Page 61 of The Iron Hex

“I think we need to actually square away this hatred toward each other, for Eira’s sake,” Hugo said.

“Why should I? You destroyed my life,” Evangeline said bluntly.

“For Eira,” Hugo answered. “And for what we still need to do.”

“Which is... what, exactly?” the princess said, uncrossing her ankles and leaning over the table.

“The Iron Empire needs to be stopped,” he said, and Evangeline laughed.

“You want to overthrow the usurpers? You want to overthrow... yourself? That’s rich.”

Hugo looked out the doorway, wondering how long Eira was going to stay outside. “The Corisians and the Osnians areboth hesitant to work with the Iron Empire,” Hugo continued. “There may be an opportunity to reforge an alliance with the De Clare dynasty at the helm and stop the Iron Empire.”

“I want you to tell me what changed your mind,” Evangeline demanded. “I think you owe me that much, after what you did.”

“Evangeline,Ididn’t kill your family,” he said, glancing at the front door as it opened. Two men leaving the tavern, not Eira coming back.

“Nope, but you may as well have,” she said and then stopped, waiting for his response.

“The lord general is up to something, and I think it’s bad. The crops are rotting, the water is going bad, the Corisians are apparently already attacking... something is wrong in Astra. It started when the Iron Empire took over, but it’s only been getting worse.”

“Huh,” Evangeline said, looking thoughtful.

Hugo looked outside again. Eira still hadn’t come back.

“Are you going to tell her?” Evangeline asked, watching him watch the door.

“Tell her what?” Hugo answered, distracted, not looking away from the door. Something was wrong.

“How you feel.”

He turned to her, their eyes locking. “No. She doesn’t feel the same way. I wouldn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable.”

“What makes you think that?” Evangeline asked.

“In all my years of guarding her and her family, nothing happened between us... there’s just no way,” Hugo said, leaving out the racking guilt he’d been facing, and the memories of the times where things hadalmosthappened. But now? Now he wondered if Eira liked him because he saved her, or if she actually had, before her memory loss. And then there was everything else, everything she still didn’t remember... everything she’d said she didn’t want to know unless she asked. It all sat there in Hugo’s mind, plaguing him.

“It’s funny, because,” Evangeline said, “I think I didn’t notice how you looked at her back then because I was too focused on how she looked at you.”

Hugo blinked. “What?”

“I used to poke fun at her for having a crush on her guard... she denied it, but I could tell.”

Hugo couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Sure, he’d noticed Eira’s eyes lingering on him in the last week, but he’d assumed she was just trying to figure him out. Not that she— “There’s no way,” he said hastily.

“Listen, I’d actually prefer it if you didn’t make any moves. The less she likes you, the more likely she is to leave you behind,” Evangeline said. “But I do have to admit you’ve done a pretty good job of keeping her alive, which I appreciate as her best friend, even if I hate you and would prefer to kill you in your sleep and leave.”

At least he’d done a good enough job of keeping Eira alive that he... deserved to live? Speaking of keeping Eira alive, she still hadn’t come through the door back into the tavern, and Hugo’s hackles were raised all the way up.

“You’re like a lost puppy. Go check on her.” Evangeline shook her head before taking a long drink of her mead. “I’ll hold down the fort.”

“Sounds good,” Hugo said as he stood and walked to the door. As he stepped into the garden he heard a muffled shout from the tree line and saw Eira being dragged into the forest by a figure clad all in black.

“No!” he shouted as he set off into a sprint, chasing after whoever had grabbed her. His feet pounded the ground as he barreled into the forest where he’d seen Eira disappear, but the overgrowth was thick and dense. Hugo stopped abruptly, silent and holding his breath as he listened hard for anything that could direct him where to go.

There, to his right—more muffled noises and crackingbranches as the woman he had loved for years was being dragged through the forest to wherever they wanted her, whoever they were. Highwaymen weren’t uncommon in these parts. Hugo never should have let Eira go outside alone.

He started running again, heading in the direction of the cracking branches and listening as well as he could over the pounding of his heart in his ears, looking for broken trees as he ran.