Page 22 of Winter's Fate

And with that, he dowsed the entire conversation with a bucket of chilly water. Not the welcome frost of her owngrowing power, but the tugging sensation of a tide beneath beautiful waters, lurking and ready to pull her under.

He might be handsome, and he might be charming—enough that she’d certainly been flirting with him—but it would be a mistake to forget who Callum Farrow was. A scourge upon magic users, the demon in the dark who hunted them down and dragged them from their homes.

Heart-tithers, yes. But she would be a fool to imagine he wouldn’t apply the same tactics on anyone he found practicing magic.

The warmth that had been building in Laena’s stomach went cold. “You are that harsh toward magic users, then?”

He stared at her, as if confused. “Naturally.”

“You would kill them all, given the chance.” It wasn’t a question.

He sat forward in his chair, eyes intent on hers. “Whatever my reputation may tell you, I’m no executioner.” His voice was soft but intense. “I arrest those who break the law. I don’t murder them where they stand. If you’d seen some of the things I’ve seen, my lady, you might well praise that restraint.”

She wasn’t a lady, hadn’t been one for a very long time.

“Forgive my confusion,” he went on, “but is magic not illegal in Etra as well as in Aglye?”

It was. He knew that it was. If she kept talking to him, she would reveal her own secret. Her own shame, her own fear.

Laena stood. “If no one is going to escort me to my own room, then I shall have to sleep in this one.Youmay take the chair.”

With that, she stomped to the bed, leaving him to stare after her in open-mouthed confusion.

CHAPTER 9

Callum suspected that he’d slept more nights on the ground than he had in the warmth of a bed. He’d slept through pelting rain and bone-rattling frost. He’d slept within spitting distance of the Silerith border, where enemy soldiers and dangerous beasts roved in equally frightening measure.

It was no great trial to sleep in a chair by the fire in a palace guest room. He would have offered the bed to Laena even had she not claimed it for herself. He didn’t have to be a lord to know what was right.

Though perhaps a lord could have explained the sudden shift in their conversation, and the way her demeanor had shifted from pleasant to angry. Certainly, he was as used to angering people as he was to sleeping on the ground. But he usually knew why.

They’d been speaking of the horrors of magic. She’d known his name from the outset, which meant she’d known his reputation for hunting down magic users and punishing them for their crimes. If she took a softer stance toward magic, then he’d have expected her to hate him from the first moment.

Besides, magic was just as illegal in Etra as it was in Aglye.No, he must have said something else to offend her. What it might be, he could not begin to fathom.

Now, as the sky began to turn gray, he woke to find the bed empty. Laena was gone, leaving behind only the faint scent of lavender.

Callum dressed quickly and made his way out of the palace.

Though his soldiers had no doubt been looking forward to the reprieve of several days’ rest in Riles before starting the return journey to Vunmore, no one was griping as he entered the courtyard. They moved efficiently, loading fresh supplies and preparing the horses for the short ride to the sea.

The horses were Etran animals, sturdy and reliable, if not so fine as Aglyeans. They’d left their own mounts at the stables by the coast; Callum could not justify dragging the horses on a sea journey when the ride from Etra’s coast to the palace was little more than an hour.

As he took stock of what still needed doing, Laena strode out of the palace, her skirts brushing his legs as she hurried past him, nose tipped so high she might have been trying to imitate her sister. She’d bullied someone into drawing her a bath; her curls lay damp and thick around the shoulders of her clean gray cloak, and the scent of lavender was even stronger. He wanted to bury his nose in her hair and breathe it in all day.

He swallowed. It’d been too long since he’d had a woman, clearly. “Good morning, my lady,” he said.

She paused and looked over her shoulder. “Good morning, Captain Farrow.”

She didn’t correct him on his use of the title, nor did she use his given name, as he’d invited her to do yesterday. She didn’t give him that mischievous hint of a smile he’d seen last night. It felt like a loss.

Before he could ask after the quality of her sleep, she turned her back on him and made for the gate. Not running away fromhim exactly, but not dawdling. A chilly reception, if he’d ever seen one.

“What’d you do this time, Captain?”

Callum resisted the urge to drop his head back and curse. Of course Edmun would have witnessed that interaction. Of course. The man never missed a beat.

The older soldier was standing a few paces away, arms folded. He’d been in the ranks since Callum had joined. Callum never knew why the man hadn’t wanted to rise in the ranks; everything Callum knew, he owed to Edmun. Every time his contract came up, Callum feared he’d announce his retirement. And every time, the old man signed on the line without hesitation. Since Edmun was as fearsome with a blade now as he’d ever been, Callum had never seen reason to argue. In fact, it was a relief.

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