Page 67 of The Iron Hex

“Well, I’m getting my memories back if it’s the last thing I do, so we’re on the same page there.”

“Good. I just needed to make sure you know that I agree that retrieving your memories is a good idea,” Evangeline answered. “I’m done for the night, I think. I’m going to go to our room—but I can’t leave you alone, or Hugo will murder me in my sleep.”

Eira didn’t want to go to bed. Eira wanted to talk with Hugo. No... more than talk.

Evangeline gave her a knowing look, but didn’t say anything else as they finished their drinks and paid their tab. They silently walked up the stairs and through the hallways to their room before Evangeline stopped.

“You had feelings for him before too, you know,” she said.

“For who?” Eira played dumb, not wanting to acknowledge out loud what had been building for longer than she could remember.

“Don’t act stupid.” Evangeline rolled her eyes, calling Eira out. “You had so many suitors at court. Princes and noblemen, all of them in love with your curves and your wit and your beauty—but you didn’t entertain any of them.”

“I didn’t?”

“You didn’t,” Evangeline continued. “But you would watch Hugo guarding us out of the corner of your eye as I watched you out of the corner of mine.”

“If you hate him, why are you telling me this?” Eira shook her head.

Evangeline placed a warm hand on Eira’s cheek and smiled.

“Because I love you more than I hate him,” she said, smiling still. “Just go and figure this out, see if it’s something this version of Eira wants.”

Evangeline opened their door and slipped inside, leaving Eira in the hallway alone.

33

Hugo

The knock on Hugo’s door sent his heart spiraling into a furious beat again. He’d been on edge since they’d arrived in Lichton, the small lakeside town that he saw every time he closed his eyes. He gently opened the door, half expecting a mob of people to rush in and take their bloody revenge. Instead saw Eira, her hair flowing down her back and her bodice cinched tight.

“Is everything okay?” he asked, suddenly worried that something was wrong as he peered into the hallway behind Eira. Where was Evangeline?

“I was wondering if you wanted to go sit by the lake with me,” she asked, eyes sparkling in the dim, warm glow of the firelight coming from his room.

Everything was okay. Everything was okay, and Eira... wanted to spend time with him. “Yes,” he answered without thinking twice, grabbing his cloak and throwing it over her shoulders before she could protest, a small smile curling on her full lips as he did so.

They walked through the hallway and out the back door of the building, trying to keep Hugo’s profile low. The LakesideTavern was aptly named, and as they headed out the back door they found themselves on a sturdy elevated boardwalk, the cold lake water lapping below them, ice half formed on the surface as the last vestiges of autumn’s warmth tried to cling onto this town beside the frigid mountains. Had Lichton been any farther north, this lake would be ice year-round.

Eira sat down, right there on the boardwalk, the lake underneath her and the star-filled skies above. She patted the spot next to her, and Hugo sat immediately, close enough to touch.

Their bodies pressed against each other as Eira looked up at the stars. Hugo only looked at her, running his gaze over her features like he was trying to commit them to memory. To him, she shone brighter than any star.

“What are you staring at?” she finally asked, looking over at him.

“You,” he answered, instantly wishing he hadn’t. Eira didn’t need more emotional tumult right now, and flirting with her—well, it could mean that she felt even less comfortable. He’d been stopping himself since Evangeline had returned, forcing himself to tone it down and let Eira guide whatever this feeling was between them.

But instead of recoiling she chuckled, and Hugo’s heart warmed. Eira Eckhart was certainly still Eira, but her walls were down in this form.

“Are you okay? Be honest with me, no bullshit,” she said, placing her hand on his.

He considered being dishonest anyway; keeping how he was feeling to himself would be easier. He had never been proud of what he had done, but he was part of the Iron Retinue, and after everything Lord General Kerrigan had done for him... he had felt indebted to the man. When the lord general had ordered him to come to the north to eradicate the witches, he hadn’t wanted to. But sometimes you had to do things you didn’t want to do for the glory of the Iron Empire, so he’d pushed through.

He’d never forget the townsfolk’s faces as they’d watched him execute the witches here. Or anywhere. Hugo had never let one of his knights do the dirty work in those first days, even when they’d volunteered. They should have never had to know what it was like to kill someone who was being executed for no reason other than being different, and he had wanted to protect them from that for as long as he could.

“No,” he finally answered honestly. “I’ve done a lot of terrible things, and I’m grateful that, most of the time, people don’t recognize me.”

He watched her for a response, always waiting to see if what he said would be the thing to finally make her hate him. Each time he revealed something, he expected the moment to come, and it still hadn’t. It didn’t mean it wouldn’t, though. Not with what Eira didn’t remember yet—what Hugo was still hiding from her.