Page 41 of Godsbane
“And here I thought you’d at least need dinner before you had the strength to sass me again.”
Cal steps back, hands raised in acceptance, allowing me the space to dismount. My knees wobble under the full weight of my exhausted body, but I don’t stumble in front of him.
“I can sass you in any condition.” My stomach rumbles loudly and I clamp a hand across my midsection to stifle it. “Though, dinner would be nice.”
A teasing smile tugs up the corner of his mouth before Cal turns and rummages through his saddle bags. Dried meats and a metal flask fill his hands when he takes his seat beside me on the downed log. He unscrews the lid, taking a deep drink from thecontainer before passing both to me. The woody, caramel scent of whiskey immediately invades my nose.
“Are you trying to get me drunk, Captain?”
“I thought it might take the edge off the day, princess. But if you don’t want it …” Cal reaches for the flask and I quickly press it to my lips and take a deep pull.
The laugh that tugs his mouth into a boyish smile warms me more than the whiskey.
There’s no fire, and in the dying light of day, as shadows dance through the evergreen branches of the forest, Cal is devastatingly handsome. Beautiful like the deadly blooms my magic is so fond of conjuring. The more I am sucked into his orbit, the closer I come to falling headfirst into an oblivion from which I know I will never recover.
“How did you learn to fight like that?” Cal asks.
“What makes you think I’m not god-blessed? Maybe I’m a natural born fighter,” I tease.
Cal rolls his sparkling silver eyes. “Military captain, remember? I know training when I see it.”
I take my time chewing the tough, salty meat before answering, debating how much of the truth I want to divulge tonight. I owe him a sliver at the very least, but allies are supposed to trust each other and he needs to know what waits for us.
“Nick Adler, the son of my father’s master-at-arms, taught me. He trained with his father and the Emerald infantry during the day and then we trained at night to keep it a secret.”
“He didn’t want anyone to know he was training you?”
“Ididn’t want anyone to know,” I confess. “Men and women are not permitted to only be sparring partners. You know as well as I do that every noble in our region would have been convinced we were fucking if they knew.”
Cal tenses beside me slightly before taking the whiskey and downing a healthy amount. I should put him out of his misery and tell him truthfully that nothing happened between me and Nick.
I should, but I won’t.
“It took me weeks of secret meetings to find anyone I trusted enough for the task. It turns out that no one wants to actually fight their region’s heir and risk accidentally maiming them.”
“But Nick did?” Cal asks.
“Nick has always had a thing for my best friend. He agreed to train me and keep quiet about it as long as Quinn promised to attend the lessons. A win for prideful men, everywhere.”
I wonder what the new Lady QuinnfuckingAdler would she think of me now—falling asleep in the godsdamned arms of the Captain of Corinth after brutally murdering a man.
It’s my turn to take a long drink of whiskey.
“You’ve told mehow, now tell mewhy.” Cal’s gray eyes lock onto mine despite my best efforts to avoid them.
“Self defense,” I reply mechanically. The same excuse I gave my father when he inevitably found out.
“That wasn’t defensive,” he scoffs. “Nick taught you to kill. Tell me why.”
“The governors summits are always a giant spectacle. Really a huge waste of money if you ask me.” I take another deep drink before continuing. “It was hosted in Emerald when I was sixteen. At the time, I was head-over-heels for a pathetic boy who did not deserve my affection. We snuck off from the penultimate ball and got drunk on each other … and a stupid amount of wine.”
I steal a glance toward Cal, his rage-filled glare forcing my attention elsewhere quickly.
“To this day, I swear I was in complete control … until I woke up on the stairs, my face bruised and bloody and no recollection of the past two hours. I ran straight for my father’sstudy, but I couldn’t make myself go inside. The assembly was scheduled to vote the next day to send a joint decree to the King demanding education for girls in all regions, regardless of status. My father was the decree’s biggest champion and he had spent every second of the summit trying to convince each governor to vote in favor. I knew that an accusation like this would steal his attention and derail the vote … and the girls of Corinth needed him more than I did.”
Deafening silence fills the camp, the very last light of day disappearing completely from view. Cal’s eyes bore into me even in the dark. I don’t need light to feel the utter rage that ripples off him.
“And this …boy,” he says, every word laced with violence, the distinct crunch of metal sounding from his fist. “He’s an heir.”
