Page 149 of Vicious Knight

“You don’t know what men can be like. Your father…” Her voice trails off and her breath hitches. She looks close to tears but I know she’ll do everything she can to hold back like she always does.

“Dad didn’t do what you think he did, Mom. He didn’t.”

“He hurt me deeply. Every time I think of him I remember him running back to the palace, leaving me all alone to protect you. I loved him so much. And… I never stopped.” Her voice drops to that low whisper I’m used to when she talks about my father.

It’s like she’s scared the walls will hear her. The only person the walls could tell her secrets to is Levgen. So I understand why she sounds like that. It’s because she doesn’t want to be disrespectful to the man who risked his life to save us.

“Your father wasn’t there when I needed him most. He chose to go back and leave us. For his loyalty, we lost him, and we could have died.”

I search the gloom in her eyes and try to find light, but there’s none. “Mom, I understand you. I understand how you feel but I don’t think Dad meant for any of this to happen. That’s why he made sure we were safe before he went back.”

She stares back at me for a moment before giving me a clipped nod, and it feels like a eureka moment. This is the first time ever that I’ve gotten something so positive out of her toward my father.

“Let’s stop talking about this now.” She sniffles. “It can’t be good for you. You need to rest.”

“I can’t rest when so much is going on.”

“You should try.”

The door opens and Thorne and Levgen enter the room. My spirits lift and I wish I could run into Thorne’s arms.

Mom watches him carefully when he walks to my side, then she watches both of us.

“Visiting hours are over, so I’ll be back first thing in the morning.” Thorne touches my cheek.

“Are you going to be okay?”

“Of course. Don’t worry about me.”

I glance at the bandage around his arm, my heart shrinking away when I think that bullet could have hit his heart.

I don’t care how badly my head hurts or who's watching me, I throw my arms around him and hug him hard.

“Thank you for saving me,” I whisper into his ear.

“Anytime, Bambi.”

We pull apart and he gives my mother a curt nod. “Mrs. Yegorov.”

“Take care.” I’m glad Mom speaks, even though her tone wreaks of caution.

Thorne and Levgen exchange glances, as if they are in silent agreement over something I’m not privy to, and then he’s gone.

The moment he leaves, I feel lost again.

I worry whether he’ll be safe.

I have my parents, but Thorne doesn’t have anyone like that to look out for him.

I see Thorne for a little while the next day.

Like he promised, he’s here first thing in the morning. But then it’s time to leave the hospital.

Levgen booked us into a little cottage in Charlestown to stay for the week. I don’t need to be out of college for such a long time, but Levgen and Mom are worried about my health and safety.

They have a doctor on call and the cottage is heavily guarded.

The story we’re going with is that we had a family emergency. No one knows Thorne and I were involved in the incident yesterday, and we’re keeping it that way.

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