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“Fine, let’s go back to the palace,” Gem grumped, following me out of the forest and toward the road to the main gate of the city.

“Maybe we can go swimming tomorrow?” I took pity on her. “That way, I’ll have a whole day to prepare myself mentally. You know I’m not very good at being spontaneous.”

“Don’t I know it,” she scoffed, casting her eyes upwards.

We approached a place where the city wall came almost flush with that of the palace grounds. A group of workers were repairing the part where the mortar had crumbled and the massive rocks had fallen out.

“Just look at that asshole.” Gem pointed with her riding crop at the man who was sitting on the ground by the wall, smoking a cigarette.

Realizing we’d spotted him, he jumped to his feet, tossed away the cigarette, then pretended to help two other men to haul a rock up the wall for the masons to mortar it into place.

“Who is that?”

“The slave owner’s helper.” Gem tsked disapprovingly, shaking her head. “He’s the only man in that group who is being paid actual wages, but he’s been slacking behind the owner’s back all along.”

“Are the slaves not done yet?”

“They’re almost done. Leaving by the end of the next week. Just fixing a few things here and there before our contract with their owner runs out.”

The helper and the two other men rolled another huge rock onto the shoulders of a man who’d crouched down. As he straightened, lifting the rock all by himself, thoughts of Salas rushed me again. The man with the rock was of similar height and brawn. He had the same brown shaggy hair, too... and a full beard, just like Salas.

As he rolled the rock onto the wall for the bricklayers, then turned around, all doubts left me. It was Salas.

I gripped my horse’s reins tighter.

“What the hell ishestill doing here?”

While I’d been daydreaming about Salas living in a quaint cottage and making friends with cute forest animals, he’d been here all along. He’d never left. The only thing that changed was that he was now hauling rocks instead of bricks.

“Mother assured me his debt was paid in full over a week ago.” I twisted at the waist to face Gem. “Did she lie?”

“Lying is below Queen Anna. The debt has been paid. But you know how it is with some men. They find a way to get in debt again. Once a slave, always a slave, they say.”

My shock was replaced by anger. I dug my heels into Revlis’s sides and flicked the reins to urge the mare to movefaster. Startled by the command she rarely received, the horse eventually sped up a little, but it wasn’t fast enough for me.

A short distance from the wall, I slid off from the saddle and proceeded on foot. My anger rose with every step.

He should’ve been free.

I gave him that chance.

Why did he waste it?

“What the fuck are you still doing here?” I yelled, stomping through the tall grass toward Salas.

He wiped sweat off his forehead with his arm and watched me approach, raking his eyes up and down my frame. His long-sleeved shirt was soaked with sweat. His hair and beard were overgrown and disheveled. He panted in the heat after delivering a boulder that should’ve taken at least three people to lift.

His beard moved as I came closer. The bastard was smiling, obviously finding my anger amusing.

“Why are you here?” I demanded, out of breath.

“Where else can I be, Princess?” His deep familiar voice trapped me, extinguishing my anger.

No one called me “princess” to my face but Salas. The way he used that word sounded intimate, like a nickname shared only between him and me. It disarmed me.

I stared at him, drinking in every familiar feature, and fought the strong urge to hug him with all his sweat, grime, and the stone dust.

“Why are you here?” I asked with far less fire than before.