Page 55 of The King's Man 1

Wait another year? But what if another of my family gets hurt? Or another roof needs repairing? I gave up the Temenos money... I need to earn...

Quin flips my soldad to the six empty squares. “Last year saw impressive talent turned away—talent that will be back this year, determined to place.”

“You’re saying I don’t have much hope.”

“I’m saying...” The space between us seems to be shrinking. I can feel the faint warmth radiating from him, and the shift of his fingers still on my soldad. He slowly lets go, looking into my eyes. “Fight for it.”

“You’reencouragingme?” I murmur.

“I believe your grandfather would say the same.”

I hold my breath against a sudden ache in my chest. Last night’s confession replays in my mind, the weight of it lingering between us and heating my cheeks.

“You were just a child,” he says quietly.

I shut my eyes. The air feels thick and painful as I haul in a breath.

I ball my shame inside before it leaks from me. “I want admission to the royal city.”

“Didn’t you want to start a career somewhere fresh?”

“The royal city is practically its own world, so few enter.”

“Even fewer exit.”

“I’ll be a whole new person there.”

Quin raises a brow. “And when they investigate the birth records in Hinsard? Will yours be there,Calix?”

“Yes. Calix Solin is actually real.”

“Are you sure about that?”

I hesitate. Maskios’s face was an illusion. Wasanythinghe said real? I squeeze my soldad.

Quin watches. Can he taste my yearning, my frustration? He looks away and clears his throat. Before he can speak, though, there’s a knock at the door.

“Later,” Quin calls.

“There’s a message from your wife.”

My head snaps up.

“Leave it with my aklo,” Quin says, meeting my gasp with a narrowing of his gaze. “What?”

“You’re married?” The words come out more gasp than question.

He hesitates, his jaw tightening before he speaks, voice edged with something raw, pained. “I have a son, too.”

This young, arrogant man. Already a husband, a father?

Quin huffs and looks out the windows at the street below. It’s bustling with...

The market!

I scramble off the bed, heart pounding as I scan the room for my boots. The sun is already high—Silvius could be waiting, or worse,already gone... “Can you... can you keep this between us, please?”

He doesn’t look at me, but he nods.

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