Her eyes glistened. “You were like something out of the pit.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“It was.”
Tamas could feel his heart still hammering inside his chest. He looked down, seeing blood on his hand.
“You cut yourself on that pike,” Erika said.
“Not as fast as I thought I was, I guess.”
Erika shook her head. “I’ve never seen anyone do anything like that.”
“Did she see your face?” he asked.
“I don’t think so.”
“Are you certain?”
Erika hesitated. “No.”
“All right. We’ll have to …” Tamas paused. “We’re being watched.”
“A fight like this would attract attention. We should go.”
Tamas looked around. He traced the various footprints in the snow, glancing at the alleyways. He had sensed something more than just mild interest. “We’ll get our horses. Looks like you’re coming with me out of the city after all.”
Erika took his wounded hand, lifting it to inspect the cut, then threading her fingers into his. “That’s what I was hoping for.”
Tamas lay on a wooded hilltop above his cottage near the King’s Forest. A dusting of snow covered his back and shoulders, and his elbows hurt from propping him up for half the night. He burned a heavy powder trance to fend off the cold and his need for sleep. Erika dozed lightly just beside him, wrapped in a greatcoat and furs.
It was less than twelve hours after their fight with Dienne, and there was no sign of pursuit. Yet. His vantage allowed him a view for three miles toward the highway to Adopest to the south and to the west along the edge of the King’s Forest. If anyone came looking for him at the cottage, he would see them long before they saw him.
And most importantly, his bullet would take them off their horse before the sound of his gunshot hit them.
Tamas shifted slightly and glanced at Erika. Her cheeks were red from the cold, her face peaceful. He swallowed a lump in his throat and resisted the urge to look at the bedroll-his bedroll-they’d shared all night.
His greatcoat seemed suddenly very warm.
He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. Whatever had happened between them was a onetime thing. He would have to disappear, perhaps leave Adro altogether. Erika would have to lie low for a few weeks until she could discover whether Dienne knew her name. Tamas would never be able to see or speak to her again.
Tamas resolved to tell her this upon her waking. As if his thoughts had been a summons to bring her out of sleep, she rolled over and stretched. “Good morning,” she said quietly, without opening her eyes.
He swallowed. “Sleep well?” he asked.
“Very.” The word was almost a purr.
Tamas blinked, trying to remember what he was about to tell her. Something important, he was certain.
“Anyone coming this way?” she asked.
“Not that I’ve seen.”
“What time is it?”
Tamas glanced up through the bare branches of the forest at the sky above them. It was a low cloud cover, the sun invisible, so he pulled his stiff fingers from the stock of his rifle and fished in his pocket for his watch. “Half past eleven,” he said.
“Have you slept?” she asked.
“No.”
“I could stand watch.”
“I wouldn’t be able to sleep if you did,” he said. “Took too much powder.”
Erika sat up and stretched. “You still think they’ll come looking for you here?”
“I don’t have any idea. If the cabal knows about the cottage, they will. All I can do is wait and watch.”
“For how long?”
“Days? A week or two? I would rather force a confrontation with whoever they send where I can pick my own battleground.”
“I’m not sure if I can be gone that long,” Erika said. “My parents will wonder.”
“About that,” Tamas said, “You should get back to the city as soon as possible. You don’t want to raise any kind of suspicion.”
She gave him a coy smile. “You don’t enjoy my company?”
“Look, it’s …” Tamas hesitated, his mind blank. He spent so much time holding back what he wanted to say, that having no words at all was disorienting. “About last night,” he continued.
“Admit it, you were impressed.”
“I’m not talking about the fight. I’m talking about after.”
“So was I,” she said.
Tamas coughed. “This is serious.”
Erika’s expression sobered. “I’m sorry. I know. The royal cabal is probably hunting you. Maybe hunting me. It’s a little hard to wrap my head around. I’m just avoiding the subject.”
“That’s not the subject …”
“I know what you’re talking about,” Erika cut him off, “And I think it’s the least important conversation we could be having right now.”
Tamas’s mouth snapped shut. He couldn’t exactly argue with that. He chewed on his words, trying to form a response. He was her elder by seven or eight years. The gap between them was not uncommon, but it made him feel as if he should be in control of their relationship. In reality, he felt anything but.
“You should go somewhere your family can shield you from the wrath of royal cabal,” Tamas said.
“I will. Once you’re safe.”
Tamas almost scoffed at that. He was the experienced soldier, and she the sheltered noblewoman. Why would she be protective of him? “That might not happen.” Tamas was still trying to come to terms with the consequences of their fight with the Privileged, trying to decide if he could salvage his career.
“I’m young,” she answered, “I have all the time in the world.”
He shook his head. “Why would you bother?”
Erika settled back with one elbow beneath her. “Because I like you. Or did I not make that clear?” She paused for a moment, then said, “You think I’m naive and foolish, don’t you?”
“A little.” She liked him. The phrase made Tamas feel like a giddy schoolboy, and he immediately felt ashamed of it. He was a soldier. He was a commoner, proud of his birth, rising above his station. What was he doing with a noblewoman?
“I am naive,” she admitted. “But I am not foolish. Do you think I’m here because of some passing fancy? That I’m looking for the thrill in the arms of a dangerous man?”
“It had crossed my mind,” Tamas said honestly, immediately wishing he hadn’t.
Erika pressed a finger against his chest. “You asked me why I want to learn to use my powers. Last night, you asked me what I meant when I said I was returning the favor by saving your life. I will answer both those questions, Captain Tamas. I first heard your name when I smuggled a fugitive powder mage child past the Kez Longdogs and into Budwiel not more than a few days before we met.”
“You did that?” Tamas breathed. The Longdogs were the royal magehunters. Had Erika been caught, she would have been tortured and executed despite her family name.
Erika went on, ignoring his question, “The child I brought across the mountains was able to enter Budwiel because the guards there were prepared for fugitive powder mages and let her in despite the Longdogs on her tail-on my tail. They didn’t do it for money. They did it for a little wine and some new boots that you brought them. But most importantly because they admired and respected you.”
Tamas was astounded. Nobility, he had always found, put themselves before others with very little exception. Erika had already proved herself above any noble he had ever met, but this was beyond his imagination. “You risked everything,” Tamas said.
“I did.”
“For what?”
“To save the life of a child who didn’t deserve to die. That seemed good enough cause. That’s why I want to learn to be stronger and faster. Because it won’t be the last time I do something like that.”