Page 105 of Tarnished Crown

“Evander, I was going to come back to tell--”

“It doesn’t matter.” He cut me off.

There was just enough moonlight to see that his features were carved into neutrality, and a sword was in his hands. My father moved me sideways in a single, lightning-fast motion, already going for his own belted sword.

“No.” It took all I had not to yell the word and draw attention to us.

I lunged for my father’s arm, and he looked back at me in surprise.

“Rowan?” He glanced down at me from the corner of his eyes.

“Don’t.” My tone was pleading, but firm. “He kept me safe.”

Da’s expression twisted into a deeper fury than I had ever before witnessed.

“He kept ye in his bed.” He bit out each word, and something between shame and defiance rose up in me.

“Not...like that.” I stepped in front of him, putting my hands on his chest. “Just, give me one minute, please, Da’.”

My father still looked murderous, but he gave a single dip of his chin.

I turned toward Evander, and for the first time, I realized that even though I was desperate to see my family again, I wasn’t sure I wanted to go home.

To leave him.

He stood half in the shadow of the stables, half under the moonlight. There was just enough of the silvery glow on his features for me to make out the circles under his eyes, and the way his hair was still tousled from the little sleep he had managed to eke out.

He was wearing his tartan pajama bottoms with no shoes and a simple tunic that he must have thrown on in a hurry.

Had he run from the room? Had he been worried?

I swallowed hard, taking several more steps toward him. I hadn’t expected to have to make this decision so soon, or that there would ever really be a decision to make. Perhaps there wasn’t, for that matter.

Evander’s stoic expression wavered, like he was watching the thoughts play out in my head.

“This is for the best, Rowan,” he said softly. “We both knew this was only temporary.”

My heart seized in my chest.

Did we?Technically speaking, I supposed he was right, but it still chipped away at something inside me, hearing the words from his lips.

That, more than anything, gave me the strength I needed to nod, to turn around. As I walked back toward my father, a feeling came over me, a weight so heavy I could barely breathe through it.

It struck me that I hadn’t spent more than a few moments away from Evander in weeks. That I had seen him daily, slept at his side, fought at his side, seen his scars and let him see mine.

He had saved me, but more than that, he hadseenme, when few people did.

I spun back around to say something, though I wasn’t sure what, but he was already walking away, leaving me feeling curiously empty in his wake.

Leaving me. Period.

Letting me go.

CHAPTER69

My father ushered me to an area outside the estate grounds where three horses were waiting, along with my Uncle Oli.

He, too, crushed me into a hug.