Page 170 of A Crown of Tears and Treason
“I don’t, honest to Xamor.” Zandyr laid a hand over his heart. “But there are no rules against making an educated guess. The only one with combat and strategic experience in your group is Adara, so she chose the location. I have fought alongside her enough to know she would pick a place where the chances of an ambush would be minimal. With the Serpents so close to our borders, she also wouldn’t want to stray too far away from the Capital and its protective walls.” He nodded at the back of the carriage, visible through the open gate. “The carriage has summer wheels on, no spikes or chains to run through hard terrain. The only area nearby that fits all the criteria is the Fiery Plains. Which are also gorgeous this time of year. Adara, I didn’t know you were a romantic at heart.”
“I’ve trained you well, Dragon,” Adara said, but there was an edge to her tone.
“I'll join you at midday, the latest,” Zandyr said. “Get you back home safe and then head out once more.”
Adara clenched her jaw.
“After you return, the warriors will be stationed in front of the house until I come back to Phoenix Peak,” he went on.
“You know your plans best.” Adara turned on her heels once more, as if she didn’t want to stay in our presence for too long. “Call me romantic again and I’ll see you in the fighting ring.”
“I trust you. Both your promises and your threats.” He turned to me as the others headed for the gate. “Do you have your switchblade on you?”
“Always.” Resting gingerly in my bracelet.
He took my palms into his. “If anything happens–”
“Nothing is going to happen. I have Adara and apparently thirty warriors with me. Though Leesa might throw some mean punches if push comes to shove.”
“–you run and hide. Iwillfind you, this I promise.”
There was a gravity in his tone that sent chills down my spine. As if he was making an oath to me.
“I know.” I licked my lips and took out my envelope. It had been a pain to find a blue one in the Capital, but Goose had managed. It had a gold wax seal on it, the perfect blend of our colors, just like his was. “I keep my promises too.”
“Thank you for trusting me with it.” He took the envelope and placed it in his breast pocket, right next to his heart, just as I kept his own letter. Was it possible to be too in tune? “Stay safe, Evie. It would be a shame to burn down all of Malhaven if something happens to you, but I would.”
He kissed my temple, tingles erupting all over my skin. We leaned our foreheads together, standing there. Just the two of us, breathing each other in.
Then Adara whistled impatiently and the spell was broken.
The carriage beyond the gate was bigger than the one I’d arrived in, and nobody sat in the box seat, but I didn’t worry. Zorin had been hitched up to it, swishing his head around proudly. Maybe he’d changed his mind about harnesses.
“How?” I asked, running to his side and snuggling his neck. “You hate Phoenix Peak.”
“Madrya convinced him. Just for today, it’s important,” Zandyr said.
Zorin neighed and hit the ground with his hooves. He’d come into the Citadel, but he wasn’t very happy about it. My dear, prideful nazdran had a heart as golden as the flecks in his mane.
“Thank you.” I gave Zorin one final pat before I gathered the many layers of my dress and climbed into the carriage. Adara sat right beside me, Goose and Leesa taking the other velvet-covered bench.
As the door closed, I looked at Zandyr one last time.
“I’ll find you,” he mouthed, intent gaze searing straight through me.
“I know,” I mouthed back, already missing him.
Then the carriage began to move. The connection between us pulled and rippled with concern, as if the threads of the world themselves were loath to see us part.
I took a deep breath, settling into my plush seat. Half of a day, that’s all there was to it. A few hours.
We rumbled onto the main street, just as more carriages appeared in front and behind it. All the exact same, all pulled by white horses. None of them compared to Zorin, of course. From the way he changed the rhythm of his gallops, to be more pointed and loud, he wanted to prove that, too.
It was such a similar procession to the one when I came to the Capital. Gods, that had happened a lifetime ago, I’d been so scared and fighting so hard not to show it. All I felt now was hope, tinted with excitement.
The idea of Zandyr hunting me down and finding me made me weak in the knees. What could I say? I liked this ritual.
As the carriages stopped in front of the main temple, I knew participating had been the right decision. The crowd had gathered again, cheering and clapping. For me, their future queen. Out of all the carriage decoys, Banu and Valuta’s beadyeyes found mine. I strangled the tremble trying to worm its way into my arms and feet.
