Book 4: Leading the Charge

Xandra

I roll over in a softer bed than I’ve slept on in weeks and face the first rays of morning sun. Straw still crunches under my cheek. This bed is thicker, but it is made of all the same materials as the thin one Finn and I—

My bite sears, and I close my eyes again. Yesterday, I thought something had changed. That he was done running away. Perhaps I should stop hoping he will ever be exactly what I want.

“I know you’re awake, darling,” Mother says.

I grumble softly in response. She is already out of bed, sitting at a combined vanity-desk and readying herself for the day, checking her face in a bowl of water someone else summoned while writing some letter blindly.

“Can I ask why I had the pleasure of a day with you yesterday?” Her voice is soft, nonjudgmental. There’s a reason I went to her rather than Hana or Vedran. I didn’t want to hear about how I should be more careful, how half-measures would hurt us both. I simply….

I w