Page 31 of The Kingdom's Reckoning
She could take the cold a little longer. It was better than being inside. Kallie had sat at a table overflowing with food and drinks, pushing around the chopped up lamb and roasted vegetables, for as long as she could. Every time Graeson looked her way, she found some excuse to turn away. The moment Cetia had finished her toast, Kallie had excused herself, not caring if it made her a coward. She had intended to go to the washroom but found herself wandering outside instead.
At least ten minutes had passed since she left, but her reprieve was finally ending. Boots clapped against the stone path behind her, and her shoulders dropped. Realizing it wasn’t Graeson by an instinct she had no hope of understanding, she was both relieved and disappointed. Both feelings sat uncomfortably in the pit of her stomach.
"I wish we weren’t saying goodbye again," Terin said, stepping beside her.
Kallie hugged herself a little tighter and dragged her attention away from the sky. "I take it Dani told you?"
With pursed lips, Terin nodded solemnly. "I don’t suppose there is any convincing you otherwise, is there?"
Kallie shook her head. It was during silent moments like these that Kallie wished the gods had granted her Myra’s or Fynn’s ability rather than her own. Although she could have asked Terin how he felt, Kallie opted not to. Some things, she supposed, weren’t meant to be uncovered.
The cool air swept through Terin’s brown waves that hung past his ear. Instead of saying what she wanted, she simply said, "You need a haircut."
He cocked an eyebrow. "Is this your way of saying goodbye? Because if so, there’s some room for improvement there."
Kallie gave a half-hearted shrug. "I’ve never really liked goodbyes."
He gave her a half-smile. "Then let us not call this goodbye."
"Terin," Kallie protested, not wanting to give him a false sense of hope. While she tried to believe she would succeed at manipulating the king, she did not know what would happen after. If she could beat Domitius at his own game, would she go to Pontia? Would she return to Ardentol? Would she find a cabin in the woods and live the rest of her days in solitude? Kallie had no idea, and she couldn’t afford to think about the answer to those questions. Not yet.
Thankfully, Terin didn’t push the subject. He tugged on a section of hair, his brows shooting up his forehead as he tried to look at the ends. "I suppose I do need a haircut, don’t I?"
The corner of Kallie’s mouth ticked up. "Only if you want one."
"Maybe when I return home, I will. I think I’ll enjoy having the wind fly through my hair on the ship." Terin shook his head, making his hair appear even more unruly.
Kallie laughed, but the sound was hollow and died as quickly as it came. "It gets in the way more than you think," she admitted. Although she wasn’t sure if she was talking about hair anymore.
He shrugged and kicked a small pebble on the ground, sending it skittering across the pathway. At first, the pebble headed straight down the path. Then it hit a lip in the stone and shot out to the right, disappearing into a rosebush.
"He’s going to be furious when he finds out," Terin said.
Kallie chewed on her bottom lip, worry rubbing it raw. "I know."
"He’ll go after you."
Kallie tilted her head toward the stars. "The hope is that we will be long gone before he can reach us."
"Tonight then?"
"Once everyone heads to bed." She already had her clothes laid out and her bag packed. She did not wish to stay any longer than she had to.
Ellie had received Domitius’ response earlier that morning. To their surprise, he had agreed to each of their terms. They would meet in Borgania, in neutral territory. No armies. Of course, neither Dani nor Kallie believed he would come alone. He would at least bring a squadron with him. But when Ellie suggested they bring a group of warriors just in case, both Kallie and Dani had rejected the suggestion. The fewer people involved, the better.
Kallie was no longer the king’s pet. He wouldn’t be able to control her. She could handle him.
A chill from the breeze crept up her bare arms, leaving a trail of goosebumps. She grabbed the ends of the shawl and pulled the fabric tighter, but the cashmere fabric did little to protect her from the cold.
Terin stepped closer, shielding her from the wind. "Have you even talked to him since the council meeting?"
He didn’t need to specify who; Kallie already knew.
She shook her head. "It’s for the best if I don’t."
"Is it?"
It was the same question she had been asking herself for the past several days. She kept returning to the night she had spent with Graeson. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, when the nightmares edged the corners of her mind, she yearned to go to him. He was the one person who could make her forget, the one person who didn’t make her feel bad about being who she was. But she refused to use him.
