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"Then let’s get lance northward, along the shiely devoid of travelers, except for the s us They are barely more than motes on the horizon So there is no reason, I tell aze is boring holes intoed just inside the threshold of my tent while Ximena unpinsbraid While she works, Hector comes over and flips out his bedroll in front ofit down into the sand so that it doesn’t tip over I watch him carefully, fascinated by the way heand sure
When he pulls off his overshirt, my heart speeds up His bare shoulders flex as he reaches beneath one arainst the sudden moisture in my mouth as he lifts his breastplate over his head and sets it on top of his pack His back is broad and taut with muscle, his waist trih our camp is dimly lit, I see his scars, several of theed, running diagonally across his lower back I have an overwhelertips to my own mark, just left of the Godstone Both of us, scarred I wonder how he got his? I want to know about itI want him to share that part of hirip ardsto be queen,ht It would be a sht hollows outoes off to attend her fake queen
Ignoring Hector, I crawl into my tent and lie down onti to him breathe
Minutes later, or maybe an hour, I raise my head and whisper, "Hector?"
"Yes?" he whispers back
His face is so near Just the space of a breath away I s hard "My sister Alodia She has" Oh, God, it’s so hard to say, but I can’t bear to pretend away such a huge thing I inhale through ain "My sister has e agree pause Then, "Well, that would explain why she opened correspondence with me"
"Oh!" Pain, sharp and hard, squeezesto ent Beautiful But"
"And will youthat is, are you considering" I can’t finish I’ breath Then he says, "I will do whateverovertakesers find his wrist It shifts, and suddenly er ones Sos tears to ue to tell hily, "I told Alodia that you are the best ives my hand a squeeze "Thank you," he whispers
I fall asleep like that, ers woven with Hector’s Belén does not visit me Or if he does, he chooses not to intrude
Two days later, the desert cedes to rolling coastal hills The sand still stretches east as far as the eye can see, but the hills along the coast s, the dom As we climb, the land beside the road turns frorass and the occasional scrub tree
A day after that, we reach Puerto Verde We crest a hill and there it is, laid out before us, a deep crescent bay the color of turquoise, carved into cliffs that protect the port fro at twenty There are evenvessels predoes
A s the cliffs, spills into the water on stilted buildings and docks It seeers well into the bay It’s such a boisterous place, and from this distance, it takes a few le and yell Sailors load and unload ships Clerks catalog piles of ite, loud It’s so different from the easy rhythm of Brisadulce
My people, I think I rule this city as surely as any other, and yet this will be s down the cliffs, and we hug the walls tight as we travel I’ve never been afraid of heights, but I still can’t bring e to the bay far below I gaze out the oppositeinstead, and I catch gli out over our heads, of elaborate pulleys and winches used to haul cargo up the cliff face
By the tione out that the queen’s carriage approaches, and the city goes still with reverent silence We made no secret of our journey Wasn’t that the whole point of this excursion? To be openly courted by Conde Tristán? To explore a redo unwanted questions? But my teeth clench and my neck and shoulders ache with strain Everyone stares as we pass
We reach an inn called the Sailor’s Knot A sreet us--the inn staff, no doubt I see ss hastily embroidered with my royal crest Our official itinerary declares a two-day recess here
But our official itinerary, like my decoy queen, is lad The place looks creaky, with a porch made of poorly joined driftwood and sandstone walls that drip randoe with self-reproach, for the faces in the crowd deflate, then gaze after us with confusion and disappointment
A block farther, we turn a corner and arrive at our actual destination, the King’s Inn Conde Tristán chose it specifically because its high third-story provides a good view of the surrounding buildings, and because its location one block from the main street makes the entrances less visible
Our caravan noses into an alley that leads to a wide, dark stable Hector and I juhtfall--and uard moves quickly to establish a perimeter at our rear while Tristán’sWhen decoy Elisa steps frooes up, from the few stubborn souls have followed us here "Queen Elisa!" a voice calls "Your Majesty!" yells another Souard for a better view, but my men hold firm
Decoy Elisa doesn’t react, except to clutch her veil close to her throat Led by Belén and Alentín, h the stables and into the back entrance of the inn
I sling rab a trunk froe, just like a realabout leaving ed "I’ll make it up to you," I whisper Sonarled man with a bald patch and a nervous s for hot baths and uely at hies a few thank yous When he finally leaves, she lies down for a nap, and I have my first bath in days
"I do love baths," I say with a luxuriant sigh
Mara laughs "I know Though truly, Elisa, you hardly need pa out here You seem perfectly happy to tramp about the desert in your nomad clothes, sweaty and dusty and sun darkened"
My smile dies on my face before fully formed "I would be, if I weren’t terrified for my life and the lives of those around rabs my hand and squeezes
Ximena approaches armed with a brush and several hairpins, but I put up a hand to ward her off "Can we leave htly plaited the last few days, and my head aches from it"
She frowns and puts the hairpins and brush aith obvious reluctance I stare at er brushes it Ximena has always been unperturbedly calm and stoic--I suppose she and Hector have that in coht surly
Awhile later, my hair has dried in waves down to my waist, and I am dressed in a clean linen tunic belted over soft leather pants when the rest of our group files quietly into uards will remain outside to watch the door, but everyone else squeezes inside and finds a spot on the rugs or the beds to sit
Hector is the last to arrive, and when he sees me, he freezes, then moves quickly to an empty space at the foot of decoy Elisa’s bed, where he plunks down and stretches out his long legs
Mara leans over and whispers in ly naive when it comes to matters of the heart, but you just stopped hi er the hem of my pants I whisper back, "I was about to tell ined it"
She rolls her eyes at me
Tristán moves to the center of the room to address everyone "We’re scheduled to be in town for two days," he says "I’ll er queen, Rosario’s grandmother, is also in residence here, on an estate in the hills, but reportedly in failing health and unable to offer us hospitality I’ll make an attempt to see her, for appearances’ sake Her Majesty Queen Elisa has unfortunately taken ill from a bad batch of oysters and will be unable to make any appointments"