Page 66 of A Chill in the Flame
Dwyn begged, “But, Firi…”
“It’s Princess Ophir to you, and it’s a higher title than you’ll ever attain. I want you out of my kingdom, and out of my life.”
“What do you know of him?” Dwyn’s eyes danced with tears. “What do you know of Tyr?”
The princess had already opened the door as she looked over her shoulder at the screaming fae. She’d lost her fire. Her parting statement held no fight, only chill. “I know he isn’t you.”
Thirty-two
“Dwyn?”
She recognized the unwelcome voice instantly. Her eyes flew open as she looked up at yet another man who despised her. She remained as still as possible, but frustrated surprise escaped her lips before she could control it. “Fuck.”
Harland looked to where she lay in the bushes, then up to the estate. He’d already drawn his blade, holding it from where he sat atop his horse. “What are you doing here? What are you doing…outside?”
She wondered if he could see the mechanisms behind her eyes turn. She knew her hesitancy made one thing clear: she was not forthcoming. He had been right not to trust her, but she couldn’t tell him that. Instead, she got to her feet as she looked up to the guard who’d pined after the princess from the moment she met him.
“Is Ophir inside?”
Dwyn tensed. “She’s with someone.”
The guard dismounted from his steed and looked over his shoulder. Had he come alone? Perhaps if he’d followed Ophir’s sloppy trail of corpses, Dwyn assumed any men accompanying him must still be burying the bodies of the countryfolk they’d found. If she was lucky, they could behours behind.
“Who?” he asked.
Dwyn blinked. “We were traveling together,” she admitted. A story wove itself together composed mostly of honesty. She’d never get anywhere with Harland if her words rang too false. “We fled after her meeting with her parents when they told her she was going to be sent to Raascot. She needed to get away from her marriage to Ceneth. I knew no one would support her running, but I did. I still do. I wanted to be there for her if she was truly only trying to escape a forced marriage. It’s her right.” Dwyn emphasized the final word. She searched Harland’s hazel eyes for any sense of relief, but his face held none. She continued, “She’s been safe for weeks, and then she met a man. I’ve seen him before. I think he followed me here from Sulgrave. He has Sulgrave features.”
His face tensed, a tendon in his neck moving at the information—part distrust, part jealousy. Harland hesitated as he looked from Dwyn to the estate. The reins remained bundled in his hand. “He’s a Sulgrave man?”
She nodded tentatively, hands held in front of her to pacify him. “He traveled with us at first for a few days. I hate him,” she said with honest vitriol, “but the princess finds him very fucking charming.”
Dwyn’s words caused Harland’s face to flicker. His eyes tightened. A muscle in his jaw ticked, joining the tendon in his neck that flexed once more. These were honest words.
“I don’t know his intent,” Dwyn continued, watching her message find purchase. She’d primed the soil. It was time to help the seed grow. “They’re in there now. All I want is for her to be safe.”
He looked to the dark estate again before his eyes returned to the siren. “Ophir is in there right now and has forced you to sleep outside?” His question was thick with disbelief. “That doesn’t sound like her.”
Dwyn was quick to nod. “It’s not her. The princess I’ve known would never have kicked me out to be alone witha man. It’s this new traveler. His abilities—he can step into the place between things. It’s like a dampening spell, but he cannot be perceived. You won’t be able to see him even if he stands before you. Deceit is his first nature.”
“He has the power to go unseen?”
“Be extremely careful.”
She held her breath as she waited for him to take the bait, breathing only when Harland urged his horse forward and tethered it to a nearby tree.
“She won’t be happy to see me,” Dwyn said, following him quietly. “He’s poisoned her against me.”
Harland’s shoulders slumped. “She won’t be happy to see me, either.”
“The newcomer is dangerous,” Dwyn whispered.
“Stay out here.”
Dwyn fought the urge to scrunch her face. Her lips twitched. “I should go in with you.”
“No,” Harland gestured. “I’ll go. Stay with the horse.”
Dwyn nodded and watched Harland walk toward the house. He made the same decision Ophir had made earlier, forgoing the front door in search of a side entrance. The siren waited until he rounded the corner and then she followed, hugging the shadows as she moved silently near the guard. Harland opened the door to the kitchen and slipped in, leaving the back entrance open behind him. Closing it would have been an unnecessary risk in noise when all he needed to do was secure his princess.
