“When I was sixteen,” I began to explain, running my thumb over the back of her hand, “there was a girl I’d met in town, and I’d taken to sneaking out at night to go and visit her at her father’s farm. We spent most of those nights in the barn.”
“Naughty,” Ava muttered under her breath, and the teasing glimmer in her eyes made my lips twitch with an almost smile.
“We were never particularly quiet, you see,” I continued, “and one night her father came out. By the gods, he was furious. Chased me clear off his farm.” I couldn’t help but chuckle when Ava rolled her eyes. “He didn’t get a good look at me, though, it was so dark. So he got it in his head that it was Silas who’d been there, because he’d seen us around so many times and couldn’t fathom it’d been a girl with his daughter.” When I paused again, Ava hummed for me to keep going. “He confronted Silas, attacked him. He was such a large man. Nearly castrated him too, the way Silas tells it, but Silas never told it was me. He just took the beating, and you know what he did afterward?” Ava shook her head. “He snuck her over to my cottage the next night with some bottles of wine. All three of us got piss drunk.” I huffed at the memory, which made Ava laugh.
“Silas bought that cottage,” I said, feeling my laughter subside as the heartbreak resurfaced. “The one we still live in.” And Ava’s eyes widened with surprise. “Because of our surname, we can’t buy land. My mother worked a lord’s farm before then, but he treated her like dirt because she was a traitor’s widow. So Silas pinched things from the castle during his squireship to buy us a cottage.” Ava looked like she wanted to laugh at the fact that Silas had been stealing from the castle, but she didn’t because I couldn’t stop a single tear from falling, and she used her free hand to whisk it away. “I paid him back most of it with what I earned hunting, but he gave us a way out. That’s the kind of friend he is… was… I don’t know anymore.” I closed my eyes and took in a slow breath. “He’s like family. I owe him my freedom, and my mother’s. I owe it to him that he not be kept in a cell.”
Ava nodded. “You won’t hear another word of it from me.”
Though I didn’t meet her gaze, I gave a grateful smile and set my chin on my knees. “Promise me,” I begged after a minute of reflection, because even if she was lying to me, or even if these rebels were misguided, I needed something to believe. “Promise me that everything you’ve learned in the castle confirms Hazlitt wants power only for himself. That he doesn’t care about the kingdom or its people.”
Ava’s deep blue eyes studied my face with concern. “There’s so little anymore that I can promise,” she said, “but I know Hazlitt, and that I can promise. You have my word.” All I did was nod and fall quiet to collect myself. I could feel Ava’s eyes on me in those silent moments, until eventually she reached up with her free hand to push some of my loose hair behind my ear. “I knew what you were risking in taking me south… but I hadn’t considered the things you’d be sacrificing.” She squeezed my hand for emphasis. “Kiena, you don’t have to do this.”
Selfless. But I could never leave her. Especially not now that we knew Silas had spotted us. That he and an unknown number of other soldiers knew she’d come south, and they’d be looking for her from here to Ronan. I no longer doubted that she could take care of herself—she was far from fragile—but it didn’t mean I wouldn’t do everything in my power to make sure she got to Ronan safely. If Hazlitt truly did have the kingdom’s best interest in mind, he’d find another way to end the war.
I leaned across the space between us to plant a lingering kiss to her forehead, and I whispered against her skin, “It’s done.” Ava pulled back to look at me, and I knew that she was aware my feelings had something to do with it, and it was so hard with how close she was and the way she kept glancing at my lips to remind myself that she was still royal. If her true father accepted her when we got to the Ronan capital, she’d still be a princess. “You know something?” I said to distract myself from where my desires were heading, and even though Ava could clearly tell why I’d done it, she leaned sideways into me and put her head on my shoulder, and I didn’t care to stop her. “The king’s a right asshole.”
“You’ve no idea,” she replied gravely.
“How is it you were raised by him and turned out alright?”
“It’s like I said,” she answered, “we are more than the legacies of our fathers.”
“Turns out I might not be,” I said, and that was truer than ever, because in not telling Silas where we were, I was supporting this rebellion, and in taking Ava south, I was supporting Ronan. It also seemed like now was the appropriate time to tell her everything that Kingston had told me.
She listened intently, never letting go of my hand or moving her head from my shoulder while she gave appropriate responses and asked questions—not all of which I had the answers to. She appeared shocked when I explained what this cave system was and who it belonged to, and even more so when I told her about my father’s magic. Though she was clearly surprised about the magic, it didn’t seem to scare her. In fact, I think my father having had magic was far more frightening to me.
I’d just finished telling her all about Hazlitt’s sorcery when there was a knock on the door, and then Kingston entered with Oren at his side. Ava lifted her head from my shoulder when they walked in, and her grip on my hand loosened like she was giving me the chance to take it back if I wanted. I really didn’t want to, but I caught the hint of a smirk on Kingston’s lips at the position we were in, and it made me self-conscious. I didn’t want him encouraging me to give any more than I already was, and so I did remove my hand.
“Kiena,” Kingston greeted, and bowed his head to Ava, “Princess.”
“Ava, if you will,” she corrected him.
He nodded in consent and then looked at me. “I wanted to consult you about our prisoner.” I watched him silently so he’d continue. “He knows nothing of this place or its purpose. Therefore, I will put his fate in your hands.”
Even though I’d told Ava where I stood on dealing with Silas, I still glanced at her to make sure she approved. Her chin dropped in a nod.
“We should continue traveling tomorrow morning,” I told Kingston.
“I thought as much,” he agreed.
“I would like Silas to be released two days after our departure. Take him to a nearby town and set him free.”
“As you wish,” he said easily. “I’d like to aid you in whatever ways possible. Would you require a second horse, I will spare one for you, along with whatever supplies you should need.”
“We’d be forever in your debt, Kingston,” I said.
“Just arrive at your destination safely,” he replied, and then turned to Oren, telling him, “have Kiena’s horse and another prepared come morning.” Oren handed over the sword he’d been holding, and bowed to the two of us before retreating out the door. “May I join you?”
I motioned for Kingston to come over, and he crossed the cave to sit on the opposite side of me as Ava. “A gift for you,” he said, handing Ava the sheathed longsword Oren had given him. “A woman with your skill should have a weapon of her own.”
“It’s wonderful,” she said, pulling it halfway out of the sheath to examine it with a grin on her face. “I am eternally grateful.”
He offered a genuine smile, appearing pleased that she enjoyed the gift so much. His eyes met mine soon after, and I recognized the sobering look in them. It was the same as when he’d asked to speak to me alone, only this time he was hesitating in telling Ava to leave, as though he wanted me to decide.