Page 3 of Tarnished Crown
“Put this on,” he ordered. “We’re switching to horses now.”
“Why?” I shook the garment out to see it was a large, black cloak, trimmed in fur, just like the ones the men were wearing.
“Because I was desperate to hear you complain about something.” His tone was laced with exasperation.
A guard appeared at the opening of the carriage, holding out an arm for me to step down. He shot an exasperated look at Evander, then turned back to me with a calming expression.
“Just for safety, Your Highness. The carriage is slower and a bit too obvious.” His accent was thick and guttural. “So we will ride ahead with a group of ten or so, and the rest will stay behind with our things.”
Interesting that they cared about my safety when I was no more than a prisoner, but then, Evander had made many comments about using me for leverage at the Summit. I was of little use to him dead.
“We weren’t worried about that before?” I asked.
The guard exchanged another look with Evander before answering.
“We’ve spotted some suspicious activity,” he said shortly.
I debated asking more questions, but his firmly closed lips told me that was all he would say on the matter.
“Thank you…” I trailed off, waiting for him to fill in his name. It was hardly his fault he worked for an arseling.
“Kirill, Highness.” He had a kind face, deep blue eyes crinkled in earnestness and full lips that smiled easily, reminding me of Mila.
“Thank you, Kirill.” I nodded, taking his proffered arm.
Behind the carriage, some of the men were already moving things around from the pack horses to the luggage hold in the back. One of them was rifling through my trunk, pulling out things at random and stuffing them into a saddlebag.
I narrowed my eyes when he got to the lacy undergarments Mila had gifted me. His throat bobbed as he swallowed, pinching the thin chemise between his thumb and forefinger. The guard next to him laughed, startling him into dropping it on the ground.
The clumsy offender looked in horror between my flinty expression and the underthings currently strewn on the road for the entire halted company of guards to see. Finally, he moved forward to pick it up, but I’d had enough.
Gathering all the dignity I could muster, which was, to be frank, not very much, I marched the few feet to where the soldier was standing, bending to scoop the chemise up.
Chuckles rang out around me.
“Clearly, this is the closest any of you have been to what’s under a woman’s dress, but do try to control yourselves,” I huffed out, stuffing the garment into the new pack.
There was a stunned, tense silence, and I turned to find Evander standing with his arms crossed, a muscle ticking in his jaw.
I had less than a second to wonder if I would ever stop getting myself into trouble before Kirill’s laughter rang out, booming across the empty space.
“She’s got you there, Igor.”
A few of the men seemed to take that as their permission to laugh as well, though the others were still glaring at me. I released the breath I had been holding as the moment passed without incident.
Even if Evander did look like he wanted to murder me.
One of the men brought over a light brown horse, one of the smaller ones of the group—which wasn’t saying much, considering they were all massive—and the lord gestured for me to mount up.
I glanced between the horse and the horse’s arse...erm...Evander, before shaking my head. “I’m not riding with you.”
“Relax, Princess.” He sighed. “No one here has any desire to share a mount with your cursed hair.”
The tension in my shoulders eased a little. “You aren’t worried about me running away?”
“Surrounded by ten trained men in an unfamiliar terrain with no food, water, or supplies?” His expression turned contemplative. “On second thought, it does sound like something you would do. Kirill, tether our horses.”
Well, that’s what I got for opening my big mouth. Again.