Page 14 of The Warrior Priest (After the Rift #1)

Brother Milo swallowed. “Your Eminence, Master Tomaj wants to know if he can send some brothers with the governor’s men tomorrow to keep them in check. He thinks our presence will stop them using violence to get their answers.”

The high priest hesitated then nodded. “Tell Master Tomaj that Brother Rhys and his closest friends in the order should be among the number. They know that area well and will be a calming influence.” The high priest dismissed him.

Once Brother Milo was gone, the high priest turned. He seemed surprised to see me. He must have thought I was out of earshot. “You’re still here, Jac.”

“I didn’t want to interrupt.” I indicated the main entrance through which Brother Milo had just left. To get to it, I would have had to pass them.

“There’s a side door.” The high priest pointed to it. “Next time, use that.”

“I doubt there’ll be a next time, Your Eminence.” That sounded somewhat rude, so I bumbled through an explanation. “You said your questions have been answered.”

“So I did. Brother Rhys was right. Your memory is faultless. Good day, lad.”

“Good day, Your Eminence.”

I exited through the unmanned side door. It seemed the guards on the main entrance weren’t really guards after all, just staff to welcome guests.

Although I was tempted to go past the temple of Merdu’s Guards, I avoided it. I wasn’t sure what to say to Rhys.

Later that day, I changed my mind. The sooner we moved past the first awkward encounter after that kiss the better. It had to be done if our friendship was to continue.

I wasn’t at all surprised to see the candle burning in the window of Rhys’s secret room. We always thought alike. Just as I suspected, our meeting was awkward.

“We need to talk,” he announced the moment I set foot in the room. “Last night shouldn’t have happened. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“But you just said you did want to talk. Is there something else on your mind?”

“Right. I mean no, there isn’t.” He started to pace the room, arms crossed over his chest. “I meant we can’t do that again. Not if we want to stay friends.” He suddenly stopped. His gaze locked with mine. “I really want to stay friends, Jac.”

“So do I.”

“Good. Then we’re in agreement. It can’t happen again, and we won’t discuss it anymore.”

I should have agreed, but I wasn’t ready to dismiss our kiss so easily and with such finality. “And if we can’t go back to the way we were?”

He stared at me, mouth ajar, as if he couldn’t believe I hadn’t agreed in a heartbeat. “We have to.” He dragged his hand through his hair. “We have to, Jac. Your friendship means…a lot to me.”

It took all my willpower not to throw my arms around him and tell him all would be well.

I may not be able to touch him ever again for fear of succumbing to my baser instincts, but I could try to reassure him with words.

“Your friendship means a lot to me too, Rhys. I agree. Last night won’t happen again. ”

He blew out a breath and sat. His body may have finally been still, but his fingers continued to drum on his thigh.

He hadn’t lit the fire, which probably meant he didn’t intend to stay long.

Sitting down would imply he’d changed his mind.

“The governor sent his men into the slums to hunt down his deputy’s killer. ”

“I know. I went to the high temple to hand in my report about Giselle, and a warrior priest arrived.”

“Brother Milo,” he said, nodding.

I crouched by the fireplace but was unsure whether to start a fire or not. How long would he stay? How long would I? Studying him was no help. All it did was fray my nerves even more as his fingers continued to beat an erratic rhythm on his thigh.

“I only told the high priest that Giselle is here in Tilting and that you saw her but haven’t…had a liaison. Does he know she’s an assassin and that she killed the deputy governor?”

“No, and nor will he. He doesn’t condone violence. If he knew what she was, he’d probably hand her over to the sheriff. Thanks for keeping her secret, Jac. She owes you.”

“Don’t tell her,” I said quickly.

He lifted his hands in surrender. “I have no intention of seeing her.” It was as if he felt compelled to reassure me, much as a husband would reassure his wife.

I shook off the notion and added kindling to the fireplace.

“Did the high priest say anything else?” he asked. “Anything about the order?”

“He said you’d make an excellent leader one day, now that you’re maturing.”

“Maturing?” He scoffed. “Last night would prove I’m not.”

I swung around to face him.

“I meant getting drunk, not the kiss,” he said.

“I thought we agreed not to mention it.”

His mouth kicked up with his wisp of a smile. “I should have let him see me like that, and Master Tomaj, too. Then they might change their mind and groom someone else to take over.”

“You still don’t want to do it, even though you’ve decided to stay in the order?”

He huffed a humorless laugh. “Maybe I don’t want to be called mature.”

“And I’m the one everybody calls a boy.”

He flashed a grin. “Are you making that fire or just piling up sticks?”

I used the flint on the mantelpiece to light the kindling then blew gently on the flame until the fire took hold.

“I overheard the high priest directing Brother Milo to tell Master Tomaj to send you, Vizah, Rufus and Andreas into the slum alongside the governor’s men tomorrow.

” When he didn’t respond, I looked over my shoulder at him. “Be careful, Rhys.”

“It’ll be fine,” he said, not taking his gaze off the fire. “They know us there.”

“It’s not the residents I’m worried about. The governor is frustrated, and his men are always spoiling for a fight. They’ll outnumber you.”

“They wouldn’t dare test Merdu’s Guards.”

He spoke with such confidence that I was immediately reassured. I placed a larger log on top of the kindling and watched it catch alight. I didn’t turn around until I heard Rhys move.

He sat forward. At first I thought it was merely the flames dancing in his eyes that gave him an air of mischief, then I realized he was fighting back a wicked smile. “What do you say to a little nocturnal mission with me?”

Knowing Rhys, it would be reckless and mad. If it were anyone else, I’d refuse on the spot without hearing it. But I could never say no to his schemes. Someone needed to join him to make sure he didn’t get into too much trouble. “Go on.”

“I have a plan that will thwart the governor and render it unnecessary to search the slums for his deputy’s killer.”

Anything that would keep Rhys out of a highly combustible situation was a good idea in my book. “All right, I’ll join you.”

“Good because you gave me the idea so it’s only fair that you’re involved.”

“What’s the plan?”

“Extinguish the fire and grab your cloak. You’ll need to cover your hair, so the moonlight doesn’t shine off it. Do you have your lockpicking tools on you?”

“Always.”

“And a cloth to cover your nose and mouth?”

I removed a cloth from my pocket that I sometimes wrapped around my neck for warmth. “Why this?”

“I suspect it will smell where we’re going.”

“You suspect? Rhys, where are we going?”

He grinned, flashing his dimples.

He was still grinning as we set off along the street. His step was light and quick as he strode ahead of me. When he realized I’d fallen behind, he turned and walked back, still smiling. “I’ll race you, Jac.”

“That’s not fair. My legs are shorter than yours.” Just in case he decided that wasn’t a compelling enough reason not to race, I added, “I don’t even know where we’re going.”

“Good points, but I know the real reason you won’t race me is because you’re slow.”

“I am not!”

“You run like a girl.”

“That’s not the insult you think it is.”

“Who says I intended it as an insult?” He chuckled and I couldn’t help laughing as I shook my head.

“You’re incorrigible, Rhys.” It felt good to be teasing him again, and to be teased by him.

But it wasn’t quite the same this time. It felt a little forced, like we were both desperate to regain the relationship we’d shared before the kiss. We were trying to return to the normality of the last three years, not to the shifting sands of today’s reality.

I had doubts that we could go back, no matter how hard we tried.

Too much had changed. It wasn’t just our relationship that had changed.

Rhys had, too. It seemed the people around him had also noticed it.

Had he suggested this mission in response to the high priest’s comments about him maturing?

Was Rhys trying to prove to me that he hadn’t changed?

Or was he trying to prove it to himself?