Page 97 of Untempered
The name meant nothing to me, and I saw no response on Chay’s face, either, but she said it the same way someone would saythe One.My heart still drumming, I eased myself away.
She made no sudden movements, just rubbed her limbs.
“If you attack her, I’m oathbound to kill you,” Chay offered.
“I just did.”
His brows rose, but before he could respond I flicked my fingers at him to stop him from getting in the way, gaining my feet. A few layers of underskirt were ruined, but I could repair them later. For now, I scooped the mess up and closed the door. I needed a way forward. That was all. I just needed this sorted so I could deal with the guard, somehow.
“Get me a horse,” Ylva demanded, the words icy. “Or you’ll regret it.”
“That’s not really how bargaining works.” The soup was all over the room. I avoided it. I tried to gather my thoughts, but they were buzzing in my head. I didn’t knowhowto deal with the guard. My leg ached, and I felt very small. “What’s the next step?”
She looked at me like I’d grown two heads. “I’m not bargaining.” Then she glanced at Chay. “What do you mean, the next step?”
Frustration twisted inside of me. “You want to go? Fine. I’ve got bigger issues.” I was going to miss her, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was the knife’s edge this city was poised on. “I just need to figure out how I can get you out without disrupting—” I waved a hand at the castle, trying to find a word for the hideous maelstrom we were in, and failing.
Ylva’s eyes narrowed. “Are you okay?” she asked me, but there was no kindness in the words. Only mockery.
I felt sick. If she walked out, she’d probably be stopped. They’d underestimate her and end up dead.
Or she’d double back, andI’dend up dead.
She could come back even if I escorted her out. But if she was properly clear of the city, with a decent chance of getting away, I suspected she’d cut her losses and flee. She was a sensible woman. And then we’d come back home, and I’d figure out the next thing.
Beneath me, the rug on the floor was faded and thin. I wished I could’ve looked to Isolde, assessed her thoughts on the matter. She would’ve stepped in if I was putting my head on the chopping block.
Chay would, I suspected, when crunch time came, but I didn’t know if he’d see the issue before it arose.
“We’re going riding,” I said, then drew in a deep, bracing breath. She might pass as Isolde if I borrowed my friend’s riding habit and horse. Their builds were nothing alike, but with a cloak drawn high and a kerchief over her face… “You’re going to die of the plague,” I told Ylva. “And Isolde is going riding with us, Chay.”
He shrugged, straightening.
Ylva didn’t move. “You can’t be serious.”
“I can be,” I disagreed. “When I need to.”
She looked like she wanted to hit me again. “You’re scared.”
It wasn’t a question, so I didn’t bother to agree. “Wait here. I’ll return with Isolde’s clothes momentarily.” The other problems I couldn’t deal with just grew larger, but this one, this small thing, fell into place neatly and brought me a measure of peace. “I’m sorry I didn’t think of this earlier,” I admitted, struggling against the humiliation of my error.
“I’m sorry you didn’t, too,” she said, but there was less sting in the words. “Bring me with you.” I opened my mouth to object, and she silenced me with an angry hand gesture. “Trust me,fina.You don’t want that storm blowing in, and I don’t want to sit in this cesspit of death another moment.”
I glanced out the window, surprised to see the sullen clouds from yesterday had become a dark, threatening mass on the horizon.
And the wind was blowing from the south. The windneverblew from the south.
“You’ll explain on the road?” I asked her, unease prickling the back of my neck. She hesitated, and I pressed, “If I let you out now, you’ll tell me what’s happening?”
She was silent for another moment, then nodded her head in resignation. “Fine. Sure. Rivers and snow, this is not how I expected any of this to happen.”
Finally, we’d found something we agreed on aside from wanting my father dead.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-EIGHT
CHAY
“If the end isn’t happy, it isn’t the end.” ~ Raider’s Ban proverb
