen sighed as Velian removed coins from a pouch in his pocket and placed them in Denzen’s open hand. “Hurry,” he instructed.

Denzen nodded and walked over to his horse and Velian faced the guilty man. “Corman, you too.”

Corman pressed his lips together, ducking his head and jogging after Denzen.

Chapter Forty-Eight

Mihrra

Velian crouched by the fire pit, preparing to get a fire started. Enverro moved forward to assist, but Velian held a hand out and said, “I’ve got it,” keeping his gaze pinned on the ashes.

Enverro retreated to his seat in the dirt with a wrinkle between his brows. A pang of empathy rattled in my chest, but I understood Velian’s hostility. I felt I knew him well enough to assume Enverro’s claim of loving Kezara would not thaw the ice between them, either.

A moment later, the fire had sparked, and Velian fed twigs to the flames as I scooted closer, soaking up the warmth. It was much colder up in the mountains than I was used to, the air more akin to a fall evening rather than early summer. My fingers ached from the cold, and I inched even closer, but Velian’s hand rested on my knee.

“Careful,” he murmured. “Any closer and you’re going to go up in flames.”

His casual touch sent a flicker of that very flame through my body, and I shivered. With a soft smirk, he sat next to me, flaring out his cloak behind me to envelop us both. My blood pulsed in my veins, and I looked at Enverro to distract myself but foundhim staring unblinking into the fire, his face drawn and his mouth downturned.

“Enverro, how did you come to work for the king?”

He rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. “He caught me trying to steal from the castle, and instead of killing me, he offered me a deal—my life in exchange for helping him deal with unruly subjects. He left me with no choice, really. I’ve been trapped the last nine years.”

Nine years. The words clanged through my head like a bell. It might have been a coincidence, but what if it wasn’t?

“You mentioned earlier that the king had only come to see a prisoner once before. What happened?” I felt Velian’s eyes on me, but I refused to look away from Enverro’s face.

With a grimace, he said, “It was the first man he put me in charge of. Leoro had him at the castle and told me he didn’t want him to stay there, so we tied him up and put him in an old hay cart. Leoro gave me directions to the shack in Hawling and told me that was where I would live and keep watch over people for him.

“The man was only there for a couple of days, and he constantly begged me to let him go. He kept saying he had a wife and five kids to take care of and that he would be able to protect me if I went with him. He almost had me convinced when Leoro suddenly showed up. He cornered the prisoner and stabbed him. Leoro told me that’s how he dealt with traitors, and he would do the same to me if I ever crossed him.”

There was a ringing in my ears as my head spun. Hot tears streamed down my cheeks, and with a choked voice, I asked, “What was his name?”

Enverro’s eyes snapped from the fire to mine. “I don’t quite remember, but he carved his initials into the wall—G.N.”

Velian tensed beside me.

My heart shattered and I shut my eyes against the pain. I sucked in a deep breath, willing myself not to sob, but the pressure in my head felt like I would explode. Velian’s hand rested on my back, rubbing a small, comforting circle, but I jumped to my feet, all my boiling emotions needing somewhere to go. I fled down the path to the horses, burying my face in Eamis’ mane, and letting the tears flow in silence.

The breath in my lungs was like shards of glass stinging with every ragged inhale of cold mountain air, but it didn’t compare to the cleaving inside my chest. My head swam with a thousand questions, but the most prominent ones were what had my father done to betray the king, and how did it warrant his death?

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