“Why a wizard? He did magic?”
“He cast me into Hell. Did this.” John gestured at his eyes.
Hmmm. She was not convinced. Surely the timing was impossible?
“He took away my heart.”
“What?”
“Never mind. You still think you’re in love with Xander?”
“Yes. I also know you and he were planning… nefarious deeds for after the wedding.”
His eyebrows twitched but he remained silent, if a little scarier with his stare.
“Xander let it slip.”
“Now, why would he do that?”
“It was after I found a note regarding the Gender Preference Law of Succession. That thing is hundreds of years old, very outdated, but I can see how you and he might think to use it to gain power.”
“He wrote that down? Gods.” John dragged his hand down one eye then over the side of his face to his mouth. He let his hand flop to his lap then sighed. “Figures.”
“It was in his coat and yes, I found it by accident. We spoke at length afterward, and he confessed he’d lost the appetite to use it. We discovered we were in love.”
John eyed her with skepticism.
“I can see you doubt it. It is love.” Her heart pitter-pattered.
“Is? Was? Yeahhh. He told me, he thought you were in love with him. He is a good talker. We did a lot of scams together. You see, not every noble is rich, or noble.”
Those words hung between them like a slaughtered carcass—bloody and raw.
He did not know how Xander felt, or her. She was fuming but must not show it. Emotions must be concealed.
“You realize you are trying to convince me not to feel anything for him, which logically leads to me being less willing to sacrifice myself for his rescue?”
John only twisted his mouth, as if he did not care, as if her thoughts did not matter.
She resisted picking up her riding gloves and smacking him. “He told me everything.”
“Unlikely, Princess.”
“Well!” She scrambled for something that would both sting and prove the depth of their intimacy to this infuriating man. “We discussed how he’d fantasized about the three of us in bed. We laughed about that.” She smiled and chuckled, then picked up the rest of her awful food and tossed it over the edge. Ruff twitched his fur—possibly there were ears in that ball of hair—and looked interested in the arc of the sandwich through the air.
John thought he was heartless? It was an assessment she was ready to agree with.
“Listen, Princess.” His hand arrived on her jaw, and he dragged her head around so she must face him.
Though she tried to pull away he dug fingers and thumb into her. How dare he! Her eyes surely flared with anger before she calmed herself.
“He wanted into your pants, like any man would. So did I, to be truthful.” His smile was grim. “Not my best idea. End of the story. Now, go wash. We have to get moving. I know this place well, came here a lot with my bro. Toss your clothes around that rock wall that blocks the pool from view. You get the new ones when you’re done. Soap is free. Understand?”
She breathed hard a few times, then decided she must say what she needed to say, succinctly and with determination, despite how his finger had drifted to below her mouth and how closely he seemed to be studying her face.
Then he said in a quieter, softer voice, “I can see why he—”
“I…” The unwanted build of heat through her body from where his hand lay had made her blurt that. She swallowed. “I would like to return to the palace. I will guarantee more help for you, and when you find the correct course to take, I will give you even more men, secretly, but I will manage it. I think we are done here.”
They did not even know if this was the correct direction, though sensibly, if anyone were aiming to escape Bitzocoin quickly, this was the closest border crossing.
His fingers tightened.
After an unending and very pregnant moment, with pain prickling through her jaw from where his fingers pressed, he burst out laughing.
She yanked her head backward to free herself. At the last second, he released her, and only by throwing out her hand behind her did she stop herself from toppling.
“No. Go and wash. Time is our enemy. They are a day ahead, at least.”
She fumed some more, rather too obviously, then rose and found her spare clothes, before stalking to the dirt-and-rock path that led down to the pool. She heard him rise and follow. If he dared poke his nose around the corner…
At his barked command, she dropped the fresh clothes for him to retrieve.
When she’d undressed and sneaked her hand filled with her dirty clothes around the slim outcrop behind which he waited, she remembered the alternate route upward. She turned on the spot to face the pool.
He’d refused her request, so she was entirely correct to do what must be done.
To the left was the drop into the waterfall chasm.
Water spilled in dribbles and a small spray down the lichen-covered, red-brown rock to the right, filling the shallow concavity with cold water. Her nipples had shrunk to aching points, and goosebumps had sprung up all over her breasts, arms, and the rest of her—she probably had them on her rear. Po hugged herself, then with soap in hand she waded into the middle. It was a foot deep at the most. On the far side was a crevice that led into the mountain side, and at the back of that was a way upward. If she dared. She would get scratched, likely. She might fall.
Her studies numbered among them, riding, archery, dancing, chess, clockmaking,
