Page 132 of Lady of Ashes

“Finn, can you give us a few minutes, please?”

“Of course,” Finn said, dropping his now empty glass back on the liquor cart. “I’ll be back in an hour.”

Callan nodded and waited until the door had closed behind him before turning back to Tava. Her chin was propped in her hand as she watched the small ?re, her other hand running her spirit amulet back and forth on its ivory chain.

“Tava, do you need out of this arrangement?” he asked, getting straight to the point.

Her eyes widened slightly as her gaze landed on to his. “No, Callan. I am sorry if I made you think that.”

“Please do not apologize to me. My life, the things expected of me, the dangers I deal with, and that you now deal with by merely being associated with me, are not trivial things, Tava. They would be a weight on anyone’s shoulders, especially when you have not grown up being expected to carry them,” Callan replied.

“I was raised in this society just as you were,” she argued.

“Yes, but being raised noble and being raised royal are still two very different things, Tava. More than that, if a lady’s family is hoping to marry her into a royal status, her upbringing is also different from what you experienced.”

“I understand that,” she sighed again. “But no, I do not need an out. I was unprepared for this whole personal guard thing interfering with my dealings in the slums, but I will ?gure something out.”

“I am not asking you not to go there, Tava, but let Finn come with you. Or Drake. Or me.”

“You cannot come. Neither can Finn. Even Drake would be a stretch,” she replied, her eyes going back to the ?re.

“Why?”

“Because you are the crown. Finn is a royal guard, and Drake is nobility and a Commander,” she replied, as if the reasoning were obvious.

“You are nobility,” he pointed out dryly.

“Yes, but for a long time, I accompanied Scarlett on trips. They came to know and trust me because of her.”

“So becauseshedoes not take me there, they will not trust me?” he retorted bitterly.

Tava glanced at him, looking him up and down quickly, before pushing to her feet and reaching for her cloak. “No, they will not trust you because you are the crown.”

“They do not trust the king?”

Some kind of hollow laugh passed her lips. “No, Callan, they do not trust the crown. They do not trust the ruler who seems to have forgotten them, who does not care if they have food, shelter, clothing. They do not trust the people who sneer at them when they ask for help to feed their children who have not had full bellies in months.”

Callan stepped back at the viciousness of her words. She had her cloak back on now and was heading for the door.

“Where are you going?”

“There are a few families in particular there who need these tonics. They are sick and have not had them for several days. I need to get them there somehow,” Tava answered, reaching for the door handle, but Callan was already there, holding the door shut.

“Let me come with you.”

“I just told you why you cannot, Callan.”

“I cannot let you go there by yourself, Tava. Not any more.”

“So what do you propose I do?”

“I can cover myself, keep my face hidden. They do not need to know I am the Crown Prince. Finn can do the same.”

“That will never work,” Tava said, shaking her head. “It is your only option, Tava.”

She held his stare for a long moment before ?nally accepting that he would not relent on this. “Fine,” she sighed, waving a hand at him to get his cloak.

He never took his eyes off of her, fearing she would slip out the door without him if he did.

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