Page 21 of Cold Hearted
We made quick work of getting dressed and packing our things. Brienne and the twins met us out in the horse barn with a large satchel of dried meats and fruits for the journey.
“We’ll miss you, Uncle Z!” The twins crashed into their uncle, and he picked them both up and spun them around, an impressive feat considering how old they were.
Brienne gave me a warm hug. “Lovely to meet you.”
“You too,” I told her. “Thank you for the clothes.” I patted my stuffed pack.
Zander hugged his sister-in-law goodbye and then we mounted the horse and set off for Noreum.
It would be another full day’s ride, but I was feeling up to it after the good night’s sleep and hot bath. I wore the black trousers and blue corset over the cream shirt, and they were comfortable enough to ride in.
“Brienne got word from my men that they are waiting for me in Harpy Bay. We will pick them up and then ride to Noreum together,” he said. “It’s only a few short hours’ detour.”
I nodded. More men meant more protection, and that was probably a good thing considering our attack at the tavern.
About three hours into our ride, I was feeling dreadfully bored. “Tell me a story about your childhood or something. I’m bored.”
Zander seemed to mull my question over. “You first.”
Okay… fair enough.
I decided to go for truth but change things so that they wouldn’t reveal who I was.
“My father died when I was little, some raiders infiltrated our camp,” I said, and he nodded.
“I’m sorry.”
“I was a baby, and I didn’t understand death. When I was old enough to realize I didn’t have a father my mother just told me that my dad was gone. So at about five years old, we had a party in the Midlands.”
Zander nodded. “You are known for your revelry.”
FinallyI’d gotten something right about the place I claimed to be from. We threw the best summer solstice celebrations in all of Faerie, and it was just good luck the same could be said for the Midlands.
“I had misunderstood the wordgoneat that age, and every man that introduced himself to me and my mother that night, I kindly asked, ‘Are you my father?’”
Zander burst out laughing, and I grinned at the memory. “You didn’t. That’s adorable,” he said.
I nodded. “The men looked at my mother, horrified, unsure what to say. By the end of the night she explained death to me, and I stopped asking.”
Silence descended on our little ride, and I felt Zander stiffen in front of me.
“That’s sad,” Zander offered, and I shrugged.
“That’s life.” As my mother would say…
He sighed. “Okay, my turn.”
The clip-clop of the horses’ hooves filled the silence for a moment until he finally spoke. “My mother had seven sons—”
I gasped. “You havesixbrothers!”
“Only four of us are left, but yes I did,” Zander said, and my heart instantly pinched. Losing three brothers had to have been awful, and I prayed that the man sitting on the Northern throne was not his favorite beloved brother but some old creepy uncle he didn’t have much affection for.
“And the four of us are quads—”
I gasped again. “All born in the same birth? Fascinating, I’ve seen triplets but that’s all.”
I thought back to Brienne and her twins and wondered if multiples ran in the black bloodline.
