In Allegiance by Islay Kate

Author:Islay, Kate [Islay, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2016-01-13T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

“There’s someone at the gate for you.”

Reve looked up. One of the older slaves who worked the grounds, frowning at the impropriety of anyone calling on a slave. Reve set aside the dish he’d been washing and dried his hands, reluctantly discarding the idea that it could be Leal; the king would never let him venture so far into the city.

At the gate the guards were chatting amiably with a soldier in city livery. Mathias’s friend, the one he’d run into in the yard. Leone flashed him an easy grin and handed him a folded sheet of parchment.

The parchment was fine enough that it could only have come from the palace. Reve closed his fingers over it, his throat thick.

“I’ll be back tomorrow if you want to pen a reply.”

“Thank you,” Reve managed.

He had a few minutes before anyone would come looking for him. The dormitory was empty this time of day. He unfolded the letter on his bed. Leal’s writing was neater than the sprawl he’d had in Salenne, but he wrote in a strange mix of northern and southern scripts, and Reve stumbled over some of the words, trying to decipher them. Leal wrote about his studies and his horse and the new litter of puppies born to one of the hunting dogs.

When he finished, Reve read the letter again. Then he refolded it and tucked it between the pages of his mother’s book.

Leone was waiting for him at the gate the next day. “I want to see him,” Reve said.

“I’m sure you do,” Leone said, eyebrow raised. “But it’s not you I’ll have to answer to.”

Reve forced his hands to unclench, his breathing to slow. He knew his anger was irrational, and that it would get him nowhere with Leone. “There’s no need to coddle me because of him,” he said, trying to keep his voice even.

“I think you underestimate your master’s temper.”

“He would let me take my own risks.” It wasn’t precisely true, but at least Mathias had given him the freedom to learn his own lessons.

“I forgot you were as stubborn.” Leone was silent a moment, considering, and Reve saw the moment he relented. “If you’re so determined to risk your neck, I’ll see what I can do.”

It was several days before he returned. Reve spent the time in the kitchen or helping in the winter garden, the wait beginning to wear on him before he was finally summoned to the gate again.

“The king is out of the city until tomorrow and taken his pet soldier with him.” Leone’s lip curled. “Word is he’s made Parma commander of his personal guard.”

Reve wasn’t interested in the king or his pets. He just wanted to see Leal again and leave this stifling house for a few hours. Leone spoke quietly a moment to the guards, a few coins exchanged hands, then he gestured for Reve to follow him out of the gate. “That’ll buy us time, but you may have some hard words from Luca’s steward waiting for you when you return.

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