Her Cinder Throne (Completed)

Chapter 40

She pulled away, her hand falling out of Tanwyn's, and for a second she thought she saw loneliness in the way his fingers curled into a fist at his side. But then she turned back to the stable, and told herself to stop thinking about the fae.

"I'll practice," she said.

"Good. You need it," Tanwyn replied, back to his normal infuriating self. "I'll come back in two day's time to give you the weapon and give you last minute instructions about what to do."

Cole nodded, her heart beating faster as she thought about how close the time had come for her to take Bastian's life.

"Keep out of his way," Tanwyn warned. "It's better not to get close enough to be snared in a trap."

"Of course," Cole replied, not mentioning that his trap had already ensnared her into this plot in the first place.

Tanwyn's ring glowed and he vanished from view with a burst of the smell of wheat. He left Cole feeling sick, and she trudged back into the stable with a hand on her stomach and her eyebrows knotted. She didn't even notice that Bastian was standing only a few yards away from the doorway until she almost ran into him.

Staggering back, she felt heat rush into her cheeks and radiate like suns as her whole body buzzed. It felt like being caught stealing by the guards themselves. Panic set in, scrappling in her throat like a trapped bird, and sweat pooled in her palms.

"Your highness," she managed to squeeze out. By some miracle, the shivering in her core hadn't translated to her voice. The steadiness of her words breathed strength back into her, and she managed to wrestle down the fear. "I needed to visit nature for a moment. I wasn't able to in the palace."

Bastian didn't answer at first, and merely looked at her as if he was seeing someone entirely new. She swallowed silently, trying not to squirm under his gaze.

Finally, he broke the spell. "I was just coming to find all of you so that we can go back in. I have classes to attend for my ball."

The mention of the ball made her pause, but she managed to shrug it off. "Of course. I can get the others if you want."

She headed toward where she'd left Meegan in the storage room. It was a few yards away from the prince, and each step away from him felt like relief. Perhaps he hadn't seen or heard anything, and she was still in the clear. She had run into Bastian a ways back from the place she'd been talking to Tanwyn. He most likely hadn't been able to see them, and if he had heard them it probably would have only been murmuring that he wouldn't understand.

She hoped.

As she turned the door handle and called out for the others, she glanced over her shoulder to where she'd left Bastian. She had expected to see him watching her, or perhaps following her over, but instead she saw that he was still staring at the outside. His eyes locked on nothing particular, but Cole still felt a shiver run down her spine.

He was looking in the direction of where she'd left Tanwyn.