Page 88 of Fate's Sweetest Curse
“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you from Shae,” Faren quipped.
I dragged the chair closer to Faren and sat. “I’m not looking for protection, I’m looking for Mariana.”
“Looking for trouble, then,” he said. “Why would an apprentice seek out Mariana?”
“Because she tried to murder my friend.”
Faren choked on his surprise, eyes rounding. “That’s…quite the accusation.”
“I saw her.”
Faren collected himself quickly, his features smoothing into mild indifference again. “Look, I despise Mariana and her Order as much as the next—”
“And what Order is that?”
He smirked like I already knew he couldn’t answer that question. “But she doesn’t go around trying to murder students.”
“And how do you know that?”
“It’s beneath her.”
Isnorted, insulted.
He tapped his breastplate with his knuckles. “Killing innocents goes against the tenants of her knighthood. Mariana couldn’t be behind the attempt. It’s not how the Lord of Fenrir operates,” Faren said, and I got the sense that there wasmuchmore he wasn’t saying. “Besides, if she wanted to murder a student, do you really think she’d fail to finish the job?”
He had a point.
“Look, Hattie, you seem like a nice, albeit troublesome girl.” He waved his hand with a casual flourish. “Don’t be a fool, too. It’ll get you killed.”
“I thought you said killing innocents was beneath her?” I challenged.
“It is so long as you butt out.” Faren tucked the fox figurine back into his pocket. “Innocence is subjective, Hattie,” he warned, “and Mariana isn’t afraid to make a judgement.”
I gulped around the sudden knot in my throat. Is that what’d happened with Viren? She’d gotten too close to the Valiant’s secrets, and Mariana deemed her a threat? Faren didn’t seem to think so, but Faren didn’t know how much Viren had uncovered.
My fingers began to itch and tingle with adrenaline. This wasdefinitelya bad idea.
And yet: I was finally getting somewhere.
“Being foolish shouldn’t have such extreme consequences,” I said, challenging Faren to say more.
But he was a Mighty Knight. They were trained to keep the kingdom’s secrets. “I agree, but that’s not the world we live in.” He glanced toward the other end of the pub, where the scuffle was getting louder. “You better go. Shae just drew her daggers.”
Indeed, she had—two wicked blades, each the length of my forearm.
What had I been thinking, strapping Uriel’s dagger to a belt at my hip and trying to track down Viren’s maybe-attempted-murderer, a vicious Valiant Knight that even Idris—burly,trained fighter that he was—seemed wary of? Who was I to singlehandedly solve the mystery of cursed blood and secret Orders and the clandestine politics pulling the strings of Phina’s studies when Phina herself—who knew far more than I did on all counts—had not? I was an apothecary student, not an adept, knight, or spy. I had my own secrets to keep; digging into others would only draw attention to mine.
But Noble, I thought with an agonizing twist of my stomach. My desire to help him had eclipsed my sense of caution—but even recognizing that fact wasn’t enough to make me want to stop.
Then again, maybe I was going about this all wrong. Maybe I should’ve tried harder to confront Phina or Noble in the lab, rather than rushing to the Ire.
I stood. “Thanks for your time, Faren. No offense, but I hope we never speak again.”
He laughed. “That’s probably for the best, Hattie.” But then his eyes narrowed and swept over my features more shrewdly. “Wait, what did you say your last name was?”
A wooden chair flew through the air and crashed into the wall with a sharp crack.
Faren was on his feet in a heartbeat, reaching up over his shoulder for one of the shortswords strapped to his back. Not wanting to stick around long enough for him to question my family name again—or see how the brawl unfolded—I hurried toward the front door, tossing the barkeep an extra coin on my way out.
