Page 57 of A Fate so Cruel

“I prefer to keep my mornings quiet until I’ve had tea.” He could have taken the dismissal right there. Could have pivoted and stormed back to his place on the roof or found the nearest river to wash his face and refill his water skin. But something in the way her shoulders drooped had Rion wanting to stay. To . . . comfort her somehow.

He opted to sit on the log opposite the fire. She watched him but said nothing, then returned to staring at the kettle.

“Tea?” Rion inquired. He stared at the small glass vial in her hand, not unlike the one stowed away in his pack. His obsession with the warm drink was one him and Saoirse had developed to commemorate their mother. It was far better than the bitter aftertaste of coffee, though a warm drink was a warm drink if he had no other choice.

She didn’t respond so he continued. It was as if something in him demanded he get an answer out of her. “We’re on an important mission that could alter the course of the entire country and you’re worried about tea?”

She looked up at him. Glared more like. He’d overstepped last night. Maybe too far, but he wouldn’t back down from the challenge in her eyes. Couldn’t.

“I am allowed to keep a bit of normalcy to my life, mission or no.”

Rion couldn’t help the smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. Here she was, a fierce commander and she was grumpy because she hadn’t had tea.

“What?” she snapped. “Don’t you have routine things you do during your day?”

“Not while I’m out on an assignment.”

She scoffed. “Then I guess you’re nothing more than a boring brute like the rest of the males I know.”

Boring brute? He couldn’t help it as he said, “Oh yes, I’m just a normal male who can idly do whatever he pleases.”

That earned him a smile, even if she didn’t look at him. “Normal. My, how my father would react to hearing that.”

“Not a fan I take it. I get that a lot.”

She added a few more sticks to the fire and scooted the embers with her boot. “He harbors the same beliefs as many in Nàdair.”

“You don’t sound like you agree.”

Selina eyed him. “Giving me a chance to speak today?”

He grimaced. “Maybe your words rang a little too true last night.”

She didn’t respond for a long moment. The kettle whistled and she grabbed for it like a youngling reaching for chocolate. It wasn’t until she’d placed a tea ball in the mug that she said, “Maybe the texts are outdated.” She didn’t look up. “I’d venture to say no one knows who you really are when you’re not fighting for your life.” Rion wasn’t even sureheknew who he was without the constant stress.

He shrugged. “Their loss.”

Another smirk as she swirled her tea, gripping the mug with both hands. “You know, I thought you’d be a bit more . . . scary.”

He heard those inside moving. Someone stood at the window. “How so?”

Selina gave a half-hearted wave of her hand. “You know how rumors go. You’re supposed to drink the blood of your enemies, bathe in it if there’s anything left. Everything that walks is supposed to fall at your feet or you’ll turn them into dust. You know, the crazy things.”

Rion smirked again and felt some of the tension release from his shoulders. He picked up a stick and poked the fire, stirring some of the embers to life. “I must be the epitome of disappointments.”

“The absolute worst.” She laughed and the sound drew his gaze to her face, down the curve of her neck. “I’m actually relieved.”

“Why recruit me then?”

Another shrug. “Maybe I was curious. Maybe I wanted the challenge.” She smiled. “Restraining you would have been exhausting.”

“You could have certainly tried.”

Her eyes slid up to his, sparking with a glimmer he was already beginning to crave. “You think just because you bested me in one sparring match that I couldn’t take you on?”

Rion met that challenge with a spark of his own. “Oh, I know you couldn’t take me on.”

“That has to be the most arrogant thing I’ve ever heard.”

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