Page 15 of Legacy of Thorns (Kingdoms of Legacy #3)

But after another moment of silence, she continued. “I’ve been traveling on my own since I was twenty. Never had much of a hankering for settling down, but didn’t much fancy tangling with the Legacy either, so I’ve stayed within Oakden’s borders. Reckon I’ve seen most of the kingdom by now.”

“Did you find it lonely?” Daphne asked.

She had traveled further than Nisha, but she had never been alone.

Nisha pondered the question, although her hands didn’t still. “At times. At other times I enjoyed the solitude. Then three years back, I encountered several men trying to cart off a couple of lads. Couldn’t let that stand.”

She retrieved plates from one of the packs and used them to set the table.

“Two lads?” Daphne asked.

Nisha chuckled. “Finley was just a lad back then himself, though he doesn’t like me to say so. He still is sometimes, though he’s past twenty now.”

“Oh, of course.” Daphne hid a smile, imagining Finley’s reaction if he was present. “So you rescued them. But why did you stay with them after that? It’s been so long.”

Nisha shrugged. “Seemed clear they’d get themselves straight back into trouble if I left, so I said I’d stay until they shook off those men. And here I still am.” She smiled slightly. “I guess I must like having company after all.”

“They’ve been chased for so long…” Daphne murmured as she carried food to the table. “They really don’t know why?”

“Not a clue.” Morrow joined them, his hair spiking in all directions.

“Though Finley’s been trying to find out.

I joined them six months after Nisha. I was on my own before that as well, but for my part, I never enjoyed it.

” He scratched his head. “You could say I have a bit of a tendency for getting into trouble when I’m on my own.

That’s what had happened back then. They found me in a spot of bother, and Finley talked my accusers down, pretty as you please. ”

Morrow shook his head. “No doubt he was gifted at birth, that one. Never encountered such a tongue in my life. He always gets us out of scrapes, no matter how tight they appear.” He shrugged.

“So I figured if I was going to get into scrapes one way or another, better to do it in the company of someone who can get me back out again.”

“It’s the smile as well,” Nisha said reflectively as she served the food. “It could charm the most cold-hearted curmudgeon. And frequently does.”

“Of course, Archer bids fair to do even better,” Morrow added with his rumbling laugh. “He can even charm us.”

“More’s the pity,” Nisha grumbled. “Or he would never have gone into that barn in the first place. Went against my judgment to agree.”

“That assumes you could have stopped me,” Archer said cheerfully from the doorway of the left bedroom, unabashed to find them discussing him.

“And you only agreed in the first place because you knew that if you didn’t, I would have snuck off and done it on my own.

” He swept Daphne a flourishing bow. “Good morning, fairest Daphne.”

Daphne sighed. Apparently the Legacy’s effect hadn’t worn off overnight. Her eyes slipped past him, looking for someone else despite herself.

She stood abruptly. What was she doing? She needed to get outside and clear her head.

“I’m going for a walk,” she announced. “And no, Archer, you’re not welcome,” she added before he could declare his intention to accompany her. “I’ll keep an eye out and let you know if I hear or see any sign of anyone.”

She slipped out, closing the door on their protests. Breathing deeply, she moved away from the cabin. She wouldn’t go far, but she needed a few minutes of space.

Once she was out of sight among the trees, she stopped. She had no intention of risking her safety by going further. Drawing a deep breath, she settled into the starting pose for her training dance. She craved the stability of her habitual morning activity.

As adventurous travelers, her parents had long ago learned how to protect themselves, and they had first taught her the training dance while they still lived in Oakden.

Once they returned to Glandore, and Daphne exhibited a propensity to fall asleep at odd moments, they had put even more emphasis on keeping her in peak form.

The familiar movements calmed her, providing an anchor to the life she had left behind. Some things had changed, but not everything.

Footsteps disturbed the peaceful solitude, but they were approaching from the direction of the cabin, so she didn’t break from the proper form to look behind her. “I told you not to follow me, Archie.”

But the voice that answered was deeper than Archie’s. “I thought I might find you doing this.”

She almost faltered, catching herself just in time to finish her lunge. Finley.

A half-dozen responses flashed through her head before she settled on silence. The prospect of an argument was too exhausting to contemplate, especially when she’d finally found a moment of peace. She would just ignore him.

Unfortunately, he proved frustratingly difficult to ignore. He didn’t speak again, but he positioned himself beside her as he’d done the morning before, timing his movements perfectly with the rhythm she had set for the traditional dance.

It was the place her parents used to occupy, and his presence at her side unleashed a flood of unwelcome emotions. Why did a stranger stand in their place? She should be with her own people, in her own home, not caught up in the troubles of strangers in a distant kingdom.

And yet it had been her own family who had ensured that she could never truly belong at their side. If her parents had only confined their travels to their own kingdom as Nisha had done?—

Daphne forced the thoughts down, ruthlessly squashing them. There was no use dwelling on the past or the decisions of others. She was seeking calm, not further turmoil.

She forced her mind to focus only on the trembling of her muscles and the soft sounds of the forest, reaching for her earlier feeling of peace.

Her breathing slowed again. As she breathed in and out, her breaths aligned with those of the man beside her, just as their movements aligned.

It brought a familiar sense of communion.

Together they breathed in the quiet beauty of the morning—a peace that was stronger for being shared.

But it was one thing to feel such companionship with her parents. Sharing it with the man beside her was utterly wrong. Finley was a liar, a thief, and a charming flirt. He had tricked her into a situation of untold danger.

Daphne knew Finley couldn’t be trusted. And yet the moment of connection reached deep inside her anyway, as if she was only now seeing his true self. As if it was the lying that was a mask and a facade.

Daphne stopped abruptly, cutting off the dance mid-movement, as Finley had done the morning before. Finley stopped as well, turning to face her, a question in his eyes.

Daphne held his gaze, emotions roiling within her. The earlier anger and resentment burst free, roaring into new life. Finley was a safer and more comfortable target than her parents. He had earned every bit of her ire.

He looked back at her, silent and clear-eyed. She had the sensation that he was waiting for her accusations—that he was braced for the wave of her fury and had no intention of defending himself. He already knew what he had done to her.

The words of righteous fury died on her tongue unspoken.

Daphne could no longer tell the true cause or target of her anger, and its mere existence drained her of energy.

She let it wash away in a receding wave that left her more exhausted than the training dance.

She turned on her heel, still not having spoken a word, and returned to the cabin.

Two minutes later, the cabin door opened, and Finley slipped quietly in after her. If he thought her behavior strange, he gave no indication of it. He gave no indication that they had met in the forest at all.