Page 103 of Tarnished Crown

Not after everything.

“Indeed, I do.” I walked into the adjoining bathing room before Taisiya even returned, shutting the door behind me.

Maybe tomorrow I could be that person again. But not today.

The day bled into night with only the crackling fire in the hearth and the familiar scratching of Evander’s quill to break up the silence. Taisiya came in later than usual with our evening tea, as if she already knew it was going to be another long, sleepless night.

She kept darting worried glances at me that made me wonder if I looked as terrible as I felt. But fortunately, she said nothing about it as she went about tidying up the room before insisting on taking my pack with her to clean my dresses from the road.

Boris and I sank into the bed while I drank my tea, and it was only another few minutes before Evander exchanged his letters and quill for the plush pillows and blankets next to us.

He had a fresh bandage, courtesy of the castle medic, a single white swath around his muscled torso. I looked away, and he let out a slow breath, climbing into his side of the bed.

Twice, I heard a sharp intake of breath like he was about to speak.

And twice, he decided against it.

Just as I was about to open my mouth and prod him into talking, I heard the unexpected, rhythmic sound of his breathing. Sure enough, his chest was rising and falling deeply.

Had he ever fallen asleep before me? The weight of everything had to be wearing on him.

I was settling in to try to get some sleep as well when the creaking of the balcony door made me freeze. A shadowy form materialized in the space, and I reached slowly for my dagger, sure that Ava had come to finish what she started with the Unclanned.

But it wasn’t her.

Taisiya gently opened the door and stepped into the firelight, one hand on her lips and the other outstretched as if to show she was unarmed.

I clutched my dagger anyway. My eyes darted back and forth between her and Evander, and I debated on whether or not to wake him before hearing her out.

The panic in her gaze gave me pause, though.

She crept closer, until she was near enough to whisper. Or at least I thought she was, but the words I heard couldn’t possibly have been the ones she meant to utter.

They couldn't possibly be true.

“Your father has come for you.”

CHAPTER67

Emotions flew through my head too quickly for me to interpret or hold onto. My mind was a maelstrom, my heart even more so.

“We need to hurry,” Taisiya added as she looked at Evander. “Your pack is ready to go.”

She held out one of my dresses and a cloak, motioning for me to leave the bed. I shook my head, numb with disbelief and she sighed.

“Your father said to tell you,whirlwind.”

My lips parted. We had always known, growing up, that we might be targets, so my parents had given us each a unique word, one that meant whoever came for us was sent by them.

No one knew outside my family, but that was mine.

I wasn’t sure why I was so surprised. Hadn’t I always known my father would come for me? If he was here already, he had moved literal mountains to do it, or at least a hell of a lot of rubble.

If he’s here.

Taisiya motioned again for me to follow. I took a look at Evander’s sleeping form. Should I wake him? What would he do if I did? Theo wasn’t married yet. Would he even want me to leave?

Then again, hadn’t Evander said he wanted me gone as soon as I could reasonably go?