“Oh, I’m Captain Ice again, am I?” he asked with an amused twitching of his lips. “What happened to Captain Smolder?”
“Probably in bed where I left him last night.”
Callum choked.
“I’ll reiterate…” Maddox brought my hand to his mouth, placing a kiss to my knuckles. “Behave.”
“I’ll try,” I said, trying not to smile and failing. “And I’ll tell you like I told Briar. Make sure you take care of yourself. Eat lunch soon.”
“I’lltry,” he mocked me and released my hand.
Which made it easier to lightly smack his arm. “I’m serious.”
He tossed me a smirk before joining Quincy. The two then walked in the opposite direction, away from the barracks and toward the officer’s quarters. Since moving in with me, Maddox used the room as an office now. Filling out paperwork. Receiving summons or requests for aid. Meeting with people, such as other officers and court officials.
And meeting withindividualsof unknown origin who I was very interested in knowing more about.
I turned to Callum. “Who are they meeting with? What intel?”
Callum’s lips pressed together.
“Cal…”
“I’m not at liberty to say.” He touched the small of my back in an unspoken request for me to walk with him. I did. “You’re going to press the matter, aren’t you?”
“It’s like you know me or something.”
He cracked a smile. “As the captain likes to say when you ask too many questions, this is knightly business. And muffins aren’t knights.”
I bumped his arm. “Fine. Whatever. I’ll let it slide for now.”
“For now, he says.” Callum peered over at me with a playful scowl. “You won’t get me to break my silence, no matter how hard you try.”
“You really wanna tell me, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do.”
I laughed. The lack of worry in his eyes reassured me. If the meeting with the unknown person involved something super serious or dangerous, he’d be more on edge.
Right?
We walked along the path at a casual pace. Many of the trees had started losing their leaves, flowers had wilted, and areas ofthe once vibrant green grass had lost some of that vibrancy. All signs of winter’s approach. Though faint, I still detected traces of black cardamon.
Probably just remnants from my cloak.
“Maddox told me about the knights from the Third Order who were killed last night.” Heaviness pressed down on my chest. “That’s horrible.”
“It is.” His expression turned grave. “Every knight knows death is a possibility every time we set out on a patrol or mission. Yet, knowing that truth doesn’t make it easier. The knights might’ve been from the Third Order, but they were still our brothers in arms.”
I moved closer to Callum’s side. “Are you okay?”
“I am.” His hand brushed mine before he pulled it back. “It only makes me think about Gerard.” His younger brother, who was currently training to become a knight. “Perhaps it’s awful of me, but I keep praying he’ll change his mind. It’s an honor to serve my king and country, but I wish more for him. Especially in these uncertain times.”
“You’re not awful for thinking that. You just want him to be safe.”
“And allhewants is to follow in my footsteps.” He gave me a half-hearted smile. “I hope to introduce you to him someday.”
“I’d like that. I wanna thank him for all the clothes.” A majority of my wardrobe had come from Gerald’s hand-me-downs.
