Page 26 of Winter's Fate

Edmun cleared his throat, shooting an exasperated look athis captain. Farrow’s mouth hooked into a half-smile. “Perhaps it would be best not to continue along that subject.”

Laena found she wanted the infernal man to continue. She wanted to know where he would put his hands. And what he would do with his tongue. Her throat went dry and she swallowed, trying to still her thrumming heart. Trying not to imagine his hands rovingherbody.

“Godfrey’s known the girl a bare few hours, Captain,” Edmun said. “Perhaps a gentler tack would be preferable.”

Callum shrugged. As if it were no great matter to him, one way or the other. “As you say, I’m sure. I’m no great romantic.”

But he was drunk out of his mind. That much was obvious. “Clearly,” Laena said, wrenching her eyes away from the awful man and placing a hand over Godfrey’s. “What is your lady’s name?”

Godfrey let out a long sigh that might have been tortured, or happy, or perhaps both at once. He did not seem to have noticed his commander’s outburst. “Naomi. She is a beautiful maid who works in the palace at Riles. We laughed and talked all night. But our rapid departure wrested me too quickly from her arms.”

Huck snorted a laugh, and Laena elbowed him in the ribs, making him cough. Young love was young love, and Godfrey was clearly prone to poetics. Nothing wrong with that. “She sounds lovely,” Laena said. “I’m sorry I do not recognize her name.”

Godfrey straightened. “You wouldn’t, Princess Laena.” He sounded almost apologetic. “She and her mother came to Riles after the palace staff quit.”

Laena stared at him.

Godfrey licked his lips, nervous. “She said… well, she told me they walked out in protest after you went away from Riles. The entire palace was in an uproar for weeks, with no trained servants. Only a few stayed, saying that when you returned you’d need a friendly face.”

Tears prickled Laena’s eyes, and she blinked them away. She wished Callum Farrow were not here to watch. The crook of his smile had disappeared into a frown that looked all too much like pity. “The cook?” she asked, remembering the chocolate cookies.

Godfrey nodded. “The cook, yes. A few of the footmen, I think.”

It was not often that Laena found herself speechless. She had trained in diplomacy and knew how to handle the twists and turns of a conversation. Oh, she might be rusty—her encounter with Katrina had proved that—but Laena still had something to say.

At this news, she could barely summon any words. Any response. That the palace staff would have walked away from safe, secure employment because of Laena’s exile… it was too much to bear. She would have lectured them to do no such thing, had she known of it in advance.

When she got back to Etra, she would ensure they all found employment. A full five years? She hoped they had, that Katrina had not made it impossible for them to secure new positions.

Though… if the servants felt so strongly, and if the woman in the carriage had also felt strongly, perhaps… It was possible, wasn’t it, that some of the courtiers and merchants and rich business owners would have felt the same? Perhaps they would have made sure to care for the servants in Laena’s absence.

Besides, if this trip went as planned, she would have no reason to investigate anything upon her return to Etra. She held no sway; she could not even provide a reliable reference.

No, when she returned to Etra, she would go home to Sunflower Cottage. She would rebuild her garden. And she would forget she’d ever been anything else.

“Please, Princess,” Godfrey said, practically wringing his hands and clearly mistaking her silence for displeasure, “do notjudge Naomi and her mother. They needed the work when dear Naomi’s father passed from an infection, and?—”

Laena patted his hand. “I would never judge anyone for needing employment.”

She couldn’t believe the palace staff would have done such a thing. She could not see how she would ever make it up to them.

Godfrey’s shoulders sagged in relief. “So, whatshouldI write?”

The next daybloomed bright and sunny, the sea sparkling out in every direction like a promise as the Aglyean ship cut a sharp path through the waves. The passage was notoriously rough, more so as it neared the coast; it surged between the continent and Etra’s island nation, the iridescent surface belying the violent currents that roiled beneath. Laena had spent her life beside the sea, and though she knew better than to underestimate it, she did not overly fear it, either. Especially with the sky so clear and bright.

She wanted to see the Aglyean coast the moment it appeared on the horizon. Any moment now, the soldiers promised, though even after that it would be many hours until they made landfall.

What would it be like to spy a foreign land for the first time? Probably it would be like watching Etra disappear behind her for the first time, all the while wondering if she was making an enormous mistake. But Etra was rocky, known for its hills, while Aglye’s coast was made up of sand and forests. It should look different, especially as they drew nearer.

She’d excused herself shortly after the conversation with Godfrey, needing to be alone after that outburst from Callum.He’d disappeared ahead of her, no doubt with a plan to drown what was left of his sanity in more whiskey.

Even after she retired to her bed, she lay awake remembering his words. The roughness of his voice, the smell of whiskey and woodsmoke he brought with him. She hadn’t been able to keep from imagining the feel of his hands on her, the way he would peel her clothes from her body. No matter how much she reminded herself that she needed to keep her distance—that her magic made him a danger to her—she had imagined it. She had felt it.

And she had not slept particularly well.

Now, as she sat upon one of the long benches that ran alongside the rail, she breathed in the fresh air, begging the cold spray to dispel all ridiculous notions from her head. No matter how handsome he was, no matter how much his presence made her skin ache for his touch, she needed to take care.

To remind herself of the need, Laena withdrew the crystal from the traveling pouch she kept upon her person. She’d found it beneath the overturned settee after the attack in Kat’s sitting room, and though she’d pocketed it without secrecy, no one objected.

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