Page 35 of Realm of Thieves

“Shouldbe grateful?” he asks with a quirk of his brow.

I give him a quick smile. “I would much rather go back home,” I say plainly, hoping that perhaps he’ll take pity on me and call the whole thing off.

He swallows, the sound audible above the faint chirps of nearby crickets. “You know you can’t leave. I can’t let you go.”

“You almost seem regretful,” I comment, taking my fingers away from the apple.

He reaches over and plucks it off the tree, placing it in my hands. “I’m not a man without regrets,” he says.

“Like pulling a knife on your uncle.” I turn the fruit over in my hands.

His smile is as sharp as that blade. “I only regret not killing him there and then.”

I’m unsure of how Andor fits in with his bloodline—his lenient attitude sets him apart from the Kolbeck dynasty—but every now and then I see the danger in him, the bloodlust beneath the cocky grin. I have no doubt that Andor would kill his uncle if he could.

“And I don’t want to regret bringing you here to work for us,” he goes on. “I think I—we—could give you a better life.”

I glare at him and toss the apple back into the air, making him catch it. “You know nothing of the life I had,” I tell him, walking back to the door and making a clicking noise for Lemi to return.

“But when we get your aunt,” he ventures, his footsteps sounding on gravel behind me, “then you won’t want for anything.”

I stop and face him, anger flaring inside me. “Stop acting like you’re doing me a favor. You just want to use me to get a leg up on the other houses.”

“Thenlet meuse you and it will be easier,” he says, a pleading tone to his command. “For both of us. For all of us. There are more things at stake here than just you and me.”

I hate the idea of being used, a trait passed down through my blood. My parents were very vocal about how the Soffers used the citizens as pawns in their game of religious manipulation.

“Lemi,” I call out, ignoring Andor. “Come here.”

Finally Lemi appears, walking slowly through the rows of orchard trees. He stops and puts his head up, sniffing the air.

“It’s going to rain,” Andor says, heading for the door. “We better get inside.”

My heart leaps. “Wait? Rain? Here and now?”

He pauses and stares at me, his brows coming together. “Yes?”

“Please,” I tell him, unable to keep the whine out of my voice. “Let me see it. Let me experience it. I don’t want to go in yet.”

“Experience rain?” he says, looking up at the clouds. “You’ve never…?”

I shake my head. “I saw acid rain once in the Midlands and took shelter just in time. That was it. I’ve never experienced real rain, not the pure water that falls from the sky.”

He stares at me for a moment, probably thinking I’m backward and crazy. He shrugs. “Then you’ve come to the right place.” He puts the torch back in its holder and leans against the castle wall, watching me curiously for a moment before he looks up at the sky again.

Then I feel it.

A splash of water on the back of my neck.

I look up to see a drop falling from the dark, cloudy sky, and in one slowed-down moment I see the flames from the torch reflected in it, right before it lands on my forehead with a wet splash.

I gasp, unable to keep the awe from my voice, and look at Andor with wide eyes.

“Lonely drops always lead to a deluge,” he tells me, then nods at the sky. “Here she comes.”

And suddenly it’s like the sky tips a barrel of water over, rain streaming from the clouds and engulfing us in seconds. It hits hard, bouncing off my skin, soaking my hair, my dress, and Lemi starts running around in circles, happily snapping his jaws at the air, trying to catch each drop.

I giggle, a high, shrill sound that I haven’t heard come from my own lips since I was a child. Then before I can stop myself from regressing, I throw my arms out, put my head back to the sky, and start spinning in circles with my eyes closed. The rain falls and falls and I feel like it’s cleansing me of everything I’ve ever done and everything I have yet to do. Perhaps this is why the Kolbecks seem at peace with their nature—the constant rain here is always wiping their souls and slates clean. The Soffers always believe people were purified by dragon fire, but this way seems so much better.

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