Page 79 of A Kingdom of Lies

To thank him at least.

I kept quiet and so did he.

The third day had been particularly full of persistent walking. Most of the terrain had been through woodland, rarely opening up to a rolling hillside that looked over Lockinge miles away. The previous two nights of short, broken sleep had at least been under the comfort of trees which gave some protection from the weather.

As night fell upon us it was clear our luck had run out. I’d been kept awake, from both the howling winds that tore over the exposed landscape and the rasping breaths that came from Duncan who was buried beneath his jacket in hopes of some protection. I felt his physical discomfort to the exposed elements as my own internal uneasiness that’d haunted me through the long days.

I crawled across the frost-claimed grassland and placed myself neatly behind Duncan. He was far taller than me, but I nestled my crotch into his behind and wrapped my arms around his side. Even through his leather jacket and thick tunic I could feel the violent shivers that overcame him.

As I had in the attic of Nathanial’s church on the first night we arrived, I used my magic to draw out the cold from his bones. Duncan stirred. It was a wonder how he even slept in such conditions without magic flowing through his body.

His deep voice broke the night and shattered me into countless pieces. “Finally.”

I held onto him tighter, fingers gripping into his chest as I clung to him as though the winds would simply tear him away from me. “You’re so cold.”

“I have never f–felt better,” Duncan rasped, teeth chattering. His hands, frozen like ice, laced within my fingers and held me close. “Don’t you dare l–let me go, Robin.”

Pressing my face into his back, my smile tugged at his leather jacket, relief warming my insides.

“Tell me you don’t see me with the same hate those in Ayvbury did,” I pleaded, having convinced myself that was why Duncan had not spoken to me for this long. “I need to know.”

Duncan groaned, pulling himself free of my hold as he rolled over to face me. Even in the dark I could see his features. Deep, forest-green eyes. Scarred, handsome face. I laid my arm over him as he snuggled so close to me that his nose was inches from mine.

“Is that what this has all been about? Your distance. Your attempts at pushing me away?”

“Says the man who hasn’t uttered a word to me,” I replied.

Duncan released a tempered breath, a misted cloud forming beyond pale lips. “Something you need to learn about me, Robin, and fast, is that only I can decide what lingers in my mind. And hate for you is not a possibility. Not anymore.”

It was at that moment I realised that Duncan believed I had been ignoring him. Instead of facing the tension, we had let it consume our minds and fill them with negative thoughts about one another.

“Then what?” I asked.

“I worry for you, day and night.”

Duncan didn’t need to say it, but I knew the origin of his concern. Because the closer we got to Lockinge, the more dangerous it was going to become. “If what you said about me being a royal, and the Hand’s interest, is true, I should be safe.”

“It doesn’t work like that,” Duncan said.

“What about the Below? Surely if the fey are all still alive there, they are somewhat safe?”

I hadn’t questioned the Below in a long while, not wanting Duncan to know the new reason I was using him. It hurt to even admit that was what I was doing.

“Death would be kinder than a lifetime beneath Lockinge castle, in a prison where you are treated like cattle.”

Shock creased my face, noticed by Duncan, who trailed fingers down my cheek. “You have me. No matter what happens, I will find a way to get you out.”

“Youshouldhate me. Youhavehated me. I represent the very people who took everything from you, just as I was the cause of destruction in Ayvbury. Why look at me any differently now?”

Our noses touched as he leaned into me, sleep narrowing his eyes into slits. “I see you, darling. Not how you see yourself in the reflection of those who don’t know you. You are gentle. You are concerned. In all my years I’ve never come across a person able to shift my mind and beliefs, but here I lie in the arms of a fey. Your arms. Robin, you’re no monster. I’ve seen monsters, I’ve faced them. But when I look at you, I see the vulnerability of humanity. That’s it.”

I lowered my gaze, shocked by the fingers that found my chin to hold it in place as I tried to break eye contact.

“Don’t look away from me, Robin. See the truth in my eyes. Go on, I dare you to look beyond what you think people see and learn what they actually see. WhatIsee.”

My entire soul quivered beneath his touch. A touch I had fought hard to stop thinking about these past few days. “I don’t think I’m brave enough to pretend.”

“Try. Do that for me,” Duncan said, holding my chin in place. “Tell me what bothers you? What fills that mind and punishes you? Let us face your inner demons together. You may be scared of them, so allow me to be fearless for you.”

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