Page 153 of Silverbow
She huffed again. “Renley Ryerson served in the Queen’s Guard. Did you know that?”
Liam shook his head slowly.
“Your da served in the city watch.”
Liam scrubbed his hand down his face. “Are you sure you’re alright, En? You’re not making any sense.”
“I am if you would listen, Liam,” she hissed more acridly than she intended. Enya gritted her teeth. Liam looked as if she’d slapped him, and it felt like fingers digging into the hole in her chest. “It’s why I was fairly certain I could get in and out of Blackash Keep. Drulougan the Dread was mated to my mother’s dragon. I…I figured he would know me.”
“Did he?”
Enya nodded. “I think I hoped he wouldn’t. Not that I wanted to be torched or eaten,” she added hurriedly at the look of horror on Liam’s face. “But I hoped the witch might have been wrong, might have lied.” She gave a mirthless laugh that died in a groan. “It seems I am as much a Trakbatten as I am a Ryerson.”
“You didn’t tell me,” Liam accused, the hurt plain on his face.
“Liam, I-”
“I crossed the world for you, En, and you didn’t see fit to tell me.”
“Liam-”
“I had to hear it from Oryn bloody Brydove!”
Enya winced, but her own temper flared. “He wasn’t supposed to tell you!”
“Well I’m glad he did.” Liam’s anger took her by surprise, his usual easy nature hardened. “I’m glad someone had the decency to stop me looking like a bloody fool.” Liam shot off the stool. “I am just a stable boy, after all.”
“Is that what this is about?” She asked in surprise.
“It’s what it’s always been about, En.”
“Liam, don’t go.”
“Is that an order, Your Highness?”
The venom in the words made Enya flinch, but her own stubbornness made her bite her tongue. Liam didn’t look back as he stalked through the cabin door and slammed it behind him.
She pushed the tray aside and gingerly lowered herself onto the pillows. She wanted so badly for nothing to change between them, but perhaps, it was too late. Perhaps it had been too late all along. She hated the tightness in her throat and pressure that built behind her eyes.Light, Liam.
She heard Oryn’s boots on the deck followed by a soft knock on the cabin door. She didn’t answer. She just pulled the blanket up to her chin and rolled to face the wall as the door swung in. She felt the weight of the tray leave the bed.
“Are you alright?” He asked.
She was too tired to deal with Oryn bloody Brydove now too. She was too wounded to work up the words and the anger she would deliver to the Prince of Ashes.
“Go away.”
Bound to follow her orders, he slipped back out.
Two more days passed before she teetered her way onto the deck ofThe Seabird.Liam hadn’t returned to her cabin. Oryn’s stony presence was her only company and he lingered at her elbow in the warm breeze on the deck as if she might faint like a proper lady at any moment. She batted him away as she walked toward where Liam tended the horses.
Enya reached her hand out to scratch Arawelo behind the ears. The mare nudged at her, searching her pockets. “I’m sorry girl, I don’t have anything for you,” she laughed. “Liam-”’
He didn’t look at her. He turned on his heel and strode toward the ladder that had him disappearing below deck. Enya couldn’t use the ladder with her arm in a sling. She sighed, leaning into the mare.
“Men,” she muttered. Arawelo eyed Kiawa at her shoulder. The look didn’t hold the same bite it once had and Enya smiled. “That one’s rather fine, don’t you think?”
The mare blew out a huff. That was perhaps a bit too far.
