Page 64 of Storms of Allegiance

He raised an eyebrow. “Which of those facts concerns you, exactly?”

“Nik!” I whacked his arm lightly. “Be serious! Unless you want the whole city to work out who you are, you’d better stay out of sight until tomorrow morning.”

“Thank you for your concern, but didn’t you hear Hayes? My father has graciously extended his permission for me to risk my life for the kingdom, so I no longer need to fear finding myself carted off to the capital with a sack over my head.”

“Nik!” I cried again.

“Or are you worried the Eldridans will realize my identity, thus discovering I’m a reneger, and form a mob to punish me for trying to mingle in regular society?”

He raised an eyebrow, and I sighed.

“Never mind, then. Go and proclaim your identity from the steps of the law keepers’ hall for all I care.”

“Delphine.” Both his face and voice softened. “Thank you for your concern—truly. But I wish you wouldn’t waste any worry on me.”

I glared at him. “Isn’t it for me to decide if it’s wasted?”

“Delphine,” he said again, a different note in his voice.

One of his arms snaked around my waist, and my breath rushed out of me, my eyes jumping to his. The expression in them made my middle seize, and I held my breath, keeping still as I waited to see what he was going to do.

But a slight rise in the voice of the speaker in the sitting room made him glance over my shoulder at the closed door behind me. Sighing, he pressed a fast kiss to my forehead.

“Stay safe, Delphine,” he said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I tried to protest, but by the time I’d worked out what to say, he was already out the door and onto the street. I watched the front door swing closed with a sigh of my own.

Nik had now been back for weeks, and it was obvious something significant had changed in his feelings toward me since our unexpected kiss in Caltor. But in other aspects, it sometimes seemed like he hadn’t changed at all.

Whenever his family came up in conversation, I didn’t know what I hated more—his icy, bitter reaction or the reminder that regardless of Nik’s feelings, his complicated status still stood between us. If his family ever did reclaim him, it wouldn’t be with a bag over his head, and they wouldn’t have any interest in an ordinary farmer’s daughter clinging to his side. But if they didn’t accept him back, then he would forever remain a reneger, never able to properly interact in normal society and shunned by anyone who discovered his identity. Whether as royal prince or outcast reneger, Nik wasn’t someone I should be thinking about. And yet, every time he got close, I forgot all about those concerns. And when he left, I couldn’t stop my thoughts from filling with him.

“Are you really going to do this?” a small voice asked from behind me.

I turned and managed to dredge up a smile for Luna. “Of course I am. You were out there in the storm, too. We have to do something.”

“Someone has to do something,” she agreed, “but does it really have to be you?”

I opened my mouth to answer glibly but stopped myself just before I spoke. She was asking earnestly, and it was a question worth proper consideration.

“I’m just an apprentice from Tarin,” I said after a moment. “So, no, I don’t think it’s my responsibility to work out what’s happening with the blight, or even the storm. But Miranda is my friend. I’ve known her since we were small children, and I promised her father I would look for her. I know where she is right now, and I can’t turn away from that. I have to try to reach her.”

Luna sighed, reaching out to squeeze me tightly. “Just make sure you come back.”

I hugged her back. “I promise I’ll do my absolute best.”

She stepped away and gave a chuckle. “I’m being foolish, aren’t I? Miranda’s been safe all this time, and you’ll be all right too.”

“Exactly!” I said brightly, putting in more confidence than I felt. “We’re healers, remember? We don’t kill easily.”

Amara appeared in the doorway, looking at me steadily. “If you feel in real danger at any point, I want you to just walk out of there. We’ll be waiting for you in the desert, and no one is going to blame you if you don’t succeed.” Her fierce expression told me if anyone wanted to blame me, they would have to go through her.

“Thank you,” I said softly. “I want to help if I can, but I don’t have any plans for grand self-sacrifice. My first priority is getting Miranda out, and if that means leaving without discovering Grey’s secrets, then I’ll do that and leave the matter to the Guild mages.”

She nodded decisively. “Then we’ll depart in the morning as planned. I know you’ve just slept for two days but try to get a bit of rest before then, please.”

ChapterEighteen

Itried not to be intimidated by the number of guards waiting for us just outside the north gate of the city. But it was hard to ignore them when most of them were throwing covert glances my way, clearly curious about the girl at the center of our plot.

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