Page 83 of Ruthless, But for Her

Leif's hand stilled on the manifest, just briefly.

“Long enough that no one asks me twice.” He didn't say more. She remembered, then, what Ashton had told her. Leif had been a jarl, before he escaped to Mere's End.

He took the ledger back from her, though the count wasn't finished.

“He's not an easy man to teach,” Leif said. She was sure he was speaking of Ashton, though she hadn't asked. “Took him out past the point once. No crew, no cargo, nothing to hold onto but the wood. He was sick before we made it back.” He didn't smile, exactly. “Never once asked to stay ashore after.”

A bell sounded further down the wharf. Leif was already turning back to his barrels.

“Mind the stretch,” he said, not looking up. “Past the posts isn't mine to count either.”

He went back to his barrels and didn't look up again.

It was near dusk before Ashton returned. He found her still on the wharf, watching the last of the boats come in. Saying nothing about how long he'd left her there, he only stood beside her, close enough that their shoulders nearly touched, and watched the water with her until the sun went down.

“Hungry?” he asked.

Leif had given her bread earlier, but aye, she was.

“Very much so.”

Their eyes locked.

“As am I.”

She was not so naive as to think he meant food.

“Let's go.”

CHAPTER 47

Cassia

She blinked, somehow sensing his presence, even though sunlight wasn't yet streaming in from the shutters.

Ashton had moved from his pallet to sit beside her. She opened her eyes.

“I didn't want to leave without word, but it's early. There’s no need for you to get up.”

She’d always loved this time of day, before the world was fully awake. The moonlight outlined him only faintly, and her vision wasn't quite clear. It was as if she was still dreaming.

“You're going to the Reach?”

“Eventually. We need to gather the men first.”

He'd told her last night, briefly, before sleep took her, that de Grey had moved on the Reach and that they meant to answer it. Nothing more. Not what answering it would cost.

“Why is that patch of land worth so much?”

“That patch of land answers to neither crown. Holding it offers no advantage to England, nor Scotland. It’s too remote for either to bother garrisoning. Which is precisely why it's ours to take, if we're willing to hold it. And take it, we will. Before de Grey does.”

“Be careful, please.”

He looked at her for a long while, then nodded. Cassia considered asking him that all-important question, but this wasn’t the time. She would wait for him to return.

“Don't be surprised if you see Margot on the docks today. She knows the Ropewalk is ours, though not where we sleep. She mentioned to Ryker that she wished to speak with you. If you're so inclined.”

Although Margot made her uneasy, she had been kind to her as well.