Page 53 of Blackheart

Oathkeeper.

“What about Luna?” Was I an idiot to have thought he was in love with her? I’d even felt sorry for him when her eyes wandered.

“What about her?”

He said it as if she were insignificant. As if he’d already forgotten her.

“She was your lover!”

He forced a laugh, head tilted down and dimple peeping. “If she was my lover, then Zain was yours.”

He couldn’t be serious.

“You can try to make sense of things that are of little importance,” he said, sighing. “Or you can accept that you have a greater purpose.”

I took a calming breath, trying not to kill a second man in less than twelve hours. My anger only rose.

“Don’t you feel guilty?” I asked. “For being a Draker? For locking innocent people away and beating us if we misbehaved? Killing us? Does knowing you’re delivering me help you sleep?”

His eyes narrowed, jaw ticking.

“I fucked Luna because she liked to fuck. I became a Draker because I wanted to serve my kingdom. I worked in the Waywards because I swore an oath to my king to keep his sister safe, even if she’s an irritating, difficult, craven woman who thinks she will best me in the game of fucks to give. If you’re so bothered that I would accept a courtesan's advances, I suggest you stop asking questions, as I don’t think you’ll like the answers. My last oath to the king is delivering you and that deed to Castivian, and I intend on keeping it.”

I didn’t know what to say. I had never heard him speak so much.

He hopped down, splashing back into the water. “Our interests align. Don’t make an enemy of me, Elora.”

My frown tugged to the side. “That’s an interesting invitation for friendship, considering you do not care for my company.”

He glanced back at me. “Haven’t you made enough assumptions for one day?”

With his knife clean and hair wet, he left me speechless, wading back to his clothes and Kostini.

Traveling to Castivian with Riven might be the death of me long before any Sapphires or Drakers.

I swam back to the growing group of bathing women and gave myself a proper cleaning. I had worried I might regret killing a man, especially mid-fuck, but the smiles on thewomen’s faces made it impossible. Sitara twirled in the water, light beaming from her fingertips and trickling from her sun marking. The girls around her cheered, giggling as her Nature warmed the water despite the increasing snowfall.

Killing Zain was worth it.

Hopefully, leaving Drakington behind would be worth it, too.

Chapter 19

Take Me With You

“Saffron’s whereabouts remain unknown, though his men have been sighted both eastward and west. Their aim remains unclear, but it will not be peace.”

—Captain of the King’s Guard

Sitara claimedthe woodland village looked untouched, like it had been frozen in time all those years.

At least one good thing had happened since leaving the capital.

With the gold I had earned from capturing the orb, I planned to visit three shops Sitara recommended. None were exactly back up and running yet, but she insisted the owners would be thrilled to help me, and I’d rather give business to these women than anyone else.

The first stop was a tailor. A plump woman with dark skin and pale spots scattered along her body greeted me ecstatically, clearly expecting me. Pulling me into her shop, she placed me on a tree stump in front of a silver mirror.

I looked terrible.