Page 11 of Reckless
I blink at him. A kingly dismissal if I ever heard one.
I nod slowly, taking a step back toward the door. “Well, if there is nothing else…”
Your Majesty.
I swallow the words before I can spit them out at the end of the sentence. My hand reaches for the door, ready to make my escape—
“Is that her blood?”
I falter, turning to face him.
His green gaze is fixed on the splotches soaking my shirt. I’m still, silent for a long moment, simply allowing him to study me while I try to decipher what it is looming behind his eyes.
When I finally speak, it’s the question I’m avoiding answering myself that falls from my lips. “Would you be more disappointed if it was, or if it wasn’t?”
He swallows. Takes a deep breath. Smiles in a way that is anything but happy. “I don’t know.” Another long, lingering silence. “You?”
“I don’t know.”
Pathetic.
“Is it?” Kitt doesn’t look at me as he says it. “Hers, I mean.”
I sigh, suddenly tired at the reminder of this morning. “No.”
Relieved? Disappointed? It seems I suddenly cannot tell the difference between the two as I say that seemingly simple word.
“I see,” Kitt mutters. “But she was there, I take it?”
“She was. I forced her out of the house.” Kitt quirks a brow before I finish, “Burnt it to the ground.”
“I see.”
We watch each other warily. She is a topic better left untouched, and yet, she’s never further than a thought away. Torture for the two of us.
“The blood?” Kitt nods toward me expectantly.
“Belongs to the Imperial she stabbed. Killed him near Loot.”
There’s that lifeless laugh again. “She does have a nasty habit of stabbing people, doesn’t she?”
I clear my throat, careful not to cross the line I no longer know where to find when it comes to Kitt. “Yes, well, so do I. And she didn’t escape unharmed—I made sure of that.”
“So,” Kitt drawls in a tone all too familiar. I see Father reflected in his gaze, reincarnated in his words. “What are you telling me, Enforcer?”
I stiffen slightly. “I believe she is headed to the Scorches, attempting to make it across to either Dor or Tando. Though I’m not sure she will. Then again, she does also have a nasty habit of staying alive.” My tone is flat, embodying the Enforcer he wishes me to be. “I will ready some men and desert horses to head into the Scorches after her. We will leave as soon as we are able.” I pause. “Your Majesty.”
Dammit. I just couldn’t help myself, could I?
Kitt studies me, seemly less than unsettled by the title. Rather, curious. “And then you’ll bring her to me.”
I nod.
“Will you?”
I stare it him, breathing slowly. “Do you have reason to believe I won’t?”
Kitt shrugs a shoulder before leaning back to cross ink-stainedarms over his wrinkled shirt. “It’s just that, well, I know your… history.”
