Page 20 of The King's Sword
They walked in silence for a few minutes. The sun warmed her skin, making her smile. As much as she hated to do this, it had to be done. “Thank you.”
Evander almost tripped, coming to a halt and facing Sabine. “Did you justthankme?” he asked, his eyebrows raised.
“Yes,” she replied with a forced smile, trying to remain polite instead of punching him like she wanted to.
“For what?” he asked, seeming genuinely confused.
“For escorting me back to the palace. I didn’t want to travel with Anton.” She resumed walking, hoping he wouldn’t press the issue.
Evander caught up to her. “Why is that? Anton is a decent fighter. He seems like a good guy.”
“I can’t explain it, but it’s a feeling I have.” Ever since her sister’s death, she’d learned to trust her instincts even when they didn’t seem rational.
He tipped his head back and laughed. “So you’re saying that you feel safer with me, the man who kidnapped you, than you do with your own brother-in-law?”
When he put it that way, it didn’t sound good. But yes, that was how she felt. She chose not to respond to him. There was no point trying to explain it.
“You know the Lynk border is only about fifty miles from here? Which means Anton could have had you safely behind its walls in two days.”
“Maybe I’m tired of being confined,” she said, keeping her attention straight ahead and not once looking at the man next to her.
“It’s about time,” he muttered.
She chose not to respond to that, but she happened to agree with him wholeheartedly.
“Out of curiosity, what did you tell Rainer in the letter you wrote to him?”
“Not much. Just that I didn’t feel safe there with his sister trying to kill me, so I left. I told him I’d return once it was safe.”
His eyes widened, and he started laughing. He held up a finger to her, so she waited. But he kept laughing. Harder and harder.
“I don’t understand what’s so funny,” she said.
“You stood up to him.”
“No, I didn’t.”
Evander nodded. “You implied he couldn’t protect you,” he pointed out when he finally calmed down. His face turned serious as he looked at her. “He commands a large, lethal army. And you point blank told him you didn’t feel safe in his home. I’m not going to lie, that was a bold move on your part. Rainer won’t like being made to feel incompetent. I hope you’re prepared for the consequences.”
She hadn’t intended to make him feel that way. She’d only been trying to have a reasonable explanation for leaving. “He needs an heir,” she said, her voice soft. “Until I give him one, I’m safe.”
“Why go back?” Evander asked. “Why not run away for good?”
She shrugged. “Because I have to find a way to save those Bakley children. I have to stop Rainer from going to war.”
“And if you can’t do either of those things?”
“Then I’ll die trying.”
“You’re not at all who I thought you were.” Evander placed his hand on her lower back, gently urging her on.
The two of them resumed walking.
She turned his words over in her head, realizing she wasn’t the person she thought she was either. She was stronger than she realized. And she would make it through this.
ChapterFour
Gripping the ship’s steering wheel, Sabine kept them heading in a northerly direction. Manning the wheel turned out to be rather enjoyable. It gave her the opportunity to watch Evander run around the deck, cursing as he turned the mast to move the sail. When they first boarded the ship, he noticed the hook on the mast had broken. After he spent a couple of hours trying to find a replacement one, he gave up and they set out. The result was him having to manually move the sail. Sabine was thankful she didn’t have to do anything beyond steer. She tilted her face to the wind, reveling in the feel of it across her skin.
