Quill and Cobweb (The Chronicles of Whynne Book 2)

by B. A. Lovejoy

  Or everyone but me. “The King’s golden goose,” I muttered. “I’ll make him regret that.” I thought I’d won that day in the study two months prior, but it turns out I was wrong. I’d lost, horribly so, and all because I didn’t know the rules to the game I was playing and didn’t want to follow them after I found them out. The King had demanded gratefulness from me the moment I let him sign my life away, and I hadn’t given it to him, not the way he wanted it. “I’ll break lightbulbs until this country is bankrupt,” I spat. “He’ll get nothing out of me.” I’d never even met the man, and yet I hated him with every ounce of my being.

  Once I was out of the guard’s view, I tucked the purses under my neckline and into the side of my chest wrappings, picking up the pace as I entered the residential portion of camp. Thick clouds of smoke greeted me as I began to navigate through the trails between tents.

  All around, bonfires were being set ablaze, needing the time to build up before the full darkness of night hit. Shadowy figures were illuminated in their woven cotton tents as people flicked on their oil lamps for the night. Those flickered on earlier than usual for a different reason; it was beginning to grow cold, and the nights we were allowed the lamps were a luxury. Alda wasn’t the camp you wanted to be in when winter hit.

  Not unless you were one of the upper fae men doing your military service, then you had a cozy cabin in which to keep warm. “Utterly useless,” I repeated the words that Luka had said so many times, imagining Nikolas sitting in his heated cabin, feeling as if he was doing something. Perhaps if I were a different person, I would be in the cabin beside him.

  Actually, if I were a different person, one who wanted to be with Nikolas, I would have been home instead. But that wasn’t the life I had chosen, and Nikolas wasn’t the man I had fallen in love with.

  No, I tended to make bad choices and the worst thing about me was, I didn’t regret them.

  “You shouldn’t walk out alone at night,” a voice to my side said, and I nearly jumped. Immediately a hand brushed my spine, just barely touching me, and my back straightened. “You never know what Unseelie are lurking about,” the voice continued sarcastically.

  If I could have properly looked at him, I would have. I couldn’t fight back the slightest upturn of my lip, my finger just barely pressed against the palm of the man beside me as he kept walking, forced close by the narrow pathways between the tents. “Yes, I heard that they are plentiful in this camp. Practically live here.”

  “Oh, they do,” he said, and I know he struggled to keep his eyes forward. “At any moment they could be just outside your tent or walking beside you even.”

  “That’d be unfortunate,” I said, daring to let my eyes wander to the man beside me, the pointed, purpled tip of an ear greeted me. It took every ounce of self-control I had not to let my fingers close around his. Luka.

  “You especially should be careful,” he said, and his fingers curled away from mine as we passed by a group of people around a campfire. “I’d hate to see the King’s favorite get tangled up in some sort of danger with the Unseelie.”

  Irony. I must have looked to be an idiot to all who walked by, a girl walking amongst those tents with a stupid grin on her face and no torch in her hand, shoulder to shoulder with a man that most assumed to be a stranger to me, and that I knew to be anything but that.

  It was a struggle not to trip over the tent pegs and thick ropes as I walked. Letter, reds, and everything else were forgotten. Luka was there, right beside me. I could barely manage to keep myself together at that realization, our visits being so rare—

  Thank god I didn’t fall, because I’d probably burn down half the camp if I broke one of those lamps.

  “Luka Kinsley, right?” I asked.

  “I do believe I’ve introduced myself to you several times.”

  “Have you?” I teased, “and yet you never become anything more than a stranger.”

  “Perhaps you should have your head checked, if your memory fails you that much.”

  “Ah, but wherever will I find the time? I am far too busy pleasing the King.”

  I saw a smile stretch across his face as the path grew empty, his eyes turning to mine. It was moments like this, the briefest of moments, that made it all bearable.

  He turned, bending ever so slightly, his lips pressing quickly against mine with surprising intensity as his hand cradled the small of my back, edging me closer. It was a short kiss, lasting only seconds, but the effects lingered as he pulled away, my eyes wanting so badly to stay on his.

  “What was that for?”

  “It’s one of those days,” he said softly, his hand pulling away from my back but touching my hand once more as he drew it back into his. At the last moment, he pressed a kiss above my brow. “I’ve missed you, Wren.”

  One of those days.

  My hand grabbed his firmly, holding on tightly as I informed him, “I lost every fight today, they’re beginning to believe it.” I loved telling him about my misadventures, causing trouble was one of my only hobbies at the camp.

  “Congratulations,” he said, looking away. “You’re a failure.”

  “I’m getting good at this, really good at this, and right under their noses. I can almost make the bolts leave my hands now, I was practicing on some trees the other day when the guards weren’t looking.” I took in the way that his shoulders were sloped, that his smile faltered. “I wish I could touch you during the day when other people are around. I wish you would call me pet names, even if they are stupid. I’m at the point where, if I showed them my powers, no one would touch me.”

  “Wren,” he said my name painfully. A warning.

  “I don’t like to hide,” I responded plainly. “Even if it’s someone as horribly embarrassing as you, Kinsley.” My fingers squeezed his. “I want people to know.”

  He sighed, and I felt his hand grow slack in my grip.

  “If we were home…” I began.

  “It would still be a secret,” he said. “We would still be a secret.”

  I frowned.

  “It’s not that I don’t want to, Wren,” he said, and I knew that he meant it. He once told me he wouldn’t lie to me. “But there are things we just can’t do. People are already suspicious of me, and I will not have you dragged down with me. No matter how pigheadedly you demand it.”

  I released his hand as a man turned the corner and stumbled by. “Other people have marks,” I mumbled so that only he could hear. “I used to have a mark. I’d like to have one again.”

  “As you often remind me,” Luka said under his breath. “You try to con me into bargains and promises every day.”

  “It could be where no one could see it,” I started in on the same arguments we usually had, hoping that they were beginning to wear him down.

  No luck. “I cannot tie you to me again, Wren.”

  I glared, speaking from the corner of my mouth as we entered our quadrant. “You are impossible, Kinsley.”

  “Go to Nikolas if you’re looking to be marked,” he said dryly. “I’m sure he will happily oblige.”

  I opened my mouth to bite back a retort of how I very well could, but then as I looked at him again and saw how he began to wander from me in the moonlight—I thought better of it. I had not imagined his resigned posture earlier, and it only seemed to grow greater by the minute. I would not prod him tonight.

  “I have more letters,” I stated as I caught up to him, caring little who saw. “From Adam,” I clarified, “likely begging me to behave, and to try a little harder in everything I do so that I can be a king’s lapdog beside him.”

  “Unsurprising,” Luka said. “The King is growing tired of waiting for you.”

  “If you like, you may throw it in the fire,” I said. “I lost track of time, so I’m not sure what holiday tomorrow is, but if I’m meant to wear my uniform then surely there’ll be plenty of flames around. I find burning the letters to be fun in a way.”

  Luka stopped moving. For a momen
t, I thought it was out of irritation, but then he turned, looking at me fully. “Your uniform?” he asked.

  “Yes?” I replied, cocking my head. “I have the day off of training as well, so that’s…”

  I thought I imagined it for a moment, but his lips drew tight. Luka’s eyes did not leave me, his body stiffened for a moment, but then released all too quickly, as if he thought better of it.

  “You should sleep in my tent tonight,” was the response he whispered under his breath and I blinked, surprised that he was so blunt in requesting something like that. We normally stole moments in the silence, we didn’t have planned moments alone.

  “With you?” I asked, my eyebrows raising as I took a step closer to him. Somehow, the people around us were too engrossed in their own little worlds to realize.

  “In your own tent then,” he decided upon hearing my response. He began to walk away. “Try not to get too cold.”

  “What? No!” I charged after him, jerking to a stop as he approached our tents, mine so close that it could practically be tied to the same pegs as his. The other humans thought that I was trying to show them how bold I could be, sleeping next to the strange fae that they occasionally heard whispered about by the guards, the one that might have been Unseelie. It really was me trying to stay close to him. “Luka, I want to, I would…” Would what? Would like it? Like wasn’t a strong enough word.

  I’d had nightmares the night before, and even pushing as far as I could against the side of my tent to be nearer to the body occupying the space beside me, I still felt alone. Laying next to him, waking up next to him in the same tent— I couldn’t imagine. Perhaps it would be a restful sleep for once.

  “I want to be near you,” I admitted. It always felt so strange to say those things to him, but worse yet was imagining admitting them to anyone else. “I know that’s not smart, but if it’s just for the night…” I whispered, because I knew that it wouldn’t be more than one night, no matter how hard I tried. He’d murmur of risks, and I would eventually have to agree.

  “Flick on your lantern,” Luka commanded, “so that they think that you’re in there.”

  Chapter Two

  The beat of Luka’s heart was hypnotic. A soft, constant drumming, one that I could barely hear through his white dress shirt, but that lulled me to sleep all the same. The night before could be described as restless, leaving me to do the awful, stupid thing that I was prone to— mentally lamenting on the tragedy of leaving home. But sleeping in Luka’s tent, resting with my head upon his chest and his arm around my waist, his fingers tangled in the hem of my tunic—that was a sort of ease I had not known in a long time.

  I hadn’t remembered falling asleep. The only thing I knew when I awoke the following morning was that I wished to drift off again, if only to draw out being at his side longer. Luka had taken root in my veins far too long ago, and those roots ran deep.

  I knew that he was awake by the sound of his breathing, but I dared not tell him. A part of me was afraid that if I did, he would untangle himself, and we would slowly have to resign ourselves to our daily roles. My fingers only tightened in his shirt, the small woven blanket at our feet almost forgotten. It wasn’t cold beside Luka, and It felt like years had passed since I had last felt warm.

  I was tired of it being cold for so long.

  Luka was the one to break the trance, but he surprised me. “Go back to sleep,” he said, his voice hoarse as his hand caressed the small of my back. His hands were gentle and reassuring, his voice was soft. “Believe it or not, I will not vanish when you close your eyes.”

  “What time is it?” I asked instead, still groggy, but shifting beside him. I took in his face, the way that the soft morning light cast shadows from his eyelashes across the tops of his cheekbones. His hair looked almost brown. His black eyes were illuminated, his iris looked almost silver.

  Daylight.

  He was silent as he watched me, his lips shut tightly, as if he was waiting for me to realize something. I frowned, raising an eyebrow as I rested on my forearms above him, brushing a stray piece of hair out of his face. A small part of me wanted to tell him how strange he looked like that, but I thought better of it. It didn’t feel like this was the time or like any words should have been said at all.

  It was quiet, I realized, letting my skin drag against his. Incredibly quiet, as if we were the only two people in the world. His eyes watched me warily, scanning my face. I frowned.

  It was quiet, I thought again. My frown deepened as the thought lingered.

  “It’s supposed to be a holiday,” I said with a start, jerking upwards. The camp should have been loud, even if it was a last-minute celebration. People should have been moving up and down the pathways. It was silent, silent as any other day, silent as the very few times I’d tried to sleep in. There were no celebrations.

  I opened my mouth to acknowledge that, but his hand slid over my lips, his eyes warning. His thumb ran a simple line across them, an intimate yet effective gesture that did nothing to sooth my curiosity. My confusion grew as I realized the lamp above us had been flicked off at some point. Only daylight filtered in through the cotton to light the tent. Luka must have been up for a while, why had he not awakened me?

  And then I heard the rustling. Luka’s hand pulled me back down and I heard it, the noise from the tent beside us. My tent.

  “She’s not there,” said a familiar voice. “Avren said she gave her the note, and she’s not at the rings either. No one’s seen her all day.” Nikolas.

  My eyes widened as Luka looked towards the voices, signaling for me to lay back down. I let out a shallow breath, yet did it all the same, crushing myself into his side. Luka pulled his blanket over us, and I was left staring into his black eyes. “Luka,” I began to ask, and his thumb was back on my lips.

  “Shhhh,” he commanded, his forehead pressing against mine as he stared into my eyes, showing me the severity behind his words. “Just for the moment,” he whispered.

  “Keep digging then, she’s somewhere around here,” another voice replied gruffly, a woman, likely a guard. “You saw the note on her bed, she didn’t so much as open it. She doesn’t know enough to run.”

  Nikolas only tsked in agreement, and I heard the clatter of items tipping out from my trunk, vials of ink and metal pen nibs falling on top of each other as the side of it gave a hollow thump. My fist tightened. I had no doubt in my mind that it was the remainder of my replicating kit that he’d thoughtlessly thrown out. Years of collecting and he could have very well ruined it in a single motion.

  “Try not to take your frustrations out on her things, Nikolas,” responded another voice, low and humorous. It was husky and also familiar, a sound that I could place anywhere. “It’s my letter and I’m not offended. Don’t be upset on my behalf.”

  Harlow. Adam Harlow. The young general, the one who had been corresponding with me. The one who had warned me so long ago. I could practically see his bemused expression.

  The sound of shattering glass responded to him. I bit back a swear, muttering, “I bet it’s something expensive too.”

  Luka gave me a warning look, half amused and half annoyed, his hand only tightening on my waist. “I’ll buy you a new one. Five of them if that’s what you truly need.”

  “Will you pick up the shards of glass as well?” I glared. “Or will I be left to clean my tent alone.”

  “Any louder and you can ask them to clean up yourself,” Luka warned.

  Somehow that didn’t feel like an appealing option. I wrinkled my nose, staring at the tent pole above us. I had to listen to them ransacking my possessions then, lovely. I hadn’t even brought that much with me, but I was sure I’d find it all ruined.

  Luka’s hand patted my hip as if in consolation. As if that simple gesture could make up for it all.

  “As much as you would love to destroy everything the poor girl owns,” Adam replied from outside, obviously displeased, “I think we could use a little common sense h
ere before ruining anything else. She’s not going to be sitting in a vial, Nikolas, and I highly doubt she’d bother to write a letter to tell us where she was going, not if she hasn’t even bothered to read my note.” He sighed, and I imagined that he was massaging the bridge of his nose. “Use your brain for five seconds.” The rummaging stopped for a moment, I couldn’t see what Adam had done, but it was accompanied with him stating rather obviously, “tell me, whose tent is that?”

  “Luka’s,” a voice responded, and I could almost feel the young man beside me’s exasperation.

  “Now,” Adam said. “If she’s not in the training ring, and she’s not getting food—She’s not in the showers, and we hope she’s not in the woods—Where would Wren be? I’d give you a moment to think, but as funny as this is, I’d hate to leave him waiting.”

  “Oh, if it had just been Nikolas,” Luka sighed, immediately snapping his fingers above my head.

  The rustling stopped.

  My eyes shot once more to Luka; my mouth set tightly. For a moment, he still seemed relaxed. Just months prior, he’d managed to pull the same trick, after all. We’d sat in the library together, unbeknownst to anyone else.

  “Drop the glamour,” Adam said from outside of the tent merely seconds later. “I know you’re in there, Kinsley.”

  All ease left him, and whatever glimmer of magic he had produced went with it.

  The tent flap ripped open suddenly, and a pair of green eyes that I had not seen in a while appeared, a cheeky smile on his face as Luka’s fingers practically dug into my skin. Our bodies were still, unmoving, and it felt like a decade passed as I stared Adam down, wishing to be anywhere but there.

  “Wren,” Adam said with a nod in greeting, and suddenly the world roared back into existence around me. I rolled off of Luka, clutching the blanket high on my chest as he groaned beside me, even though I was fully dressed and had nothing to hide. “Did you think you were being clever, Kinsley?” Adam asked, still at the tent’s door. There was no anger in his tone, just amusement. “I expected more from you, Luka.”