Page 36 of Heartless Enemy

Relief briefly blew across Levi’s face, and he dipped his chin a fraction.

I nodded back. But that curiosity stayed inside me even when we moved into a discussion about how to logistically pull this off. There was so much that I didn’t know about Levi. About his past. I had told him most of mine, but he had never shared any of his past demons with me. And part of me wondered if he ever would.

“Alright then,” Levi said eventually. “We have a plan. Eve and I will leave for Helmark at first light to kidnap White’s healer. I expect you three to keep everything running smoothly and to keep everyone firmly in line until I return.”

“Yes, sir,” Shinji, Tyler, and Chris answered as one while inclining their heads in acknowledgement.

“Try to stay inside the Court as much as possible since it seems as though White can’t worldwalk right into it, for some reason. He shouldn’t be coming after you since he will no doubt be searching the city for Eve, but it’s better not to take any stupid risks right now.”

They nodded again.

Levi’s tone sharpened. “And Tyler?”

The lightning mage started slightly, and a hint of worry flickered across his face. “Yes, sir?”

“Gemma has been waiting for you to ask her out for three years.” Levi shot him a pointed look. “Do it now before we all perish from the sheer exasperation of having to watch the two of you dance around each other.”

Tyler’s cheeks flushed bright red. I had to draw a hand over my mouth to hide the smile that bloomed on my lips. Next to me, Chris chuckled into his glass of whiskey while Shinji pressed his lips together to suppress a grin.

“Uhm… y-yes, sir,” Tyler at last managed to press out.

“And Tyler?” Threats laced Levi’s voice as he spoke now, and his eyes were sharp as steel. “If you break her heart, I will break your hands. Understood?”

He nodded vehemently. “Understood.”

“Good.” Levi swirled the whiskey in his glass before downing it all in one go. A grin spread across his face as he slid his gaze to me. “Then let’s go steal a healer.”

Chapter15

Ifelt uneasy leaving my kingdom unprotected like this. Though I supposed that it wasn’t technicallyunprotected. I trusted Shinji, Chris, and Tyler to keep both the civilians and the rest of my people in line. The problem was those damn white boots. If they for some reason decided to launch their invasion early and attacked while I was gone, I didn’t know how successful my people would be at holding them off. But this was the only way to deal with both problems, so it was a risk we had to take.

“Shouldn’t we have brought… I don’t know? Tents or something?” Eve asked from where she was riding next to me with the reins of our third horse tied to her saddle as well.

Amusement pulled at my lips as I glanced over at her.

White clouds covered the sky above, draining much of the color from the grasslands around us. Eve cast a quick look up at the sky, as if it would open up suddenly and drown us in cold rain, before turning her head back and meeting my gaze again.

“I didn’t take you for a person who enjoys camping out in the wild,” I said.

She raised her eyebrows at me and shot me a pointed look. “Based on what, exactly?”

“You’re a city girl through and through.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that you know every street like the back of your hand and can navigate crowds without the slightest issue, but if I pointed to a field and asked you which sprouts were crops and which were weeds, you wouldn’t be able to tell.”

“Oh, and you would? Mr. Dark Mage King of Malgrave inside your decidedly non-plant-friendly Court of Metal?”

“I was actually born on a farm.”

Surprise blew across Eve’s face.

My heart pattered in my chest. I had wanted to tell her about this, about my past, for a while now. But I just had never been able to work up the courage.

“So I grew up surrounded by fields and crops and stuff until…” I trailed off and had to force the next few words out of my mouth. “Until my family sold me.”

Even though Eve already knew that part, it was still difficult to say the words. I hated talking about my past. I didn’t want people to know how weak I had been. How many years I had spent at someone else’s mercy.

---