2_-_court_of_mist_and_fury_a_-_sarah_j._maas

slithering behind me.
Such silence. Too much silence.
I needed to get out of this house. Needed to do something. If the villagers didn’t want
my help, then fine. I could do other things. Whatever they were.
I was about to turn down the hall that led to the study, determined to ask Tamlin if there
was any task that I might perform, ready to beg him, when the study doors flung open and
Tamlin and Lucien emerged, both heavily armed. No sign of Ianthe.
“You’re going so soon?” I said, waiting for them to reach the foyer.
Tamlin’s face was a grim mask as they approached. “There’s activity on the western sea
border. I have to go.” The one closest to Hybern.
“Can I come with you?” I’d never asked it outright, but—
Tamlin paused. Lucien continued past, through the open front doors of the house, barely
able to hide his wince. “I’m sorry,” Tamlin said, reaching for me. I stepped out of his grip.
“It’s too dangerous.”
“I know how to remain hidden. Just—take me with you.”
“I won’t risk our enemies getting their hands on you.” What enemies? Tell me—tell me
something.
I stared over his shoulder, toward where Lucien lingered in the gravel beyond the house
entrance. No horses. I supposed they weren’t necessary this time, when they were faster
without them. But maybe I could keep up. Maybe I’d wait until they left and—
“Don’t even think about it,” Tamlin warned.
My attention snapped to his face.
He growled, “Don’t even try to come after us.”
“I can fight,” I tried again. A half-truth. A knack for survival wasn’t the same as trained
skill. “Please.”
I’d never hated a word more.
He shook his head, crossing the foyer to the front doors.
I followed him, blurting, “There will always be some threat. There will always be some
conflict or enemy or something that keeps me in here.”
He slowed to a stop just inside the towering oak doors, so lovingly restored after
Amarantha’s cronies had trashed them. “You can barely sleep through the night,” he said
carefully.
I retorted, “Neither can you.”
But he just plowed ahead, “You can barely handle being around other people—”
“You promised.” My voice cracked. And I didn’t care that I was begging. “I need to get