Page 73 of Ruthless, But for Her

And then she was alone.

Though the smell of bread was tempting, Cassia found she had little appetite, imagining what Ashton was doing down below. Would he learn the identity of whoever knocked? Would he slay them? Would he be injured?

That she cared about the outcome of that final question more than the others told Cassia what her mind refused to believe—five days a widow, and she already found herself desiring another man. Caring for him, even.

And since none were there to witness it, she had to admit that she had been doing both while Roland yet lived.

Below, the hall had gone quiet.

Cassia set down the bread she hadn’t eaten and moved to stand beside the door again. This time, she didn’t listen for a knock. She listened for a voice she knew.

CHAPTER 41

Ashton

“Yer here because I knocked?”

Taking his hand from his sword hilt, Ashton's shoulders relaxed. He'd expected to start with the stable boy, Perkin, then make his way afterward to the great hall, though that risked exposure.

“I am,” Ashton said, as if he had been fully aware of it all along.

“My apologies, sir. I... someone asked about the horses. I wanted t' alert you. But ye said—” he stammered. “I remembered ye said not to be seen near her. And when no one answered, I didn't know⁠—”

“Who asked about the horses?” Ashton interrupted. He didn't dare soften his tone. Perkin was a boy, aye, but a dangerous one for him and Cassia if he chose to be.

Ashton hated that the boy was afraid of him. But Cassia's safety mattered more.

“He were a knight, me thinks English.”

“Colors?”

“Nay, sir.”

“Not the warden's men, then?”

“Nay, sir. Or if they were, he gave no sign of it.”

Ashton left the stable and stood a while in the dark, working through what the stable boy had shared with him. Someone was asking after the horses. Not after her. Not yet. But she'd been seen on that first night, and now someone was asking about their two horses. Coming across women travelers on this stretch of coast was unusual. And one this soon after a warden's man drowned meant coin to the right ears.

He stayed in the shadows, watching the great hall long enough to ensure there was nothing amiss. No one was asking Magge questions or lingering near the stable overlong. Satisfied, he returned to their chamber. As he and Cassia ate, he explained to her that it had been the stable boy who'd knocked.

Still, he took it as a sign that it was time to depart. “We leave for Mere's End. First light on the morrow.”

It wasn’t a question. She didn't take it as one.

“Tomorrow,” she said, and reached for her cup of ale.

“You're not troubled by it?”

“Should I be?”

“Nay,” he lied, not wishing for her to worry.

“This is the last night we'll be no one,” Cassia said, setting down her cup.

“It is.”

“I find I mind that more than I expected to.”