Her Cinder Throne (Completed)

Chapter 37

With that, Cole took it as her time to leave while she still could. She walked determinedly back onto the pathways, heading for the palace. As she passed the door to the dorms, she considered slipping inside and catching a few more minutes of sleep to make up for the sleepless night she'd had. Everyone would probably assume she was still with Mistress, and Mistress wouldn't care one way or another if Cole was sleeping or not. In fact, she'd been given strict orders to now distance herself from Bastian.

But as she started up the stairs to the dorm, she thought of Baerghast's story of the deadly cave. How Thijs had been excited about the news. She also thought of the glint of Thijs' eyes as he'd brought the belt down on Bastian's back, and how Bastian had born it all without a single cry. The prince was used to hiding things, and Cole needed to ferret out secrets. Perhaps staying close to him might yield some more answers. And, he had promised to speak to her mother.

Tanwyn would have to stomach her disobedience once again. It was a dangerous game to play, but she wasn't one to shrink away from risks and hard work.

With determination, she headed back for the palace and Bastian's rooms, where she found half of the servant girls had been dismissed, and Bastian stood staring out a window at the distant city buildings beyond the palace walls.

"I'm back, your highness," she said, dipping a brief curtsey before joining Meegan and another girl with her back against the wall.

To his credit, Bastian didn't bother grilling her about why Mistress had pulled her away. He was suspicious, and that meant he probably knew she wouldn't tell him the truth anyway. Cole waited against the wall, her eyes drooping and mind wandering as the silence stretched on and on. She began to wonder if she really should have just gone to bed and left whatever dark plans Thijs' was brewing to happen as they would.

Just as her mind was going fuzzy and her chin dipping downward, Bastian spun around and broke the silence with a booming voice.

"I'm going to the stables," he announced, and marched across the room. The girls, not expecting him to leave the room, scrambled to follow him down the hallway and stairs to the main hall. He stopped only once to snatch a jacket, and was outside before the girls could even process where they were going.

Meegan muttered something about not giving them time to dress appropriately, but Cole was happy for the sudden fresh air. She'd ditched the scarf from her hair, and the breeze swished across her nearly bare scalp. Her skirt brushed the grass and she realized that she hadn't seen grass in such a long time. In the city, the sweltering heat combined with the sheer amount of people and buildings, had made it impossible for greenery to thrive. Beyond the castle walls, the vegetation struggle to survive in the dryness of the months before harvest, but within the protection of the palace, servants were made to water the grass every day. It stood green and lush, despite the sweltering heat that brought a shean to Meegan's hairline and sent droplets running down Cole's neck.