Page 66 of A Crown of Tears and Treason
“Yes, love is inescapable, sadly,” he said evenly. Then his face did that thing where it changed from human and captivating to bone-chillingly intense. He tilted his head to the side; wolves did that too, in the dead of winter, when prey was scarce and their instincts roared for a kill. “Now tell me why you wanted to sneak out.”
Of coursehe had an angle. Zandyr didn’t just walk around talking about his childhood and spilling Blood Brotherhood secrets for giggles.
“Truth for truth?” I clenched my jaw. He nodded.Fine. “You really want to know?”
“I’mdyingto find out,” he said, voice dripping with charm as he leaned toward me.
I pointed at the large tree behind us. “See that branch?”
It was a gnarly thing, with bulbous knobs and skinny twigs that ended in thick foliage.
“It needs to be trimmed, down to the trunk,” I said.
“Why?”
With only a smirk as a reply, I bolted toward the trunk. One jump, a strong grip, and a twist later, I snaked across the branch, vanishing behind the leaves. I couldn’t see Zandyr and he definitely couldn’t see me.
I parted the twigs to the side, poking my head through the leaves, a self-satisfied smile on my face. Was I showing off? Maybe. But after my body’s control had slipped out of my grasp, I wanted to test its limits. Remind myself of what these limbs, small and lanky as they still were, could do.
Zandyr still had his arms behind his back, but he looked up at me with amazement. I would have been flattered if that didn’t mean he had such low expectations of me to begin with.
“If I can do that, an assassin can, too. And I don’t want to ride my horse down this path one day and get my head chopped off, I’m quite fond of it.”
I jumped back down, coat fluttering behind me, and landed with a soft tap, acutely aware of Zandyr watching my every move.
“I’ll request they trim it tomorrow,” he said.
I nodded instead of thanks. That small word was still difficult to utter when it came to him. My parents had never thanked me for anything I did, and I’d always wished they wouldn’t hoard all their gratitude for themselves. Yet here I was, doing it too.
But I’d been their daughter, and Zandyr was my unwilling groom.
“You ride?” he asked.
A big smile bloomed on my face, nourished by the memories of riding Zorin. The biting spring air in my hair, flushing my cheeks. Dodging the lowest tree branches. His strong hooves hitting the ground without hesitation.
“I love it. Well, I loved it with Zorin. I’ve never seen a horse like him. Tall and proud, with a thick golden mane and a coat as white as snow. During winter, if he was in one of his moods, he’d hide in the woods, completely disguised, until I tricked him back with promises of braiding his hair.” I sighed. “I hope he’s alright.”
Zandyr’s mighty brows furrowed. “A white horse with a golden mane?”
“He was a beauty and he knew it.” My chest tightened. Zorin could survive out in the wilderness, I knew it. He was as stubborn as me. But if someone managed to catch him…Zorin couldn’t be caged.
“Fascinating,” Zandyr muttered, stealing me from the crisp memories of winter and bringing me back into the Capital’s warmth.
“What is?”
“You. You’re small and seem naive, but you’re a cunning little menace when you want to be, aren’t you? Here I was thinking you’d be up to no good tonight, and instead you’re surveying your surroundings for any possible threats.”
“Surprise,” I dead-panned. “I’m not some wide-eyed country girl.”
Maybe if I said it enough times, I’d start believing it myself.
“No,” he said with a slow smile. “You’re a fighter behind those wide eyes.”
As he turned, he looked over his shoulder at me, as if to check he hadn’t been seeing things. “Perhaps I do need to watch my back around you.”
Chapter
Twenty
