His eyes widened, and I covered my mouth with my hands. Why did I just say that?
His lips twitched, and he started to write another note.
My face on fire, I focused on the dirt path, the beautiful hedges lining it cut into majestic forms of dragons in different poses.I’m making a fool of myself. Fontaine had said Ryker was just a man and thus would be weak to me, but I wasn’t the only one with a ‘pretty face’. I hadn’t taken into account that I was just a naive girl who was even weaker than him. He showed an iota of leniency toward me, and all my walls and reservations came tumbling down. Iwantedto trust him. To get to know him. To be friends, and perhaps someday, be something more.
Ryker nudged my arm, and I flinched but took the note.
What did Alex mean earlier? Were you unwell?
So he didn’t know. I sighed as we rounded the bend in the path. “I’m not very skilled at healing—what a normal healer wouldn’t even break a sweat doing saps everything I’ve got. It takes me a while to regain my strength, so I’ve mostly been in bed these past couple of days.”
Ryker passed me another note, along with a coy smirk.I thought you were just avoiding me.
I flinched. “Are you actually teasing me?” He shrugged, his lips lifting ever so slightly. At least he was attempting to be more open around me. I could give him props for that.
I tried to copy the same gesture he’d made back in the hall. His brows furrowed in obvious confusion, and I dropped my hands. “I thought you were asking if I was okay when I saw you earlier. I was just trying to ask the same.”
Understanding crossed his features, and he mimicked his sign from earlier, showing me where I’d messed up. Then he continued signing. I watched, still unable to decipher a single gesture. He wrote another note and handed it over.
I’m fine. Thanks to you.
The familiar feathers fluttered inside me, and I smiled. “I’m sorry you had to endure such pain in the first place.”
His face went blank, his walls returning in the blink of an eye.
Had I said something wrong? I wondered if he regretted saving me.
We continued walking through the garden—the same place I’d been near a week ago when I’d decided I needed to seduce Ryker if I wanted to live. . . and now? Well, if that’s what it came down to, I wasn’t quite so sure I could do it.
15
Falling for the Lies
Paineruptedinmyside, and I gasped for breath, stumbling away from Ryker’s fist. I tried to sneak in a kick, but he dodged and lunged forward, his weight barreling into me as his fingers threaded around my throat. Unable to find my balance, I tumbled over backwards into the grass, taking him with me. Thankfully, he didn’t crush me as he released his hold to brace his arms on either side of me while his legs straddled mine. He stared down at me with a smirk—not a single ounce of abashment in his expression.
Wheezing, I ignored the heat crawling up my face and glared at him. “You don’t have to look so smug. It’s not like I really had a chance in the first place.” I scoffed. “Now get off me, and I’ll try again.”
Ryker rolled his eyes and shoved himself upward. He offered his hand, but I waved him off. I struggled into a sitting position, trying to catch my breath.
“You’re getting better, I think,” Cassie said from the garden bench where she and Alex were curled up together, reading a book. Or at least, that’s what they were pretending to do as they watched me make a fool out of myself.
“That makes me feel so much better about continually getting my butt kicked,” I groused, finally making it to my feet and pushing the sweaty silver locks from my face.
You’ll only improve with practice, Ryker signed—an increasingly familiar gesture—and I grimaced. He hadn’t even broken a sweat.
The past week had flown by in a blur. Although the other assassin hadn’t been seen nor heard of since my father’s attack, Cassie and I were still confined to our rooms. Yet we were rarely alone. Alex came as often as he could, and as a not so ignorant bystander, it was sweet to watch the gentle and subtle way he showed his love for my sister.
Ryker had also come by every day to practice teaching me his language, as well as continuing my training. He wasn’t nearly as distant as Master Yuma had been and wasn’t afraid to be rough—though he was careful never to actually hurt me more than the occasional bruise or lasting ache. But training was all we did. He wouldn’t touch me in any other capacity, and I was still too much of a coward to confront him.
“I think that’s enough for today.”
Ariadne strode from the doorway to our rooms where my golems stood like statues on either side. Several servants followed her out, and they crossed the luscious gardens toward us, bearing heaping trays of platters and pitchers.
“Yes! I’m starving.” I moaned, darting forward to procure one of the full goblets of peach juice to quench my parched throat.
“Manners, child. You may have been relieved of any formal duty for the past week, but you're still a princess and should act as one,” Ari chastised lightly, her eyes crinkling with mirth. I shrugged, pausing to down my drink as she passed by Ryker and shot him a barely perceptible look I couldn’t decipher.
His face hardened, and he shifted away.