Page 24 of Unrivaled
But there was no snow to be seen.
CHAPTERNINE
AUDREY
Target has avoided interactions with me for almost a moon.Suspect suspicions aroused.Do not contact me until I have given approval.Safety level: vodaken—coded missive from Filigree to Nightingale
15thDay of Winter’s Wife Moon,
Age of the Locways, Year 271
La’Angi Keep
The ship was in the harbor when I woke.I refused to hurry through my morning routine though, sitting with Isolde, breathing in the cold air, feeling the way it flooded my system.Power was required to maintain the stillness, to sit for long enough that peace could settle over us like the morning dew.
Chay’s steps were loud in the quiet.He settled beside us without speaking, and his breath soon came and went with the same pattern.I sat between them, my eyes closed.
The possibilities of what could go wrong—or right—were endless.I could manage it all.Later.
Isolde started moving first.I followed her cues, opening my eyes, stretching out muscles stiff from the high amounts of activity I’d been subjecting them to.My legs protested as I gently limbered up.Even when uncomfortable, I could be safe.I could be in control.
I caught her watching me with sharp eyes and was embarrassed by my weakness.“I’m fine,” I said, the words jarring after so long sitting in silence.
“You’ll be fine if we don’t roll this morning, too,” she said, addressing Chay instead of me.“She needs a rest day.”
“I do not need a rest day.”The thought made panic flutter in my chest.My father was returning in less than a year.I needed to be ready.“I don’t have time for rest days.”
“We’ll make sure you have time for rest days,” Chay said, offering me a hand.
I let him lever me to my feet only to see Isolde standing there still, her head cocked a little to the side.“Restday,” she said to both of us, and I felt my cheeks heating at that pointed look.“Yes?”
“Want me to promise to do all the work?”Chay asked her, lazily, giving my fingers a light squeeze.“I will.”
“Work,” she said, drawing the word out like it was a curse.
Chay met my eyes.“Sorry,” he said, sounding genuinely contrite.
Whatever Isolde was about to say died when she looked at me.“It’s a jest, Audrey,” she said, frowning a little.“Mostly.”
I had no idea what my face held that upset them so much.I crushed the urge to explain that.
“I wonder if your city is now run by pirates,” Chay said with a yawn.“That’d be different.First plague, then scurvy.”
“We’ve got too much knappchs to get scurvy,” I disagreed.
“Can’t afford to drink it though,” Chay said, falling in behind as we went downstairs.
I continued to engage with the back and forth as we prepared for the day, breaking our fast in the mess hall together.Though my mind kept circling back around to the ship in the harbor, I forced myself to continue working through the long list of tasks that I needed to oversee, starting with going through collated concerns Allison had put together.
The hours sitting didn’t do my aching legs any favors, and the regular interruptions by staff checking details or confirming my wishes were more irritating than usual.When a red-faced runner appeared at the door, their eyes wide and hat in their hands, I felt a rush of relief I hadn’t expected.
“M’lady,” he said, in a hurry.“Brian and Kaelson need you.In the bailey.The main one.”He stepped back, grabbing the door, gulping air.
Chay was already loosening his sword in his scabbard.Not for the first time I resented I couldn’t do that.Not only could I not carry a sword, I also had to hold my hands at my sides, hoping they weren’t swinging awkwardly, as I hastened without appearing graceless.
Thomas appeared from somewhere, his eyes bloodshot but his jaw cleanshaven.“Apologies, my lady,” he said, falling into step.
“Of course.”I saw the slight twitch of Isolde’s brow and knew if I paid even a moment’s notice to the very late hour or Thomas’ appearance that she’d be on it like a fox on a chicken.
