Page 63 of Ruthless, But for Her

She managed to pull her hand back as they spoke, and thankfully, he made no comment on it. What Cassia would have said if he did, she wasn’t certain.

Below, someone dragged a bench across the boards of the hall.

“The chamber would be safest.”

She thought about remaining inside it, with no books or parchment on which to tell her own tale. Alone with Ashton. Her mouth went dry at the thought. Mayhap she should have returned to her father.

“I’ll admit,” he said. “To not expecting a smile at such news.”

The secret jest grew louder in her mind at his words... She would be safer, traveling through the Borderlands with one of its most notorious reivers? She smiled, and then her mirth turned into a laugh, one she could not cease once it began. The absurdity of such a thing struck her.

And her “safety” had naught to do with reivers.

“Ignore my antics,” she said, finally able to control herself. Clearing her throat and squaring her shoulders, Cassia tried to get a hold of herself.

“I would prefer not to,” he said, serious as ever.

“To ignore my antics?” she asked, using one of her father’s favorite words for Cassia’s behavior.

“To ignore you.”

“Oh,” she said, before Cassia was able to catch herself. “I see.”

She looked at the shutter.

“Ashton?”

“You mentioned the village. Could we go there... this day? I know…” Cassia’s words rushed ahead of her thoughts. “We will need to do so disguised. And that the news of Roland’s death is fresh. But will it not be so on the morrow? Or the day after?”

“You wish to go to the village?”

It was less a judgment than a clarification, and the difference between the two confirmed everything she thought about the man before her. He was honorable. Despite…well, despite everything.

“I do. A book, or two perhaps, would make remaining in this chamber more tolerable.”

He was watching her in a way Cassia couldn’t reconcile. “Would it not?” she asked, certain the idea had merit.

“It would.”

Still, he was on the cusp of a smile which did not come. Ashton held himself back from her, and though Cassia should be grateful... she was just the opposite.

Tell me.

But Cassia left the words unsaid. Instead, she waited for his answer.

“We would need to be disguised.”

“Of course.”

“And back before nightfall.”

“’Tis not yet midday. You said yourself the village is but an hour’s ride.”

“And you’ll not speak to anyone. Not a word, unless I ask it of you. For your safety.”

“Agreed,” she said, though the promise sat oddly. She had spent a lifetime not speaking. This was the first time a man had asked it of her as a kindness.

Ashton moved from her to the shutters and, though he did not open them, he peeked through. What he was looking for, Cassia could not guess.