Page 13 of Tarnished Crown
“Because I have a—”Do not say weather toe. Do not say weather toe.“An interest in weather. I’ve studied it extensively.”
“I see. And how soon is soon?” It was impossible to tell if he was mocking me, but I answered anyway.
I studied the horizon ostensibly. “Two hours, at the most.”
Evander’s expression didn’t flicker, and I knew I was going to have to do better than that. When he opened his mouth to speak, I prepared myself for his inevitable condescension.
But he didn’t address me at all.
Instead, he spoke in a voice loud enough to carry, his amused gaze never leaving mine. “Kirill, where is the nearest inn?”
“Korov, my lord.”
“Excellent. We’ll stop there for the night.”
Sounds of protest came from a larger portion of the men than I would have preferred.If he changes his mind…
“My lord,” one of them complained. “Are you truly going to take the word of a woman—”
“Come now, men,” Evander said. There was the condescension I had been waiting for. “The princess clearly has…feminine needs to attend to that she’s too shy to say aloud.”
A few uncomfortable laughs sprang up in place of the protests. Heat flooded from my neck to my cheeks, but I didn’t argue. I couldn’t, when it was getting us where we needed to be.
Evander eyed my pink skin with some curiosity before he finally looked away, spurring his horse forward and encouraging mine to follow.
Had he said that to humiliate me? Had it been to save face?
It hardly mattered if we were off the roads when we needed to be.At least, that’s what I told myself to avoid punching him in his smug face.
CHAPTER11
Even with my warning, we didn’t reach the inn before we were accosted by freezing rain and ground-quaking thunder. The small droplets pouring down from the sky grew bigger and bigger until the icy rain turned into small hailstones, battering down on the horses and us.
I pulled my hood lower over my head, bracing myself for the tiny stinging bastards. The poor horses whinnied, but they didn’t slow down until we reached shelter at the stables.
A man ushered us into the barn, cursing under his breath as pieces of hail struck him. Taras took charge of his guards, helping the man sort out the two dozen animals into stalls, while the rest of us rushed back outside and headed to the inn next door.
We were drenched by the time we walked through the main doors.
Taras and the other men followed minutes later. They had barely closed the door behind them when a deafening roar reached our ears, like horses were galloping across the roof.
Glass shattered, and I skittered back as an icy sphere the size of my fist sailed in from the broken window, followed by another and another. Evander darted a glance at the hailstones before looking back at me. He cocked his head to the side, not unlike a bird of prey might search for its next meal.
“Oh look,” I said flatly, raising my eyebrows. “The weight of my feminine needs has broken the window.”
In spite of my mocking, I couldn’t suppress a sigh of relief that we were sheltered from the worst of this storm. Especially when a couple of villagers stumbled in, one right after the other, sporting wounds from the tremendous hailstones.
The storm thundered down on the buildings and road until everything outside the broken window was covered in a blanket of white stones. Several more broken windows and injured villagers later, and there was finally a small break. Though the pressure in my spine told me we were in for at least one more surge like this before the night was over.
Awareness settled over me, and I spun to find Evander peering at me with suspicion.
“An interest in the weather?” he deadpanned.
“Yes,” I said, before clarifying. “I mean, in addition to my urgent feminine needs, of course.”
“Of course.” His brow was furrowed. “Perhaps you’ll make a useful pet after all.”
“One can dream,” I bit back sarcastically.