Page 20 of To Wake a Kingdom

Ifthere was a next time.

I left out what I’d learned about the man buried in the forest, not ready to face it. I also didn’t mention Ronan. I didn’t want to worry her more than was necessary. It wouldn’t solve anything. My first and only priority was to break the curse and free us from Mare.

I’d worry about dead kings and their royal sons later.

Chapter Ten

28 days left

Kiannasatonalog, her face cupped in her hands and elbows planted on her knees, eyes tracking me like cynical metronomes. I’d begged her to learn how to fight with me, but she’d categorically refused. Instead, she supervised me by traipsing out to the forest where I would dance in circles, feinting and dodging against an invisible, and therefore, impossible to kill, opponent.

“You know this would be a lot more helpful if you took part,” I said as my shallow breaths fogged in the cool morning air. My daily routine had included waking up with the sun to train with any weapon I could get my hands on. I derived immense satisfaction in hearing thethunkof my arrow as it sank deep into a tree from a hundred paces away, like I was arranging the broken pieces of a pattern and gluing them back together. I’d also practised my knife throwing, recalling the lessons Captain Andrick had drilled into me.

“Not happening,” Kianna replied with a shake of her head, dressed in one of her usual sleeveless green dresses. She didn’t seem to feel the cold. Her only concession to the onset of winter was a pair of white fur boots she’d dug up from the recesses of her closet.

“Why not?” I asked, swishing the sword. “We could practise against each other.”

“I don’t like getting sweaty.” She wrinkled her nose as she scrutinized the line of perspiration running down my face. “Besides, I don’t fight with weapons. It’s undignified.”

I grunted but didn’t press her further. In the absence of any other plan, this was still my best defense against Mare. I had no intention of honoring my side of this bargain without a fight.

Still, I’d struggled without an opponent and had contented myself with reading books and performing practice drills, sometimes attacking trees when I was feeling particularly foul.

I thought of the red-haired woman who had been traveling with Ronan. How strong she had seemed. Surelysheknew how to fight. Knew how to bring a man to his knees. She was a soldier. A woman who hadn’t been left helpless, with nothing but a dagger to protect herself.

While I continued to move about the clearing, practising the footwork sequence I’d found in a book on sword fighting, I thought maybe I was improving. Maybe I could hold up in a real fight. I shuffled for a tree, slashing the heavy blade and scoring two gashes into the bark. “Ah-ha!” I cried in triumph, my arms raised.

A snort was followed by several deep voices bursting into laughter behind me. Startled, I spun around so fast that my heel caught a root, and I crashed to the ground, landing on my ass. The laughter doubled as my audience bent over, slapping their knees and holding onto their sides.

“That tree certainly has met its match,” one of them said as I scrambled to my feet, rubbing the spot where a bruise would be tomorrow.

Was I surprised it was Ronan and his companions? Not really. At least the waltz with my nebulous fate was consistent.

My sword held aloft, my gaze flicked to Kianna, who was clutching her hands and staring at the newcomers with alarm.

This was it. They’d uncovered my secret. They knew what I had done to their king, and they were here to take their revenge. Arrest me. Throw me into confinement. String me up to the gallows and watch my neck stretch. Maybe they’d deliver me to the blood Fae to be sliced into a thousand fleshy pieces.

Except they were all still laughing and didn’t seem like warriors bent on vengeance.

“Who are you?” I demanded, pretending I didn’t already know.

Ronan was the first to regain his composure. “Forgive me, my lady. It’s not every day you see someone fighting a tree. What exactly are you doing?” He crossed his muscled arms over his chest and tilted his head at me, those piercing green eyes finding all of my softest places. The forest sprang to life as he studied me, my senses thawing like a stream in the earliest days of spring. I’d never been so aware of the air in my lungs, the thump of my heart, nor the blood flowing in my veins. Shoving away my dizzying thoughts, I opted for righteous indignation to mask the heat sawing at my nerves.

But I was also sure there was still mud on my ass.

“I asked who you were,” I said, not lowering the sword.

Ronan offered a formal bow. “I am Commander Ronan Goldraven.” He then gestured to the bearded man with tanned skin, brown eyes, and dark blonde hair, half of it tied in a knot at the back of his head. “This is my second in command, Lieutenant Commander Noah Tallhelm.”

Next, he pointed to the woman with fiery red hair. “This is my third, Lieutenant Emmaline Nilsen, usually known as Em. And finally, I present Gideon Baldsa.” The fourth man, the older one dressed in brown leather, offered me a kind smile that crinkled the corners of his soft brown eyes, and I decided I liked him the best of this lot.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, trying to seem intimidating. The way Ronan was smiling at me, the corner of his mouth crooked up and his eyes sparkling, suggested I was about as threatening as a hedgehog.

A knot of panic formed at the base of my neck. Though they didn’t appear to be intent on arresting me, they’d still found the castle through the overgrown forest, and their presence couldn’t signal anything good. What were they doing on my doorstep?

Ronan’s searing gaze raked over me, my throat swelling like I was trying to breathe underwater. I shook my head, dislodging the muddled wreath of my thoughts. What was wrong with me?

“We were passing through when we saw you and couldn’t resist such a fearsome foe facing off against the forest.” Now he was mocking me, and my feelings transposed into irritation.

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