Red Ruse

Chapter Eighteen

Mare

Shade runs into me on the way, grabbing me by the shoulders and pulling me into the nearest servant's passage. "Mare, I found–" He swallows. "I found a way out. For both of us."

I draw back. Chatter rises from the nearby corridor, nobles milling through the halls without care for the Reds around them. "What do you mean?"

"This newblood, he took me aside and–" His breath hitches. "He promised a paradise. He promised shelter, a new land, one where Reds are free and Silvers live beside them. That any newblood could follow him to and aid the rebellion from afar."

My nerves stand on end. "As a coward?"

"As a survivor." He cups my cheek. "I want you to go. I can stay behind, but you–" A clenched fist. "You're not safe here. Not with him."

I bristle. "You mean Maven?"

"Yes." Shade frowns. "You don't need him, not anymore."

"How would you know?" My spine grows stiff, a courtly habit that's becoming second nature. "You haven't seen me at work, Shade. You don't know what he's willing to do to keep me."

"What about Elara?" His voice is pained, on the verge of cracking. "She's going to come back, Mare. Are you ready for that?"

My hands tremble, and I curse them. "I can't leave until the Measures are gone."

"They won't be. Not in time." He pulls me closer. "It's ok to run, Mare. You don't need to be a martyr."

I stare him in the eye. "And if I became queen?"

He grows still. "No."

"No what?" I pull away. "No, you won't stand by me? No, you won't let me help?"

"No, I won't let you put yourself in that much danger." Shade hardens. "He's a liar, Mare. Whatever he promised you, it won't come true."

I burn. "You think I'm in love."

"I think you're naive. And if you are . . ." He scowls. "Excuse me if I don't want my sister falling for a tyrant with every reason to use and discard her."

I've had enough, enough to whip around and stomp away. It does me good to have red cheeks, to catch Maven with them on the way to Council. Maybe Elara will come back.

But maybe I can set her son against her.

I trail after him long past the point of propriety, chuckling when he finally takes me aside. "Bit desperate, aren't we?"

He sighs. Around him, papers flutter, caught in a breeze from a nearby window. "She's imprisoned." His fingers trace my chin. "Lady Iral. The same prison we might use for your newbloods, should your plan fall through."

Anger rises within me, and I squash it. I can't let myself feel, not here. " Our plan." A hand on his chest. "We're in this together, Maven." I breathe, soft and slow. "You know it helps you as much as me."

He closes his eyes. "We are." The words brush against me, fleeting as a feather. "It makes me want to kiss you."

"Not yet." I draw back. "Not until–"

"Mare, my sweet, be patient." His fingers graze my shoulders. "Open up for me, and I will open for you."

I stiffen. Don't feel. Don't feel.

I feel anyway.

My foot collides with his, tripping him onto the desk as my arms close around him. We're not touching, not anymore, but we're damn close, a hair's width apart as I stare down at him. He pants, hard and fast. "I'm not afraid of you, Mare,"