Page 72 of Rook of Ruin
I hate this. This isn’t me.
I whisper, “Simon, what happened to me?” I swallow, and my voice wavers. “I can’t take it anymore. I need to know. Did they—did they—” I can’t get the words out.
“No, no, no, they didn’t.” Simon briefly looks as if he could murder, and he holds me tighter. “Orlaith, you were poisoned. They did not hurt you otherwise,” Simon reassures me. Relief swells in my heart and mind. “What do you remember?”
“I remember . . . arrows in us. You were with me? You tried to fight for me.” I try toremember. “I remember trying to hurt a large man and breaking his nose, but I don’t remember what he looked like. His face is gone. Everything else is hazy. I remember Vetter, his home . . . I don’t know how I got there or why I was there. I’m on the cusp, but I can’t just get there. I don’t remember who I was with. I don’t—I don’tremember.” A strangled cry breaks from my throat, and more tears fall onto Simon’s chest.
He rocks me gently in his arms. “O, that poison almost killed you, and I’m so very sorry for everything you are going through. I’m here, and I won’t ever leave you again.” He sighs. “I followed you, always one village behind until I met up with Vetter. We were told and have proof that the people involved only wanted you to heal villages. That’s why they took you. When you were done, they poisoned you because you were of no use.”
Shakily, I ask, “Nothing else?”
“Nothing else happened. You healed villages that needed help. I promise you, they took care of you.”
Until they didn’t. I sigh into him. “Thank you, Simon. I needed to know.” He holds me until I sleep, the first deep sleep in days.
“Race me,” I tease Simon.
“What?” he asks, pulling back on the reins to stop Artho. His curly hair is a bit longer than when we met, a scruff of beard forming. Simon is positively handsome.
“Race me to the gate. Unless you think you won’t win.” I give Simon a wink as I ease Salann to a stop. The rest of our party passes us.
“What do I get when I win?” Simon squints, dimples trying not to show.
“Ifyou win.” I smirk. “What do you want?” I squint back at him.
He thinks. “I want to take you for a carriage ride, but I get to help you up, with my hand.”
I laugh. “Done. And when I win . . .” I think carefully.
Simon interrupts my thought. “Ifyou win.”
“WhenI win, I want you to officially meet Paul.” I give him a bright smile.
“Done, but either way, I’ll meet Paul.” He laughs. “You could have said you wanted diamonds as big as your head, but you chose Paul.”
“Paul is a diamond,” I reply. “He is my diamond, just like I am Acros’s Ruby.”
“Then what am I?” He lifts his eyebrow in curiosity. I watch as his curly hair softly blows in the breeze.
“The loser,” I goad him before I click out of the side of my mouth, apply gentle pressure to Sal, and we race off through fields towards the castle at a high speed. Sal and I pass the cart and horses, and I hear Simon and Artho behind us. “Come on, girl, we’ve got this. We can do this.”
Artho comes alongside us, and I chance it and look at Simon. I’m rewarded with dimples. Simon winks at me and pulls ahead.
“Don’t let him win, Sal!”
A shadow at the gate catches my attention, and I freeze. Sal slows, and I pull back on the reins. Grey eyes find mine.
We watch each other carefully. His face shows his usual lack of emotion, but he tilts his head slightly, as if daring me to ride up to him. There’s no way in the seven hells I’d give him the fucking satisfaction. I don’t know how long I stare at the man who almost killed me—his betrayal hurts me to my core. I can understand being ordered to look into my mind, but he was cruel about it. No, what hurts the most is that he left me. He left me to fight on my own, to die on my own. He never found me when I was kidnapped. I wasn’t important enough for the Spider. And it wasn’t that he didn’t care enough for a fellow Rook, no, he just didn’t care because it wasme.
Simon comes into my vision, concern written all over his face. “O, are you okay?” He looks around to see what I’m carefully watching and spots Ossian. “What’s wrong?”
“Ossian.” Something in my voice unnerves me.
“Ossian?” Simon tilts his head, confused. “The Rook?”
“The fucking Spider. After everything, I’m sure he is only out here to gain information.” Fury fills my veins, and my brace lights up.
“Maybe.” Simon shrugs as he observes my brace. The cart pulls up to us and stops. Everyone is watching me and Ossian.
