Page 35 of The Twisted Throne

“Fine.”

Instead of asking her nicely, as Ahnna had expected, James’s hand closed around her arm. Before she could say a word, he flung her over his shoulder. A squawk of protest tore from her lips, but he ignored it. His shoulder pressed against her hips as he draped one arm around the back of her thighs and started up the street.

“By all means, wiggle,” he said. “I’ll be sure to drop you in the largest pile of horse sh—” He shook his head. “The largest pile of manure I can find.”

“Asshole,” she growled, debating whether the indignity of being dumped into a pile of shit would be worth kneeing him in the ribs.

“You aren’t the first to say so.”

“Put me down!”

“No.” His arm tightened around the back of her thighs. Shockingly close to the ass he’d just violently defended, and Ahnna wondered if he realized it as he added, “If you’re going to act like a child, I’m going to treat you like one.”

“Does that mean I’m to be spanked twice tonight?”

She’d thought that the suggestion would so deeply offend his sense of propriety that he’d put her down, but instead James said, “Don’t tempt me.”

Ahnna’s entire core tightened, but she managed to say, “You’d make quite the scene.”

James scoffed. “It’s going to take more than this to gain attention in Sableton’s tenderloin. Which is exactly why you shouldn’t be here.”

It was a hard point to argue. Everyone spilling in and out of thetaverns, inns, and brothels looked drunk, or well on their way to becoming so, the noise of music and laughter deafening. Prostitutes propositioned potential customers from windows and balconies, but in the alleys, she saw those who worked the streets engaged in various acts that made her cheeks color. A man shouting “Thief” chased a young boy up the street, and no fewer than four fistfights broke out by the time they’d reached the edge of the district and James set her down.

“What were you doing in the tenderloin?” he asked. In the light of the streetlamp, she saw that the sleeve of his coat was torn from the brawl.

“I wanted to speak with the people without them knowing who I was,” she said. “I wanted to hear their concerns. At least, that was my plan until you picked a fight with them.”

“He laid hands on you. He’s lucky I let him live.” James’s eyes narrowed. “What concerns?”

She debated telling the truth, then thought better of it and said, “About anything. A good ruler listens to her people.”

“I don’t disagree, but rulers don’t venture out alone.”

“I didn’t think you would agree to me venturing out at all, in your company or otherwise, so I did not bother asking.”

James exhaled. “It’s not appropriate for us to be alone together, much less in the tenderloin at night.”

Yet they were alone now. Ahnna knew the rules unwed noblewomen were held to in Harendell. Safeguards so that their purity would never be called into question, but to hold her to those rules seemed asinine. Her claim topurityhad set sail when she was fifteen in a fumbling encounter with Aren’s friend Gorrick, who’d afterward begged her not to tell her brother.

That was always how it was. Wine and desire would trump good sense, but afterward, the men would always beg herdiscretion, terrified of what Aren would do if he learned they’d been fucking his sister in the bunkhouse. They’d either ignore her or refuse to meet her eye afterward, which had made her heart ache so badly that she’d stopped having encounters years ago, what desires she felt satisfied only by her own hand.

Absolutely none of which she intended to admit to James, so she only shrugged.

“How did you get past the guards?”

“It wasn’t hard,” she said. “If they were under my command, they’d be disciplined because if I could leave so easily, then anyone with half a mind to enter would have no difficulty.”

“And Iwoulddiscipline them if not for the fact that it would necessitate admitting that you’d left unattended.”

“I assume they’ll figure that out when we walk in the front gate.”

“For the sake of your reputation, we’ll go back in the same way you came out.” He hesitated, then added, “I understand that you are not used to these limitations, Your Highness. That they seem foolish and biased against your sex. However, railing against me will get you nowhere, because they’re not my rules, and while I am sympathetic, the queen will be nothing of the sort. You already have the odds of gaining her favor stacked against you by virtue of you being Ithicanian, and everything you do that reminds her of that fact will be a reason for her to make your life miserable.”

He gestured for her to start walking in the direction of Fernleigh, and Ahnna did so without argument, because it struck her then that he spoke not just of her situation but also of his own. “I’ve heard of her reputation,” she said, not certain whether this was a conversation she should start.

“Every bit of it is deserved.” His tone shut down any further questions she might have had.

They walked in silence, it not taking long for them to reach the portion of the wall she’d climbed over. “Here,” she said. “Then through the maze and up the trellis to my window.” She knew she should apologize, but instead, Ahnna said, “I’m fine from here. You don’t need to lower yourself to climbing in the back window.”

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