Page 40 of The King's Sword
Sabine tried to act normal, as if they were married and behaved this way all the time. However, the nearness of him felt different today than it had yesterday.
“Are you doing okay?” Evander mumbled in her ear, sending a ripple of pleasure down her spine.
“I’m fine.”
He chuckled and slid his arm from her shoulders to her hand. They entered an inn, and Evander went over to the woman at the counter, inquiring about a room for the night. After paying and obtaining a key, he led Sabine up a staircase and to the end of the hallway to the last door on the right.
She stepped inside and removed her bag and cloak. The bed was large, big enough for the two of them to sleep without touching. She was just about to crawl under the covers when Evander took hold of her arm, stopping her.
“I’m famished,” he said. “Let’s grab food first.”
The last thing Sabine felt like doing was eating some gross fish this early in the morning, especially at a tavern.
“I’ll stay here. You go and eat. I’m not that hungry.” She pulled back the blankets.
“Sorry,” he replied. “It’s too dangerous for you to remain here alone. You need to come with me.” He went to the door, opening it, and motioning for her to join him.
Sighing, she followed him downstairs and out of the inn. They made their way along a crowded walkway.
“I’m surprised your parents allow you to leave the palace at all seeing as how dangerous your kingdom is,” she mumbled.
“It’s not that bad.” He grabbed her hand, and they took the path to the right.
“We’ve been attacked more times than I can count,” she said. It seemed to be a daily occurrence here, and it was exhausting.
“Then you can’t count very high,” he teased, poking her in the ribs. “And there’s a hit on you. Otherwise, you would be safe here. Well,safer.”
“I’m not sure anyone is ever safe in a land filled with assassins and warring families.”
Evander eyed her sidelong as he led her into a small store filled with all sorts of baked goods.
Everything smelled divine, and Sabine wanted to sample it all. She noticed Evander speaking to the man behind the counter, and she got the feeling they knew one another. The man ended up packing a variety of pastries in a basket for them to take back to their room.
“This is convenient,” she said as they exited the store.
“You look like you’re about to fall over, so this seemed the better option.”
“Me? You still have wet pants. In Lynk they would have dried by now.”
His eyes narrowed. “I can’t believe you just said that. You really are tired if you’re complimenting Lynk.” Since he held the basket with his right hand, he slid his left around Sabine’s fingers, pulling her closer. “We’re being followed,” he whispered near her ear.
She groaned. “I don’t have the energy for another attack. This is getting ridiculous.” And with so many people around, being attacked would cause a massive scene which in turn would only attract more people to them. Unless the person followed them back to the inn, waited for them to fall asleep, and then broke in and kidnapped her.
“You don’t have the energy?” Evander said. “I don’t recall you jumping into the canal and fighting the last one.” He shoved her in front of him and into a narrow alleyway. “This way,” he mumbled, handing her the basket.
“Am I supposed to hit my attacker over the head with this basket full of food?” she asked, wanting to instead whack him over the head with it. She didn’t want a basket—she wanted a weapon.
“I need my hands free so I can face whoever is going to come up behind us.”
She glared at him.
He rolled his eyes and pulled out a knife, flipping it and handing the hilt to her. “Better?”
“Much.” She took it, glad to have more than a basket to defend herself with.
“Get moving.” Evander put his hand between her shoulder blades, pushing her forward.
She thought she heard footsteps behind them; however, she didn’t dare look back to see. Just when she was about to reach the end of the alley, a man stepped into it, blocking the path.
