Sovereign by Anne Schlea

Author:Anne Schlea [Schlea, Anne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-08-27T16:00:00+00:00

When they finish at the winery, Kristoff leads her down a different set of roads until they reach a small, tourist-filled town. A large courthouse sits in the middle of a roundabout, shops and restaurants lined up along the road around it. They walk through the square, stopping at shops that sell clothing, pottery, and trinket souvenirs until their steps take them to an old-fashioned ice cream parlor.

Sitting on a bench, eating a waffle cone filled with chocolate chip ice cream, Runa smiles at the families walking past with children. She realizes she’s relaxed, a feeling completely unknown to her.

A teenage boy with a guitar walks by, dropping a sheet of paper as he passes.

Kristoff reaches for the paper. “Son, you dropped something.”

The boy turns around. His royal blue shirt has white letters on it and the symbol of a crescent moon. Eclipse is spelled out beside it. Runa smiles at the irony; Kristoff’s clan is the clan of the Crescent Moon.

“Thanks.” The boy reaches for it and then tucks the paper into his backpack.

“That looked like a set list.” Kristoff leans back, casual. “Are you playing somewhere tonight?”

“Yeah, down there.” He points to a two-story restaurant a few buildings away. “We go on at seven, you should come see us.”

Seven is too close to dark. Runa will never get back to the safety of the hotel before sundown if they wait that long.

“Unfortunately, we have plans later tonight, but maybe another time.” Kristoff smiles kindly at him and nods at his shirt. “Is that the name of your band?”

“Yes, sir.” The boy seems a little deflated at the no but perks up when Kristoff pulls out his phone and plugs the band into his social media accounts.

“I just followed you.” He tucks the phone back in his pocket. “The next time you’re playing, we’ll try to come check your band out. What’s your name?”

“Jackson. Usually I play bass, but sometimes I play guitar when we do acoustic gigs.” A girl with bushy blond hair and glasses seems to grab Jackson’s attention from the entrance of the restaurant. Hands on her hips, she glares at Jackson. “Thank you, sir. I’ve got to get going now.”

“It was nice to meet you Jackson.” Kristoff reaches out to shake Jackson’s hand before the boy hurries down the sidewalk toward the girl. When her reaches her, she seems to scold him for being late.

Runa smiles, continuing to eat her ice cream. Most of Kristoff’s men would be shocked to see the interaction with the teen. She doubts any of them realize how much he likes kids.

“It’s nice, isn’t it?” Kristoff smiles at her, holding his own milkshake between two hands. He nods at the town around them. “The quiet. It’s relaxing.”

“Yes, it is.” She takes a deep breath and leans back, closing her eyes in the sunshine filtering down through the trees. “I’d forgotten what this kind of quiet is like.”

Runa can hear his movements before she feels his hand brush lightly against her neck.

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