Gild (The Plated Prisoner 1)

Rissa is one of the women leaning out, but she surprises me when she calls my name. She hasn’t spoken a word to me since I saw her in the throne room that night, when King Fulke demanded our attention. “What’s going on?”

“I’m not sure yet,” I tell her honestly.

Her blue eyes flicker around the dark landscape, though their lanterns bloom light from inside the carriage.

“If you find anything out, let us know.” She pulls her head back inside without waiting for my reply, conversation between Rosh and Polly immediately striking up in quiet murmurs.

I blink at the window for a moment before moving on. I don’t know whether to be glad that Rissa was willing to talk to me or offended at her brashness.

Sail looks over at me and smirks, though he says nothing. “What?” I ask.

He gives an easy shrug. “Nothing. I’m surprised you didn’t ask for a book, is all.”

I frown. “A book?”

“Yeah, to chuck at her head.” Sail barks a laugh at his words, and my mouth pops open before a grudging, embarrassed laugh escapes me. “I was trying to help her!”

Sail laughs so hard that he loses his breath. “Remind me not to ever ask for your help, Miss Auren.”

My lips pull up into a smile from his teasing. “Ass.”

“It’s my favorite story of yo

urs.”

I groan and wipe a hand down my face. “You guards are a gossipy bunch. Does everyone know?”

Sail grins. “Yep.”

I shake my head. “Great Divine.”

His chuckle tapers off. “Don’t be embarrassed. I like that story.”

I give him a glare, but he holds up his hands. “Not just for the reasons you think,” he explains. “To be honest, I wasn’t sure I wanted this position—to help escort you to Fifth Kingdom. Sure, back at home, I was just on outside wall watch. Boring as hell and cold enough to freeze your ba—er, I mean, to freeze,” he corrects with an embarrassed grin shot my way.

“You can say balls, you know,” I tease. “You don’t have to be careful or censure yourself. I’m just a saddle, after all.”

But Sail shakes his head. “You’re definitely more than just that, my lady. And you should make sure people treat you as such.”

Sail’s words startle me, my smile slipping off as the conviction of his words put something serious between us. Something heavier than the lightness we usually keep.

“As I was saying,” he goes on, filling the awkward silence. “I wasn’t sure I wanted this placement, even though it was going to be a huge advancement for my rank. But then, this lot that Digby chose, we started talking. Trading stories. And that was when I heard about you tossing that book at poor Miss Rissa’s face.” He shakes his head with a snicker. “Some of them thought you were just being a…”

“Bitch?” I offer.

A sheepish look is sent my way. “Right. But a few of us reckoned what you were really up to, how tired Miss Rissa was. We figured it out.”

“Pleased with yourselves, hmm?”

“Immensely. But that was how I knew I made the right decision to guard you. Because you aren’t what some people say—you aren’t some stuck-up, spoiled snob of a saddle, sitting in her tower and sneering down your nose at everyone while you polish your gold skin.”

I grimace at his visual.

“No, you cared enough about getting Miss Rissa out of a tight spot, so much so that you risked looking like the villain. You did something, a little rough, sure, and probably not the most well thought out plan, but you acted. You didn’t just stand by.”

“I gave her a bloody nose,” I deadpan.

Sail just shrugs. “You also made it so she got to retire for the rest of the night.”