Page 44 of Winter's Fate

Of all of them, the woman looked the most like an actual bandit, clothed in black with a bow propped over her shoulder, a quiver of arrows strapped to her back.

“Now, Gretchen,” Maynard said, “we have to charge what we’re worth, don’t we? I was a court bard, after all.”

“Fifty years ago,” she muttered.

“More like twenty.” Maynard’s knees cracked loudly as he stood. He brushed the dirt from his trousers with careful swipes, though the pants had been patched and repatched many times over. “We’d best be moving on.”

“If you wouldn’t mind, Maynard,” Laena said, “I need just a moment to talk to my husband.”

Maynard bobbed his head and stepped away, shooing the others back as if a few steps would give them true privacy. She supposed it was as much as she could expect, given the circumstances.

She turned her attention to the captain. And still, he did notmeet her eye. There was a tick working at the corner of his jaw, his expression so grim she might have thought he’d lost her back there, when in truth he’d saved her life.

Laena ducked her head, forcing Callum to meet her eyes. When he did, the breath caught in her throat. She’d expected him to be guarded with her, careful. Accusatory even.

And truly, a fire did burn behind those ice-chip blue eyes of his. But she did not think it was a fire of accusation. It was a look that seared straight between her ribs, as if to add itself to the band that was creeping its way through her bones.

“Are you well, my lady?” he asked.

She took in his rumpled state, the rip in his shirt where Penn’s dagger had nearly sliced into his body. “I might ask you the same.”

“And yet I am not the one who collapsed.”

“The strain?—”

He touched a hand to her wrist, stopping her mid-sentence. His touch was like fire, and her body responded to it, a shiver working its way up her arm, her spine. “That was no strain, my lady. That was magic.”

“Are you going to arrest me, Captain?”

He traced his finger toward her elbow, wrapping his hand around her forearm and using the grip to draw her closer. His eyes bored into her like hot coals, as if he could see straight to her heart. “I should arrest you,” he said. “If I had any sense, you would be in chains by now.”

Laena’s throat was dry. “But?”

His gaze dropped to her lips, lingering there. “But you saved my life.”

She had. The memory of that dagger poised to dig into his gut was still potent, the panic recent enough to claw at her chest. To save his life, she would have done it again. A hundred times.

She wanted to touch him. She wanted to explain, only shedidn’t know where to start. She had no clue what her magic was, only that it existed. Only that she had caused no one pain to procure it.

“It’s not a heart-tithe, Captain,” she whispered. “I swear it.”

“Then what is it?” His voice was low and rough, like a warning.

She swallowed. “I don’t know.”

She wasn’t sure if he would accept that. Would she, in his place?

“It’s hurting you.”

She blinked, surprised. That was not what she’d expected. Not from the man who was the scourge of heart-tithers, the legendary captain who hated magic above all else. He’d seen her use a power that was unknown in the Vales as far as she’d ever heard. He knew she had lied. Yet his concern was for her well-being?

He said it as if stating a fact, when it had to be a question. Yes, the magic had caused her to lose consciousness, however briefly. And yes, there was still a tender soreness beneath her ribcage. But it was easing by the second, the pain fading to a distant throb. It would soon be gone entirely.

She shook her head. Before she could form a response, Maynard cleared his throat. “Sorry to interrupt the reunion, truly I am. I’d have us camp here for the night if I thought it wise, but…” He darted a glance at the cabin where so much blood had been spilled. “But I think we’d best be on our way.”

Callum used his grip on Laena’s arm to pull her to her feet, then released her. She forced herself to look away as the bandits rejoined them.

“So, husband,” she said, making her tone as light as she could. “Are these fineperformersto escort us to Inasvale?”

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