Page 130 of Unrivaled
I fixed the man’s face in my mind.“I’ll be wary.”I kept my words quiet.Now I had my hand on his arm, we were close enough I could do so.
“Very.He calls your father by his first name.”I resisted the urge to glance back at the friendly-looking older man.“One of his sons by law is in the Crownguard.Another is a lieutenant at Black Borough.”
I heard the grim note in his voice and was still gathering my thoughts to question him when we were stopped again by a group of older boys.They all wore swords in fancy scabbards and looked to be of the class to dream of competing in the tourney in less than a decade.As Luca stopped to greet them with the warm familiarity of a cousin or family friend, I tried to arrange the right expression on my face.Luca hadn’t stopped, though, only hesitated momentarily, changing his pace and the angle of his body.I, however, had stopped, which made for an awkward transition.
In his lee I went, feeling like a leaf ripped from the limb.I refocused hard on what I needed to do, greeting people, making small talk.
Were there enough stalls to keep people busy forfour days?
Were there too many?
My head buzzed with names and relationships, with details I didn’t know whether I needed to recall or not.
The day melted away, and Luca proved an excellent companion.Every now and then, he’d mention a little detail about someone that helped me fit them into a mental map ofenemyandally.
But that was all based on the informationhewas giving me.
I sat across a bale of hay that served as a table, watching as Luca spoke with two older, merchant-class men.I’d signed an agreement with one to buy sugar, the other to sell him knappchs.I couldn’t remember which one of them belonged to the wife who sat beside me, twice my age and shooting my outfit disapproving looks at regular intervals.Her own dress was richer than some noblewomen’s outfits and perfectly modest.
The fresh, generously salted and fried bread felt good going into my body, but I didn’t taste a bite of it.I was past tasting.I should’ve eaten hours ago.
The distance between Luca and me felt like a chasm.Chay’s words haunted my mind, except I couldn’t recall exactly what he’d said.I could recall the bite of betrayal, the white-hot sting of rage, and the utter disbelief.Beyond that…
CouldLuca be some sort of rebel?
Across from me, he laughed with the two older men.One of them reached out and clasped his shoulder.I hadn’t heard a jest, so it was clearly some sort of inside information Luca had spun in a way they found amusing.
He was no rebel.
He was a bean counter.
And I?
A sharp edge of bread stabbed the roof of my mouth as my eyes fell on a stall off to the side, with pretty, bright bottles wrapped in classy labels.“I’ll see you about,” I told the wife, absently, wiping off my fingers.“You enjoy the sunshine, won’t you?I’ll be back for that spiced juice you mentioned,” I assured her, before she could farewell me.Luca wouldn’t even notice I’d slipped away, not until I’d vanished into the crowd.
I didn’t know what I truly was.But for today, I needed people to see me as a kraken.
CHAPTERFORTY-SEVEN
CHAY
Come now, Victor, I know you better than that.‘Limited importance’?Magic?You’ll win and lose battles on the backs of those magic men.I’m sending you another company—and I’ve got Xander leading them.If you don’t want a live sorcerer...I do.—in a letter from General Dieudonné, Count of Black Borough to General Victor, Duke of La’Angi
16thDay of Autumn’s Son Moon,
Age of the Locways, Year 272
La’Angi Keep
She’d breezed through everything.The entire day at the market, greeting people, shaking hands, laughing at jokes, listening with compassion as they talked about the people they’d lost in the plague, or the war.I’d been prepared for chaos and panic.Part of me hadn’t forgotten that one night when she’d screamed at me, herself, and the whole world with tears and snot running down her face while Isolde had been out in the orchard, sick and in the hands of the worgs.Part of me would never forget the way she shrank away from me.But no matter how closely I watched her, all I saw was grace and warmth.
At the feast she glittered in a beautifully tailored dress with golden embroidery as she stood in front of scores of the most important, the richest, and the most outgoing nobles, merchants, and wealthy.There weren’t very many important faces Ididn’tsee in the crowd.Luca walked through my field of vision, and I let my eyes move elsewhere.Noteveryonewas important.
“I’m so glad to see our city full after the winter we’ve had,” Audrey said, as they all gazed at her.Servants appeared by the subtle passages built for their use, hands full, and waited.“My lords and ladies, visiting dignitaries, and those who helped to make this event happen, I hope you can feel our joy as you do us the honor of allowing us to host you.In deference to those who I saw today at the faire, who are no doubt famished and weary, I’ll save longer speeches for other days.”Her smile was brilliant.It made me want to smile along, too.She gave a gentle wave of one hand toward the already laden tables, and she completed her brief speech with, “Please—enjoy.”
I’d seen her sit across from Ylva, oblivious to the woman’s flirting.Now, she flitted from table to table, deftly responding to social cues.I was waved away to eat and quickly summoned by my old friends.Seated between Kadan and Callum, I couldn’t follow their conversation, watching her with the weight of the keep on my chest.
Watching her live might be hard.
