Page 29 of The Warrior Priest (After the Rift #1)

I watched as he applied it. The creamy mixture tingled a little but was blessedly cool against my burning skin. “Does Mistress Blundle make it?”

“She does, but don’t tell anyone or she’ll get into trouble.”

“Why would she get into trouble? Women can be apothecaries.”

“But not give medical advice. She’s better than most doctors in this city.” He wiped his finger on the cloth and set the pot on the table. “How did you know the salve came from her?”

“I smell herbs whenever I pass her door. I’m surprised the authorities haven’t realized yet. The smell isn’t subtle.”

He picked up the bandage and indicated I should sit forward.

He leaned closer to reach behind me and begin wrapping the bandage around my middle, but suddenly sat back.

“You can do this on your own.” He dropped the bandage on my lap then retreated to the window.

He perched on the ledge and looked out over the city.

It would have been easier if he helped me, but I understood why he couldn’t. I managed on my own. “How did you know I was in trouble?”

He scratched his beard. “I didn’t. I was coming to see you to apologize. I couldn’t sleep last night after we talked. I didn’t want to leave things that way between us. I felt…” He crossed his arms and shook his head at the sky. “I always take that street to the Cat and Mouse.”

“So do I.” I lowered my bloodied, tattered shirt over the bandage. “You can turn around now.”

He hesitated a moment before looking at me. “How did the governor know you were staying at the Cat?”

“I don’t think he did.”

“He must have, otherwise why know to position his guards there and lie in wait for you?”

“They followed me.” At his arched brows, I steeled myself for the lecture I knew he’d give after learning the truth.

“I snuck into his office this morning with the cleaners to look for my pendant. I presume I was spotted and his men followed me. They saved their encounter for the quietest street where they were least likely to be disturbed.”

His lecture never came, but his frown deepened. “Four men followed you without your knowledge?” He shook his head. “Unlikely. What about Giselle?”

“You think she told him?”

“No, but she may have been followed if the governor knew you worked for her.”

“He doesn’t know. Nor does anyone else.”

“Where is the ill friend she’s been calling on?”

“I don’t know,” I muttered, my thoughts heading in a different direction. “I took a book from his office. It’s one I’ve seen before, and I think it might be important.”

“Important how?”

“I’m not sure. I wanted to read it but dropped it during the fight.” I stood and was pleased that my side didn’t hurt. That salve was a marvel. “I have to retrieve it.”

He stood, too. “You’re not going back to the Cat and Mouse, Jac. It’s not safe. I’ll get the book and bring it to you.”

“I don’t think I should stay here.”

“I won’t come in. I’ll leave the book at the door and knock once.”

“It’s not that. I can’t hide forever, Rhys.”

“I understand, but just for now, while you heal.”

“Very well. But you can visit me. We can talk.”

He gathered the bowl of water, cloths and pot of salve. “I think it’s best if I don’t. I’ve said what I wanted to say, and that’s the end of it.” He didn’t look at me as he spoke, but at a spot beyond my right shoulder.

“So…we can’t be friends again?”

He paused, one hand on the door handle. “We will be. One day.” He opened the door.

“Wait.” I cleared my throat. “I have questions.”

He closed the door but remained standing in front of it. He still didn’t look directly at me. “I’ll try to answer them, but there are some things that are best left unanswered.”

“They’re not personal questions.”

Some of the tension left his shoulders. “Oh. Right.”

“Not everything is about you, Rhys.”

His gaze narrowed, but at least it finally fell on me. A faint smile touched his lips.

“The city is calmer since I left,” I said. “Did my uncle have anything to do with that?”

“Only in that he lost some of his power. Funds were removed from his office and funneled into civil projects instead. Those projects employ a great many people. People with wages tend to have less need to steal basic necessities.”

“Did you have anything to do with his corruption being exposed?”

“I thought your questions weren’t about me.”

“Sometimes they’re about you. I heard Merdu’s Guards have rounded up the worst offenders and gang members, something the constables couldn’t do. I presume that was done on your order.”

He shifted his weight. “I was…wandering about the city,” he said carefully. “Removing the gangs was an unintended consequence of my…wanderings.”

Once Rhys realized my uncle hadn’t captured me, he must have searched for me in the dens of known gangs, thinking I’d been taken as some sort of slave.

Rhys may have merely threatened my uncle, but I suspected he acted on his threats to get the gang members to talk.

Knowing my absence had driven Rhys to such lengths sickened me.

Giselle may have explained the reason for not giving him my note, but I couldn’t forgive her yet.

Rhys shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “The city should be safer for you to move back, but you need to keep away from your uncle. Even if he is removed from office over his corruption, he is still a threat to you.”

“I know he was aggressive today, but he won’t kill me while he thinks I can unlock the power he believes the pendant holds.”

“And when he realizes you can’t? He won’t simply release you, Jac.”

“I would have escaped by then.”

“He found you once. He could find you again. All he has to do is find Giselle and follow her until she leads him to you, if you continue working for her.”

“I don’t think he followed her this time. For one thing, he would need to see her to follow her. When and where did he do that? Secondly, he sent Giselle a letter some time ago, wanting to hire her to find me. That proves he doesn’t know I work for her.”

“It proves he didn’t know then .”

I sighed heavily. “Rhys, Giselle isn’t working for him. She could have tricked me numerous times and handed me over to him. She hasn’t.”

He turned to go. With a hand on the door handle, he paused, and presented me with his profile.

He still couldn’t look directly at me. “There’s one more thing.

You heard the governor threaten to ruin my reputation today, but that’s not a new threat.

He has been saying that ever since I…made inquiries while looking for you. ”

“If you want me to speak to the priests in your order and assure them we’re just friends, I’ll do it.”

“It’s more than you and me. He has been paying women to say they’ve been with me. Several have already come forward. He’s using them to undermine my authority and have the brothers question my dedication. He’s trying to destabilize the order to diminish our power.”

“It won’t work. The brothers chose you as their leader. They know how dedicated you are to Merdu’s Guards. Anyone who knows you can see it.”

“I’m dedicated to the order. Not so dedicated to all its rules.” His fingers drummed on the door handle. “The problem is, I can deny some of the women’s claims, but not all. I have been with…a few.” He cleared his throat. “Before.”

The reminder that he’d taken lovers while in the order always pinched my heart. He’d been happy to break his vows for them. Apparently, he wasn’t tempted enough by me.

“Jac?”

I looked up and saw that he was watching me with a frown.

“You understand it was some time ago, don’t you?”

I nodded. Smiled. Pretended it didn’t matter. “Of course.”

He studied the door handle before opening the door and leaving.

It wasn’t until later that I wished I’d asked him if my uncle’s efforts to destabilize the order were working.

I waited until nightfall to return to the Cat and Mouse to collect my things and see Giselle.

I took the longer way, staying on the busier roads as much as possible.

I found her surrounded by a group of men listening intently as she told them a story about the time she tricked the sheriff of a small Vytill village into releasing her from prison after she’d been arrested for public drunkenness.

She told the story with such enthusiasm that she seemed to light up from within.

When she finished, they laughed and clapped her on the shoulder. Some offered to buy her a drink. She saw me and shooed them off. “I want to speak to my friend alone.”

One man winked at me as he turned away. “Lucky you.” His heated gaze swept my length. “And her.”

I rolled my eyes and sat beside Giselle. “You’re in a good mood. Is your friend better?”

The light in her eyes fizzled out. “No, but I’ve come to terms with her death.

Instead of mourning her passing, I’m going to celebrate and honor her life.

Join me for a drink, Jac.” She took one of the tankards a man had set before her and handed it to me.

She picked up another. “Where have you been?”

“My uncle tried to abduct me.”

She lowered the tankard to the table with a thud. “You escaped, I see.” She blew out a measured breath. “Well done, Jac.”

“Rhys came at the right moment. I wouldn’t have escaped without his help.”

“Where did it happen?”

“Near here. Rhys was coming to speak to me. His timing was fortunate.”

“How did the governor know you were here?”

“His men must have followed me from his office. I was there early this morning in disguise, but his guards must have seen through it.”

She frowned and shook her head. “You would have noticed someone follow you.”

“I don’t have eyes in the back of my head, Giselle.”

She sipped her ale, still frowning. When she finished, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “He probably knows you’re staying here if the attempted abduction happened nearby. We need to move. Tonight.”

“ I’ll move. There’s no need for you to leave. Your network is here.” I nodded at the publican, a man Giselle trusted to feed information and clients to her.