Page 83 of Truth's Blade

She sighed. “Yes. I injured him pretty badly. I think he’s probably resting.” She pushed to her feet, and he joined her.

For a moment they stood in each other's arms in the darkness, the stars fat and bright above them, the forestwhispering around them, the cool air making everywhere they touched warm and comforting.

“What have we got here?” he asked her eventually, voice quiet.

She looked up at him, eyes big. “You need to tell me, soldier. I’m the sweet young woman who has no business with the likes of you.”

He grinned at her repeating the words the trader had said the day they caught up to him. “You keep up just fine.”

“Maybe.” But her eyes cut away. “I’ve been locked away for a long time, Theo. My father was so worried I would be snatched, he hovered over me like a hawk. And then Vinest was so worried he’d lose his very cheap labor that he manipulated me into closeting myself away.” She sighed. “I used to watch the Kassia and Cervantes soldiers in the square, laughing and joking, and feel so jealous. You know how to navigate the romantic waters. I’d just drown.”

“You won’t drown.” He slowly maneuvered them back toward the prison, out of Marchant’s line of sight. “I won’t let you.”

“That feels . . . uneven.” She swung with him as they made it through the door, and he suddenly had her pressed up against the wall.

“Tell me how I can make it feel even.”

She studied his face in the dim starlight that came through the window above her head.

“Do you really want this? I think I’m probably a lot of trouble.” Her voice was so soft, and he thought he caught sadness in it.

“Who made you think that?” He leaned closer and felt a quick stab of desire when she set her face in the crook of his neck, her lips against his collarbone.

“I’m sure Vinest hinted it, but I knew not to listen to him. I think it’s more that there are a lot of complications when it comes to me. If I use my skills, I’m a target. If I don’t use my skills, I’m a rotten person.” She lifted her head. “I’ve been working in the shadows, and not doing everything I could do. I feel like a failure.”

“You were on your own. You have a right to protect yourself. When this is done, come back with me to Kassia and Cervantes, and you can help people with my sword at your back.” He would make the Commander see the benefit of it, or he would leave the army.

She raised her hands and held his face between his palms. “You mean that?”

“I mean that.”

“That’s a lot.” She kissed his cheek and he slid his fingers into the back of her braid, cupping her head.

Then he lifted her up, turned and leaned back against the wall, so she was the one crowding him.

“What’s this?” she asked, and he could see the flick of nerves as she wet her lips, but she pressed against him, and carefully pushed his hair back from his forehead.

“It’s whatever you want it to be,” he told her.

“This is you, letting me even up,” she said. And then she pressed her lips against his.

He hadn’t intended for anything to really happen between them. Marchant was just a field away, and still very much a threat, but her kisses were so sweet, and everywhere she touched stoked the fire in him even hotter.

Eventually, he had to set her away.

“I need to keep my wits about me.” He straightened with a wince and then pulled her back in his arms, unwilling to lose the heat and scent of her. “Let’s just turn it down a bit.”

She snuggled close, and ran her hand up and down his back. “Thank you.”

“What for?”

“For making sure I didn’t drown.” She sighed contentedly.

“Sweetheart,” he told her, absolutely serious, “I’m the one floundering now.”

CHAPTER 32

Viviane watchedas Gallain and Ivan used raw strength to knock down the fence posts right opposite where they’d come off the path.

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