Kelley Armstrong - Sea of Shadows

He never even came close. And unlike Ashyn with Ronan several nights before, Moria gave no sign that she ever expected a kiss, given that she kept talking. Instead, it seemed Gavril was examining a cut on Moria’s cheek, and she was brushing off his concern.

Gavril continued checking the wound, his voice low, and as Ashyn watched them, she knew it didn’t matter if he kissed her sister or not; there was something between them. A deep concern for each other’s well-being that went beyond blossoming friendship.

She glanced at Ronan. He watched them, looking uncomfortable.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured.

He glanced over, brows gathering. “About what?”

She paused. “Are you all right?”

A short laugh. “I’m not the one who just fought off armed kidnappers. Though I might feel like I did in a moment. Moria and Gavril aren’t going to be pleased with me.”

“It was an honest mistake,” she said. “You thought—”

“Ronan!” Moria’s voice rang out, and they looked up to see her striding over. “I hope you have a good excuse for being captured on guard duty.”

Ashyn stepped between them. “He does. They used darts with some sort of sleeping potion, and we were taken captive—”

“ Ashyn was taken captive,” Ronan corrected. “While I was unconscious. I woke and thought she’d wandered off.”

Moria snorted. “Wandered off? I should hope after all these days together you’d know her better than that.”

“Moria?” Gavril called. “We’ll speak about this later. We ought to leave before that trader decides to return.”

Moria turned. “And the other mercenaries?”

“Daigo killed one. Another fled. The third is unconscious. I’ve taken his blades. Gavril’s right. We ought to gather the horses and go.”

As they rode, Ashyn explained what had happened—but only to Moria. Given the fate that had awaited her in King Machek’s court, she’d been too embarrassed to tell Gavril and Ronan. “What’s the shame in being kidnapped for a harem?” Moria had said. “It wasn’t as if you volunteered.” Still, Ashyn was more comfortable letting her sister tell Gavril and Ronan, which she did, riding behind with them while Ashyn went on ahead.

As for their reaction, they had none—to the harem prospect, that is. To them, it seemed as natural as a young man being captured for work in the mines. It was simply a fate that could befall unprotected youth.

They reacted more strongly to the actual kidnapping. Gavril was furious at the affront. To kidnap the Seeker was an unforgivable insult to the goddess, and even if one did not follow the laws of a neighboring land, one ought to respect its customs.

Like Moria, Ronan was more concerned about how the ordeal affected Ashyn. She assured them she was fine. Yes, it had been a shock, but it had ended so quickly that she was quite recovered. Which was untrue, yet not something she wished to burden them with now.

They continued through the day, but Moria and Gavril were obviously finding riding difficult, having taken several hard blows and blade slices during the fight.

Finally, as the sun began its descent, Ashyn persuaded them that the horses needed to stop. Having decided not to risk camping on open ground again, they found an inn for the night.

The inn was a two-story wooden building with communal dining and bathing areas. Stairs led up the side to a balcony that stretched across the front and back, with rooms along each side. The inn was not large, and it was already crowded, the four of them needing to cram into one small room with a sleeping mat for two.

“It was that or the stables,” Ronan said after he’d secured lodgings while they waited outside. “The girls won’t mind sleeping on the floor, I’m sure.”

“You won’t mind sleeping in the stable, I’m sure,” Moria said. “Which is where you’ll end up if you attempt to put me on the floor.”

“Moria should be on a mat,” Ashyn said as they tramped up the outside steps to their room. “After that fight and a long day’s ride, she’ll be stiff and sore. Gavril, too. They should both take the—” She realized what she was suggesting and stopped short.

“I’m quite fine,” Gavril said. “The girls ought to take the mat. Particularly you, Keeper. The fight was much harder on you.”

Moria shot her fist at him. When they reached the balcony, she said, “If Ashyn’s offering the bed, we ought to take it. They’ll have one tomorrow night.”

Ashyn’s cheeks heated—and she was sure Gavril’s did, too, even if she couldn’t see it. Ronan seemed to be biting back a laugh.

When Moria caught Gavril’s expression, she rolled her eyes. “Daigo can sleep between us. To keep you on your own side.”

“ I’m hardly the problem, Keeper. You flail. And snore.”

“How would you know?” Ronan asked.

“She does,” Ashyn cut in to save the young warrior from a reply. “She takes all the covers, flails about like she’s in battle, and snores almost as loudly as Daigo.”

The wildcat was not there to defend himself. They’d asked Tova and Daigo to remain below for now, in the adjacent stretch of forest. They’d sneak them up after dark.

They reached their room. When Moria opened the door, it was even smaller than they’d anticipated, barely big enough to fit the sleeping mat.

“I’m not sure we can get Tova or Daigo in here with us,” Ashyn said as they crowded inside.

“It was honestly this or the stables,” Ronan said. “That’s where the traders behind me ended up.”

“They truly rent room in the stables?” Ashyn asked.

“And the kitchen and the dining room, and probably the bath if they get an offer.”

“I would suggest that Ronan and I take room in the stables,” Gavril said. “But after last night, I’m not certain it’s wise to separate.”

“It isn’t,” Ashyn said. “We’ll squeeze in. For now, you and Moria rest up here, in whatever configuration suits you. Ronan and I will go down to dinner.”

When Ronan and Ashyn went back downstairs, Ashyn lowered the hood on her cloak. Dining with it on would call too much attention to them, and Northerners were hardly unknown in the empire. The problem was only if the girls were seen together.

Indeed, their entrance into the dining hall attracted little attention. There was an entire trading party of Northerners there who nodded when they saw Ashyn, their gazes taking in her manner of dress and deciding she was not truly “from the North,” and therefore required no more greeting than the nod.

Ronan guided them to one of the long, communal tables. As they knelt on coarse pallets, the innkeeper’s wife came out. She paused and gave Ronan a hard look. The serving girl snickered as she laid down their bowls of rice and pork.

“Are we doing something wrong?” Ashyn whispered when they were gone.

“Not at all.”

She looked back at the girl, whispering to the woman, who was now favoring Ashyn with that hard look. “What did you tell them when we arrived?”

“Only that my brother and I needed rooms for ourselves and our sisters.”

“Sister?” she sputtered. “I no more resemble you than Gavril does. They’re going to think…” She stared at him.

“They think we’re lovers.”

Now it was Ronan sputtering as he laughed. “I would take more offense at your expression if it was not so adorable, Ash.”

Ash? He’s never called me— She pushed the thought aside, refusing to be distracted. “You let them believe—”

“Yes, because that is the best explanation for two young men and two young women to be on the road, and it’s the one they’d likely arrive at whatever our story. Would you rather deny it and make them wonder who you truly are?”