Page 104 of The Thief and the Traitor Bride

“That’s how my village was, growing up,” Nore said. “It’s the only thing I like about the city: the anonymity. But even then, after a while, it feels like you know everyone.”

“What do you come here to think about?” the woman asked.

Nore snorted. She could use a lesson in spying—or in tact. It often seemed that she said exactly what was on her mind. The honesty was refreshing, in a way—Nore had spent so long dancing through subterfuge that she so rarely said what she thought.

But. She had the feeling her companion would be able to see through Nore’s falsehoods, and Nore desperately wanted the other woman to trust her. She suspected the success of her mission depended on it.

“My husband,” she said.

“What is he like?”

Nore bit her lip, thinking of Caspian. “He is… clever. Charming. A bit aloof, sometimes. We haven’t had the easiest marriage.” She sighed. She’d said too much, and now she was thinking of Caspian and all the things they did not do the night before.

A distraction. That’s what he was, and Celestine knew it, and Tern and Gail, and everyone else.

A distraction—and yet, he was doing a more effective job than she was. Nore risked a sidelong glance at the woman next to her. Most of the time, at least.

“You could always leave it. There’s no reason to stay in an unhappy marriage.”

“I suppose,” Nore said. “But there’s more to a marriage like ours than happiness.” She rubbed her eyes. She had to play this right. “What about you? Do you have a partner? Are you stewing on your own relationship troubles?”

The woman glanced at her, smiling tightly. “Not in the traditional sense.”

Nore raised an eyebrow. “Partners, then?”

The woman laughed, looking up at the sky through the trees. “It was hard enough to find one person to love me as I am. Gods know there is not a queue of others.” She shook her head. Nore followed her gaze, taking in the lacy patterns of leaves against the lightening gray sky. “No, I don’t worry about that. I find myself coming here, often, to think about freedom,” she said. Nore knew she was being let in on a secret, that the woman had looked at her and ruled her harmless—and that in itself felt like a betrayal. “And duty.”

Nore nodded. “And tea,” she said.

The woman snorted. She aimed a look over at Nore, a smile on her face, and Nore felt something odd and electric in the air.

“And tea,” she agreed.

Nore spent the walk back to Maerin puzzling through it.

She had no doubt remaining that the woman she was speaking to in the woods was the High Lady of Locke. The timing made sense in conjunction with what Cas had heard the night before: perhaps the only time she had to herself aligned with when the Viper ran his training sessions, especially if she was at odds with her household.

But she had not dodged the question when Nore asked about partners—she hadn’t known to. And… It was hard enough to find one person to love me as I am.

Did that person still love her? Was that the reason for the holdup?

Nore laid out the pieces of it as she walked, turning over the facts as she understood them:

Locke, both the nation and the woman, held an enormous amount of power—and power would follow her favor. She had already flexed this ability, and it was no secret people were terrified she’d flex it again.

Terrified enough to depose her? Certainly, Nore suspected, but with Idistra’s inherent system, it had to be done carefully.

Nore knew she should not feel any sort of protective inclination over the High Lady, but she did think that it was foolish for her to be wandering, alone, in the woods.

She let that thought stand and moved along. The representatives of the United Council were tired of her delays and wanted her to marry—that was clear enough. Yet with all of the whispers, Nore had not heard of suitors from Cleoc Strata or Scaela, Locke’s two closest allies.

She decided that could mean three things:

First, perhaps the alliance they held was enough, and neither nation would put forth a suitor. Nore thought that unlikely.

Second, perhaps they valued Locke as an ally too much to disregard her wishes and send a suitor in such an ostentatious manner. That was possible.

Third, perhaps their suitors were already here, so there was no need to send another. Nore frowned, considering: Locke had fought for Scaela, which meant that the healer she’d previously entangled with was probably Scaelan, and the Hand commander certainly was.