Page 81 of The Barbarian King's Assassin (Magic and Kings 1)
He drew closer. His mouth right there, the moment fraught with intimacy and potential. If I kissed him…everything changed.
I couldn’t handle it. “I really should bathe.” I fled his embrace before he could see the confusion and longing.
In the bathing chamber, I showered off the sweat of my ordeals, wondering how Konstantin could even stand to be close to me. To practically say he loved me. Surely, he lied? He wouldn’t start a war just to be with me.
Scrubbing hard agitated the bruises already a fading yellow on my body. I healed better than most but trusted a lot less.
While it would be easy in the moment to get swept up in the romance being offered by the Barbarian, realistically, I knew it would go nowhere. At best, we’d part amicably. At worse, I’d kill him to soothe a broken heart.
Better to not get involved at all. Jrijori was right. I should have stuck to killing him. It would have been fraught with less annoyance.
When I emerged, wearing the biggest, plushest robe, which dragged on the floor, it was to see Konstantin lying on the bed, wearing only his breeches.
I swear he did it on purpose to tempt me. I turned my gaze away and frowned. “Is that my sword hanging off that chair?” A sheath hung and poking from it was a familiar hilt. “I thought I lost it to the river.”
“It found its way back to you.” A strange way of putting it.
I wandered to it and stroked a finger over the pommel. I’d have sworn it hummed happily.
“Given I’m recovered, what’s the plan today?” I noticed a pile of clothes on the chest at the foot of the bed. I pounced on the garments.
“If you feel ready, we’ll be travelling.”
“Where and why?” I asked as I headed to the corner with its partition for dressing.
“Away from here.”
“You’ll be an easier target on the road,” I remarked as I began pulling on the garments. There were buttery soft leather pants that fit me well, a linen shirt just my size, and a jacket to go over it, cinched at the waist but flaring.
“An easy mark only if we’re found. I don’t plan to be predictable in my route.”
“Where is the end goal?”
“The Frothy Falls Temple, assuming you haven’t changed your mind.”
“About?”
He arched a brow. “Am I cancelling the wedding and bringing you back to my home?”
“You can’t.”
“Why not? There seems to strong opposition to my wedding with the zariina. I hear the bounty has tripled.”
“You’ve been talking to Jrijori.”
“I have. He also told me that cancelling the alliance might not work to stop the attempts to kill me. He believes there are factions that might want to remove me permanently.”
“He’s probably right. You’re not the king anyone expected.”
His teeth flashed as he smiled. “I know. And the fact they’re desperate to rid the world of me only increases my desire to spite them.”
“Meaning you have to go through with your plan.”
He shrugged. “Might as well since you’re being stubborn.”
Rather than reply to that, I focused on our upcoming trip. “Changing your usual path north to the falls should help us not have to fend off assassination attacks the entire way. For added protection, we should travel incognito as much as possible. Bypassing towns when feasible.”
“That would mean sleeping outdoors in rough conditions.”