Page 36 of The Assassin's Bride

When they reached solid ground again, Thea looked back. The four men remained, all of them watching, but if they spoke, their words were lost to the mountains.

“You saved him,” she said.

Gil grunted. “One life. That's what I'll take. He is not worth the expense.”

Her hand ached. She shook it and then wriggled it into her pocket in hopes the warmth there would ease the pain in her knuckles. “You mean to kill someone in particular, don't you?”

“That is my job.”

“A job you gave yourself.”

“Who ordered it doesn't matter. It will be done.”

“Why?”

He paused, the look in his eyes one she hadn't seen since the beginning. Cold, threatening. The eyes of a man who would not be deterred. “You claw for answers, yet you do not consider the danger in having them.” Then he looked away, and the hard edges of his expression softened. “I will discuss this no further.” He strode ahead, toward a bend where the mountainside would shield them from the wind.

Thea stared at his back for a moment before she made her decision. She had one more question, and this time, she would not hold her tongue. “Is it worth it, Gil?” she asked as she jogged to catch up with his long-legged gait. “This mission you're on, this life you must take. Is it worth it?”

He raised his chin and she didn't think he would answer, but his words came, soft and somehow resigned. “We will see.”

CHAPTERTHIRTEEN

The bridge should have beenthe most frightening part of the journey. If not the bridge, perhaps the fact the journey had happened at all. That she'd walked in to see the king beheaded, that she'd been spirited away by his killer. Instead, the most frightening thing was standing beside that killer and holding his hand while the clerk on the other side of a simple wooden counter examined their documents.

“It'll be more convincing,” she'd claimed outside the little office before they'd gone in. She still believed that was true, but it was only part of why she'd asked. In truth, her hands shook like the last wind-battered leaves before winter, and the moment Gil had obligingly twined his fingers with hers, she'd felt better.

Better, like he wasn't a monster, a murderer, a brute with the dead king's head in a bag at his hip. At least, she thought he still carried it. He'd never mentioned it again, and she preferred not to think of its existence.

He squeezed her hand.

At last, the clerk sniffed and reached for a wooden block stamp that perched atop a tray full of ink. The stamp just touched the ink before he thumped it down on both of their passports, in addition to a new document he'd drawn from a drawer. He rolled that and their fraudulent marriage license together and tied a pale yellow cord around them to hold the paper shut. “Welcome home,” he announced, his smile both warm and polite as he slid the documents back across the counter.

“Thank you.” Gil accepted the paperwork with only one hand. He made no move to extricate his fingers from Thea's grasp. If anything, he held her tighter now. “We will need accommodations for the night, but it's been so long since I've visited that I no longer remember where I last stayed. Would it be rude to inquire after accommodations that might serve Kentorian foods?” He tilted his head toward Thea as he spoke, indicating he meant it for her benefit. She wasn't sure if that was kind or offensive.

“There aren't many,” the clerk admitted. “Harder to find Kentorian anything now, what with the mess that's befallen their crown. If your coin's Kentorian, I recommend exchanging a few for Ranorsh bits before you try and find somewhere to stay.”

“Why so?” Gil asked as he put away their documents. Thea was curious, herself. Kentoria's currency was minted precious metal, while Ranor circulated notes backed by a reserve. Of the two, Kentoria's currency was regarded as more trustworthy.

The clerk shook his head. “Lots of rumors, but you know how folk are. Kentoria's coins sport the crown. Now people say it's cursed.”

Gil sighed. “That's one thing I didn't miss while I was away. All the superstition. Do you have a clerk here who handles the exchange, or...?”

“Two counters down,” the man said, pointing with two fingers.

“Thank you.” Gil drew Thea away from the counter by their interlinked hands.

“Do people really believe money can carry a curse?” she asked in a whisper as he led her farther down the row of clerks.

“People believe many things. Kentorians are given to their own oddities, you cannot begrudge the Ranorsh theirs.” Low as it was, his voice still struck her as loud in the quiet office.

Thea chose to remain silent as he exchanged a handful of gleaming coins for the strange paper money she'd seen only once before. Her father had shown them a handful of Ranosh bills once, when he'd traveled north on business instead of sailing to less familiar lands to the east. She'd never thought much about her father's travels; they'd been an inconvenience her family was used to, nothing more. Now she thought of the bandits in the Pinch and wondered how her father's long caravan of wagons might have crossed the mountain range.

A murmur of gratitude from Gil to the money changer told her he was done. He folded the pale bills and stuffed them into his pocket, then tugged her toward the door.

Outside, the evening air was crisp and calm, though the streets still bustled. Farther up the village's central road, a handful of people worked to set up displays under colorful striped awnings. Thea gazed that way as Gil took a moment to ensure their documents were safely stored. “Is that all there is to it? Getting into Ranor?”

He pointed toward a building near what she presumed was the village center, using the same two-fingered gesture as the man inside. Ranorsh manners, perhaps. Knowing what Gil had shared about his need to fit wherever he was put, it came as no surprise that he'd pick it up so easily. “Yes and no,” he said as they moved in that direction. “We must travel to Ranor's capital. Of the options, I believe that will be the best place for you to establish yourself. They will expect to see our papers there, too, but we will stay with Rilion until your affairs are settled.”

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