Page 62 of Keeper of the Word

Tara would come undone if she knew I did this.

“’Twill be but a few hours. I shall be back in the Delara by early afternoon.”

“M’lady, nay.” Joss crossed her arms.

Elanna took a step. “Please, Joss. ’Tis only for a short time. And you and Barrett shall be there to protect me.” A slight jab of concern tugged at her, remembering the other times she’d left without permission.

“I loathe you,” Joss spewed at Hux.

“Please,” Elanna repeated.

Joss’s expression turned to defeat; the knight-captain pursed her lips in indecision. Elanna knew Joss had conceded when she exchanged a glance with Barrett.

“I am most grateful, Joss!”

They stepped through the gate, the guards paying no attention to them.

“How will we gain entrance again?” Elanna asked, nervously glancing back at the closed gate as they made their way down the stretch of cobblestone road.

“Through the front gate, of course,” Hux said. “They would never bar a StarSeer from entering the castle.”

“That’s your plan?” Joss shouted, while she cursed herself for going along with it. She halted and grabbed Elanna’s arm, directing her back to the gate.

“Shhh,” Hux shushed, blocking Joss’s path. “Are you daft? We cannot go back that way. King Rian will be alerted at once.”

“How is he not to be alerted when we walk through the front gate?” Joss said.

“Aye,” Elanna agreed. She checked her cap before instinctively skimming her neck with her fingers. The bruising on her neck hadlong since vanished, but if she let her mind trail, the sensation of tenderness was very much there. Phantom fingers lingered.

“Trust me. My plan is as strong as starstone. For now, let us focus on enjoying a wonderful day.”

“Stars,” Barrett said next to them. “Lord Tolvar will have us hanged.”

“Only if something goes wrong.” Hux’s eyes twinkled.

At first, Elanna could not help but feel on edge. What was she doing? Leaving the safety of Castle Sidra? And all so she could have a few hours’ reprieve? This behavior was not in her character. A few times, she paused as if to turn back. But each time, Hux’s dark eyes coaxed her toward the borough square.

Joss and Barrett did not help. Joss brought a hidden dagger out of her boot and carried it as if in warning to the very meaning of menace itself.

By and by, Elanna, Joss, and Barrett began to relax. Asalle’s enormity enticed an outsider to swivel her head to and fro; the smells and sounds made the simple act of striding down the road an adventure.

When they arrived in Asalle, Elanna’s preoccupation had been so squarely on Prince Dashiell and the required task at hand, she’d barely made note of the capital. But now. Stars. Ashwin was a mere village comparatively. And while Ashwin was a city of peace and quiet, Asalle was alive. Chatter. Laughter. Hundreds of bodies moving together, yet in so many directions. ’Twas as if Asalle’s citizens were in a dance. Where one minstrel or band’s song ended, on the next block, another song could be heard. Handcarts and carriages ambled along, carrying a parade of shiny, scented, or colorful wares.

And she couldfeelthe guarding Light of the city within her.

There can be no doubt this is the Heart of an empire.

When they came to the west borough’s square, ’twas as if all the movement and sound and smells collected here like a pool at the bottom of a waterfall.

Elanna was all senses.

And the most wondrous part was she hadn’t received a singleflash of fortune from the stars. ’Twas true what Hux had promised. Today, she was simply Elanna.

Barrett and Joss took the lead, and she and Hux followed them around the stands and stages all morning. Barrett had been given an allowance of coin from Tolvar, and soon, he’d convinced Joss to spend a bit.

“We are already here. We may as well allow her to make the most of it.”

At first, Joss only shot angry stares at Hux, and sometimes at Barrett, but when she spied a dried dew fruit stand, she finally relented.