Page 32 of Nightingale

Vrea carefully pushed off the sleeping roll, tossing the blankets aside and wiping the exhaustion from under her eyes as she tapped the space between her pillow and the floor for the key she’d shoved under it for precaution. She stood, turned the lock on the door and shoved it open. The sunlight blinded her for a moment, but she rapidly blinked it away before the stinging tears could settle in.

“Good morning.” Rian greeted her as he contained a wry smile, sipping at what appeared to be a steaming cup of tea by the wafting steam tendrils that smelled like rosemary and mint. He took another sip and then used his foot to point towards a second cup that sat perfectly on the edge of the golden-rimmed table. “I hope you slept well.”

“A little too well,” Vrea muttered and avoided the cup altogether. “Almost as if someone drugged me.”

She never fell asleep as fast and as mind-numbing as that before, the black-less slumber that consumed her without anydreams or nightmares, even if she’d been placed in her own nightmare for the last three years. Which led her suspicion towards the glass of water she had greedily chugged down before bed. One that held a bitter aftertaste of a sleep sedative, if she was correct.

“I wonder who would do such a dreadful thing.” He mused, leaning back into the couch even more as his hands wrapped around the porcelain teacup. Golden dragonflies curved around the rim, chasing one after the other in a playful, almost sweet pattern. But Vrea knew better than to refer to anything inside of Carylim’s walls assweet. “But you needed a full night of unburdened slumber. Within the next twenty-seven days, there’s going to be quite a journey ahead of us. This was your last night to spend in a bed of any sort.”

She mentally counted out the days.

“We’re riding back to Niroula?” Vrea questioned as she rounded the corner and halted in front of him. “Not walking?”

Because being on foot for the lengths between the two Kingdoms would have taken over two months depending on weather and travel conditions, as well as supplies and whoever was tackling the trek.

Rian confirmed with a solitary dip of his square jaw. “If you’re not opposed to it. Horses can carry more supplies than we could on our own backs, as well as provide us with more energy as we won’t be wasting it on walking as much. There will be moments where we’ll have to give the horses a break, but I’m sure you can handle it.”

Vrea silently agreed.

“We’ll have to pass through the Blackleg Caverns, and exit on the other side of the pass, avoiding the Carylimian border. There’s a good chance that once word spreads of yourdashingescape, that we’ll be hunted. I want to stay as far away from the main road as possible, to avoid the guardhouses stationedalongside it. They don’t care so much about commoners but my face is known, which means they’ll take a closer look at my travelling companions.”

She sighed, understanding where they would have to venture past. “Which means entering into the Niroulian war grounds.”

“Precisely. I have a plan for that, but we don’t have to worry about that until it’s time to cross.” He finished his tea, his throat moving thrice as he swallowed the remainder and gagged on the bitter leaves. The Prince set it down and wiped at his mouth, chuckling slightly at his own foolishness.

“Care to share with me?” Vrea lifted a brow.

“Nothing you need to worry about until we get there.” The male waved her off and irritation hooked in her gut like it was a fish that she needed to catch for lunch and roast over a make-shift spit.

She wanted to roasthimover a spit.

“For someone who wants me to trust them, you’re quite withdrawn on sharing details that I’ll need to be privy to if we’re going to make this work.” Vrea was a ticking explosion of patience, with passing seconds until she blew up.

Normally she held no issue with waiting things out. But there was something irksome about him that sped it along.

Rian stood, crossing over the room until he stopped in front of her. “I solemnly vow to you that I’ll include you when the time is right. But as of right now, it’s the only bartering chip I have to make sure that you don’t slit my throat and leave me for dead once I’ve gotten you past the Blacklegs. Not only do we have to face the monstrous spiders, but fear of the bandits that lurk in the mountainous walkways. One challenge at a time, Princess.”

Vrea swished her cheek and chewed on her inner lip as she contemplated his explanation, as she contemplated him. “I still don’t trust you.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to.” He shrugged and shoved hishands into the front pockets of his trousers. “Because I don’t particularly trust you, either. I think it’s wise on both of our parts to keep that kernel of doubt and mistrust until it can otherwise be proven.”

“Fine.” She agreed and held her arm out.

He eyed it like it would shift into a malicious serpent and sink poisoned fangs into his skin. There was an urging temptation to bite him herself, even if her teeth were far from deadly. There was still the ability to rip off a chunk of sinew and toss it across the room.

Her joy for the delightful idea must have shown across her expression because he pulled away as soon as he reached to lock fingers with her.

“You look as though you’ve devised a devious plan for my demise,” Rian commented, letting his gaze run up and down her in a not-subtle way that made her eyes want to sink back into her head. “At least provide me the common decency to wait until we’re on the road.”

“Even if I was, I wouldn’t share my darkest fantasies with you.” Vrea wiggled her hand in a vain attempt to get him to shake it for an agreement between the two of them.

“I suppose that’s fair.” He studied it once more before finally clasping his palm against hers, dragging up and down once. “But if there’s anything you require before we depart, then you should do it now. We leave within the next twenty minutes.”

Rian pulled away and bent over, fiddling with his own bag that looked as if he’d filled it to the brim with unnecessary supplies. He rifled through it, flipping the flap over until he withdrew something that caused her to freeze.

Her knives.

Untouched and just as she remembered them.

---