Page 21 of Ties of Dust

“I hope nothing too dire comes of it all.” Flora muttered the words as if to herself, frowning pensively.

“What do you fear?” Cassius pressed.

She shifted her gaze to him with a sigh. “Thinking not just about Siqual’s interests but the wellbeing of the region, I can see the benefit in downplaying the tether and avoiding the diplomatic crisis it could lead to. But…” She wrinkled her face slightly. “But it would have made it much easier to explain why I’ll be always near you until the alliance is sealed. I suspect people will draw their own conclusions.”

Discomfort shot through Cassius as he took her meaning. “I’ll do all I can to protect you from any…malicious speculation.”

Flora gave him a wry look. “I appreciate the sentiment, Your Highness. But in my experience, attempts by royalty to quell rumors about themselves are generally pointless. If anything, they have the opposite effect.”

“Lessons gleaned from your time in Siqual, I take it.”

Cassius’s attempt to change the topic failed. Flora ignored the comment, instead letting out a sigh.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. I have no reputation to lose in Carrack, after all. As long as we don’t emphasize my connection to the Siqualian crown too strongly, there shouldn’t be any great damage.” She glanced at Cassius. “Unless you think your reputation stands to suffer? I know nothing of how much integrity Carrackians expect of their prince in these types of matters.”

“I’ve already given you my word that I’ll conduct myself with honor toward you.”

Cassius’s reply was a little curt, and he turned away on the words. The truth was he felt ashamed. When concocting his plan to hide the tether, he hadn’t considered the likely assumptions people would make about Flora as she shadowed him more closely than a guard should. And her practical response to the possibility of being slandered stood in painful contrast to his own reaction. Especially after what she’d said about pride, he didn’t want her to know the truth—that his plan wasn’t intended to avoid a diplomatic crisis so much as to save face in front of his father.

He was grateful for the distraction provided by a knock at the door. Flora’s belongings had arrived, and Cassius was quick to step outside to speak to his guards and give her some privacy.

When the door to the room opened, he almost did a double take, Flora looked so different. She’d changed into a simple brown leather gown that only went down halfway to her knees. Under it she wore a deep purple tunic with long sleeves and a hood, and sturdy leather breeches. Her forearms sported leather bracers as well, and he could see a blade strapped to one hip.

She somehow managed to look very much like a guard and yet surprisingly feminine at the same time. It was an unexpectedly captivating effect.

If Cassius was taken aback by Flora’s altered appearance, it was nothing to the reaction of the other guards present. None of them managed to hold back their sounds of astonishment.

“Ah yes,” said Cassius, recovering himself quickly andspeaking with an unconcerned air. “My new Siqualian bodyguard will accompany us again today.”

The guards continued to stare wordlessly. Cassius strode swiftly away, Flora tailing him closely and the other guards hastening to catch up.

He didn’t blame the guards for their reaction. Flora looked like a completely different person, with her hair released, her face uncovered and her shape clearly that of a woman. She must have removed the bindings she’d mentioned. Was he a fool to think he and Lord Armand could pass off the whole disaster as a diplomatic transfer of a bodyguard?

Was he a fool to think he could navigate the whole complicated situation without catastrophe for either himself or his new companion?

It was going to be a long journey back to Crandell.

Chapter

Six

Flora stood to attention next to Prince Cassius, ignoring the stares and mutters of the other guards as they packed up camp.

It was a skill she’d made into an art form. She felt much more relaxed now that she was no longer trying to hide her face and form. She would surely provide better protection for the prince without the distraction of trying to protect her identity as well. Not to mention that her mind was sharpened by the sheer relief of not wearing her bindings anymore. She’d never before worn them overnight, and she’d been in considerable pain by the time her belongings finally arrived and she was given freedom to change. She could only imagine how torturous it would have been if she’d tried to maintain her disguise all the way to Crandell.

All she had to contend with now was the sensation of the tether. It was honestly not unlike the restriction of bindings, although she felt it not with any of her physical senses.

“What’s the source of the confusion?” Prince Cassius was speaking to the delegation’s head guard, discussingthe route they were to take. “Why would we take anything but the most direct route to Crandell?”

“Because doing so now requires us to spend two nights in Torrens, Your Highness,” the head guard replied. “Our initial intention was to spend last night in Siqual, and travel quickly enough through Torrens to spend only one night within its borders. His Majesty’s instructions were to limit our time in this kingdom as much as possible. If we take a slightly longer route through Dernan, it would avoid a second night in Torrens.”

Alarm shot through Flora at this mention of the small duchy-turned-kingdom that occupied a space between Siqual and Carrack on the Peninsula’s eastern coast. She’d never imagined their journey might take them through Dernan—the kingdom was famously reclusive and didn’t allow people to move as freely in and out of it as the other kingdoms did.

She was surprised when the prince glanced curiously at her as he addressed the head guard again. He must have caught her sudden stiffening.

“Go through Dernan?” Prince Cassius said. “Would they even allow us passage?”

“They would not deny a prince of Carrack, surely, Your Highness,” said the head guard. “If we pass through their territory, we can enter Carrack much sooner, and skirt the forest via the northern road. We wouldn’t lose much time, and considerably more of our journey would be within our own borders.”

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