It’s no secret the saddles are here, and who knows how long the soldiers have been traveling day in and day out?
Rip says he trusts his army, and even Lu said no one would hurt her fellow female soldiers, but what about hurting the saddles? After all, they belong to the enemy.
“This is the real world, Auren,” Polly tells me haughtily. “We aren’t Midas’s favored. We don’t have that title to protect us like you do. That’s why we’re in here and you’re out there.”
The saddles all nod, their gazes stuck on me like pins, every envious, hateful glare another prick to sting my skin and hold me in place.
I wish I could tell them they’re wrong, that no one will hurt them. But the fact is, I don’t know. I can’t shovel them a pile of false promises and hope it doesn’t collapse.
“Do you know where they’re keeping our guards?” I ask, my voice quieter. What little confidence I had before I walked in this tent is long gone.
“No idea,” Gia answers, legs curled beneath her small body as she now sits, tugging at the torn hem of her dirty dress. “They keep us apart, probably so that we don’t try something suicidal, like escape.”
I nod distractedly, cataloging their tired, rumpled, and worried faces. No wonder they’re at each other’s throats. They’re taking their emotions out on one another, and I can’t blame them.
They’re scared, they’re
crammed together like ants in a hole, walking over each other and ready to pinch. They’ve been captured by Orea’s most fearful army, and they’re living in fear that at any moment, they could be abused. I’d probably be fighting about leg space and body odor too.
My eyes skim back to Rissa. Unsaid words thicken my tongue, making me feel clumsy. “Rissa, can I talk to you for a moment?”
She looks at me steadily, a knowing glint in her blue eyes. My palms start sweating inside my gloves, while one question thrums in my head like a drum.
We’re both still wearing our same dresses, the ones we had on when we were with the captain. I wonder if it makes her skin crawl, knowing that the fabric holds his touch? I wonder if she scrubbed it as madly as I did, if she found any blood stained into the threads.
While the two of us stare at each other, the other saddles look between us, picking up on the tension. My hands wring in front of me, my stomach twisting the same way.
One question keeps running through my head as I look at her, the unknown circling me like a vulture ready to dive.
Did she tell?
Chapter 17
AUREN
Blue eyes watch me, pretty face revealing nothing. I’m not surprised. Rissa isn’t one to break character and give anything away.
I can’t judge the feel of the other saddles either. They’re too good at pretending, too practiced in courtly words of tricks and riddles.
“Can I please talk to you?” I ask again when the silence becomes too much. She’s making me squirm, every second worse than the last.
Rissa’s attention flicks down, catching me nibbling on my bottom lip before I can stop myself. She knows my most important, most guarded secret, and I have no idea if she’s told anyone. I have no idea what she’s thinking, and that worries me.
Finally, she gets to her feet. “Sure, we can talk.”
An audible breath of relief leaves my chest, but I look around, heart sinking. There’s nowhere in this space that we wouldn’t be overheard.
Rissa’s one step ahead. “Come. The guards let us step outside a few times a day to stretch our legs.”
I follow behind her out of the tent, and Lu’s head snaps in my direction as soon as I’m outside. Rissa looks at the guards. “Just stretching my legs, boys,” she says with a practiced smile, blonde braids prettily woven through her hair. Even though she’s been wearing that same dress for days and has no hairbrush, she somehow still looks beautiful.
The closest guard narrows his eyes on us. “You know the rules. Only one at a time.”
“It’s alright,” Lu intervenes, looking at me steadily. “Gildy Locks will stick close. Won’t you?”
“Yes,” I answer quickly.
The soldier’s mouth turns down in displeasure, but he relents. “Circle the tent only.”