Page 91 of Crownless King

ChapterTwenty-Four

SPARROW

Icouldn’t watch him leave. But Ifeltit, anyway.

Even as I escaped back into the house and made myself busy by cleaning the dishes, I felt my heart being wrenched out of my chest all over again.

I thought I’d been doing well in having my broken heart mended. But it hadn’t healed at all. It’d been patched up and held together by a thread, temporarily numbing the pain. The wonderful things like my little boy’s hugs and giggles would pour a balm over the wound, preventing it from festering. But it didn’t heal. It never would.

All Voron had to do to rip my chest open all over again and tear my heart into a million pieces was to simply show up. And then…leave again.

The void in my chest grew bigger the farther he rode away from me. All I wanted was to crawl into a hole somewhere and cry until I had no more tears left or until the pain would end me. But there were dishes to do and a kitchen to clean. Sauria would bring Aithen back soon.

I couldn’t fall apart. Not now, not ever. Life left me no time for meltdowns, and in a way, I was grateful for that.

Bavius stomped around. Instead of calming down now that the uninvited visitors had left and the quiet in this house had been restored, he looked even more agitated than before.

I took the tablecloth off the spare table and tossed it into a bucket to wash later.

“You can take the table back to the barn,” I said to Bavius.

Maybe having something to do would help him calm down? He’d missed a day of working in the fields during the harvest season. For someone who thrived on a routine, such a big deviation must be unsettling and irritating.

He grunted in agreement. But instead of taking the table and carrying it out, he propped his hands onto it and dropped his head between his bulky shoulders. The events of the day had clearly upset his slow, measured way of life. He hadn’t asked for any of it to happen, but he had gone along and saw it through.

Moved by sympathy, I came closer and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s okay, Bavius. The table can stay where it is for now. Here.” I took Voron’s sapphire ring from my pocket and put it on the table in front of him. “Add this to the payment for today’s lunch.”

He turned his big head my way.

“Where did you get it?”

“The king gave it to me.”

“Why?”

I shrugged. “He was in a generous mood.”

“Generous?” He scoffed. “Why wouldn’t hegenerouslycheer the fuck up and let the sun shine next spring? So that we can keep feeding his useless court and ourselves?”

“That’s not how it works.” I shook my head. “Fake smiles won’t affect the weather. And true happiness… Well, it doesn’t come easily in his case.”

“How do you know?” He pushed away from the table.

I cast my eyes down, afraid he might see in them more than I was willing to disclose.

“Just a guess.”

His stare lingered on me. I could almost feel it probing my face and my body as he breathed deeply.

“Sparrow.” He touched my arm, then moved his large, calloused hand up to my shoulder.

I looked up at him, confused, but from the way his eyes roamed over my face, I remembered he was still seeing ataureanwoman in front of him.

He stepped closer, placing his other hand on my other shoulder.

“We’ve known each other for a long time, now,” he said in his deep, rumbling voice that was amplified by the elongated shape of his nose and mouth. “I’m used to having you around. I hope you like it here, too.”

---