Page 19 of Apprentice to the Villain

Benedict raised a cruel brow. “I wasn’t talking toyou.”

Trystan’s entire body clenched at the words, relaxing only slightly when Sage gripped one of his tightened fists in her hand and subtly unfurled his fingers.

“Fear not, Ms. Sage. Despite your betrayal, I will take kind care of your mother when my knights bring her into my custody.”

Her hand tightened on Trystan’s, and her light eyes narrowed into slits.

The king didn’t heed the warning in her stare; vitriol continued to spill from his lips. “When a parent abandons a child, it always makes me wonder: Was it the parent’s shortcoming”—the king grinned—“or the child’s?”

Bastard.

But Sage put her chin up. “When a knight is willing to betray his king, it always makes me wonder: Was it the knight’s shortcoming”—now her brows raised in satisfaction—“or the king’s?”

Benedict’s face paled, and Trystan’s heart skipped a beat. The knight who had mouthed to him about hope.

Is she so charming that she could convince even a Valiant Guard to do her bidding?

He looked to the curve of her cheeks, the slyness in her expression, the quiet wheels of her mind working and shifting even now to make a new plan.

Yes. This woman could convince someone to defy the hands oftime if it suited her.

She missed the longing in his gaze as she leaned in to whisper, “Be ready to run.”

Before he could react, Sage reached behind her back, gripping something tucked away in the back sash of her gown, hidden from view. He trained his gaze on it, astonishment washing over him when he realized what it was. A stack of papers—letters, all signed and dated by one swooping signature barely visible at the bottom.

Nura Sage.

“You’re wrong about my mother, and you’ll come to find—if you haven’t already—that you are very wrong aboutme.”

Trystan hauled Sage by the arm, dragging her toward the back terrace doors before she revealed anything more, before Benedict saw the letters, before she pushed any further than she already had, knowing the danger she’d just brought upon herself. And the hungry gleam in Benedict’s eye only confirmed it.

Still, he found it extraordinarily difficult not to grin as she smiled and waved behind her, eyes shining as she called, “Happy hunting, King Benedict.”

And to the sound of their ruler’s outraged screams, they ran for their lives.

Chapter 11

Evie

The threat of death followed them down the terrace steps, through the palace gardens, and right to the edge of Hickory Forest, as did the familiar sounds of arrows cutting through the air. Evie moved briskly in the dark, creeping around the tree line and through hedges, and The Villain followed closely behind her the entire way.

She might have found that sweet, even intriguing, but he wasn’t moving the way she was used to, like the world would bend and mold around him. Rather, it seemed like he was dragging himself through it, as if his time in the king’s custody had beaten him down so thoroughly, the only way out was to throw himself into the open air and hope for the best.

The realization caused a surge of protective anger, so strong she nearly turned around just so she could take a metal rod to their esteemed ruler’s head.

I could dent his stupid little crown, she thought maniacally.

“Cease whatever trickery you’re planning. You’re terrifying the shrubbery with that look on your face.” He huffed, straightening, Kingsley clinging to his shoulder for dear life. They kept moving at the forest’s edge, their steps quiet and voices low so as to not alert the guards to where they were hiding in the shadows. “It was unwise to taunt the king like that, Sage. You’ve put a target on your back.”

“Do you think that’s what the archers were aiming at?”

It was meant to be lighthearted, to relieve the line of tension pulsing in his neck, but it was a very large, very dangerous mistake.

She could make out little of his eyes, but she could see them flare as he took two strides toward her, towering over her as he hissed sharply, “Threats to your life are not something to jest about.Ever.”

Her lips parted, and all she could do was blink, wariness and confusion swarming around her like killer bees. Their buzzing rang in her ears as she asked, “Why?”

The intensity in his wild gaze was shuttered out, so quickly morphing into a neutral indifference it made her head spin, and—just like those killer bees—it stung.