Page 75 of The King's Weapon

"We can just ask one of the servants to bring you something. We don't need to barge into the kitchens at this hour," Graeson said.

Kallie followed the pieces of broken rainbows on the windows, then turned at the end of the hall. "Hush. I can very well—"Hiccup. She grumbled. "By the gods! If these hiccups do not—"hiccup, "go away."

Graeson sighed. "Fine. But then straight to your room."

Kallie giggled and saluted him dramatically. "Yes, sir."

* * *

Half of a baguettein one hand, grass beneath the other, Kallie sat criss-crossed on the ground.

No one had been in the kitchens when they arrived, but in the center of the counters sat a crisp baguette waiting for someone to eat it. When she spotted it, Kallie's eyes nearly popped out of her head as she snatched it off the counter. She pranced back to Graeson as she held the baguette over her head, waving it around in triumph. Then Kallie proceeded to drag him out the side doors into the small garden outside.

Kallie ripped the baguette piece by piece. Meanwhile, Graeson hovered, having refused to sit down beside her after mumbling some nonsense about it only encouraging her bad behavior.

The fact that Kallie was even able to persuade him to go to the gardens with her was shocking. It wasn't as if he had much of a say in the matter though. She supposed when you're chasing after a drunk woman with food on her mind, it was always best if you just let her lead the way. Or else, prepare to suffer the consequences.

And a hungry drunk girl was much better to deal with than a sad drunk girl roaming the palace.

As she popped the last piece of bread into her mouth, she whined. "Where did it all go?"

Graeson peered down at her, with an annoyed expression. Groaning, he squatted down to get to Kallie's level, his arms hung over his knees. He put out his hand in front of her, bread extended.

Kallie looked at it, dumbfounded.

His eyes trailed over her. "Take it. You need it more than me."

She met his eyes, and he nudged the bread forward. It seemed strange—to take food from her once enemy. And Kallie still did not know what the present circumstances made him, everything was so convoluted. But this? This seemed simple. A basic transaction. Pushing past the snide comment, Kallie grabbed the bread. Tossing a piece into her mouth, a closed-lip smile stretched across her face. After she ate the last piece, she fell back across the ground, staring up at the stars.

"Is that really a good idea?" Graeson asked, his tone skeptical and clearly disapproving.

"Lighten up,Gray." She giggled. With the glow of the moon behind him, she couldn't make out the expression on his face. "I'm not getting up anytime soon, at least not until the stars stop chasing each other. Which one do you think will win?" With wide, eager eyes, she pointed to a cluster of stars.

When he didn't respond, she turned her head slightly. She could see the faint outline of his mouth agape and she burst into laughter. Regaining her ability to speak, she said, "I’m drunk, not crazy. Now calm down and take a seat."

He stared at the night sky and sighed. "Fine, but only for a few minutes, then I'm carrying your ass up to your room, whether you like it or not,” Graeson grumbled and lay on the ground next to her. He was so close that she could hear the sound of his breathing.

How did she get here? Why had the gods set her down this path? She was voluntarily lying next to the man who had captured her. In a few days, a simple plan that was clear and straight—gather information from the enemy and then avenge her father's name—turned into something tangled with strings going off in different directions. She knew what King Domitius wanted her to do: kill them. And she thought she knew what Queen Esmeray wanted her to do: return her loyalties to Pontia and betray her homeland.

But what didshewant to do?

The fractures on the insides of her mind started up again. She couldn't think. Above her a smoky cloud slinked its way across the moon, dimming its glow.

This wasn't the time for her to be making any decisions. Not when stars winked at her, mocking her.

Kallie blinked, clearing the thoughts from her head, and watched the stars continue to chase each other around the sky. Then as they slowed, she started identifying the constellations of the gods. Sabina had always been the easiest for her to find, for she floated near the brightest star in the sky, the North Star. She recalled Fynn pointing out Pontanius' constellation while they were traveling and connected the line between Sabina's left heel to where Pontanius hovered.

Strange that Pontanius was so far removed from the other gods, but after learning more about him from Fynn and Esmeray Kallie was starting to understand why.

He had been outcasted by the other gods. Separated from them, even in the stars. However, Sabina was there, not too far off, keeping their story secret but remaining a nearby companion. She wondered why the original story about Sabina and her lover was different from the one she had heard tonight. And why did they still celebrate the goddess on the mainland?

It seemed at every turn, the history of Vaneria that she knew was determined to keep the Pontians at arm’s length. Perhaps that was why Sabina's story had shifted.

Or perhaps neither of these stories was the whole truth.

She looked back and forth between the two constellations. Both gods slept in the sky alone, separated from the ones they loved forever, for mortals were not meant to be among the stars.

She sighed, and put her hands down beside her, feeling the grass between her fingers and letting it ground her. The blades of grass shifted and warm skin grazed hers, sending a chill up her arm. Neither of them moved as their breaths synched.

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