“We have,” he said. “I recall telling you that I would return as soon as I could.”
“But I do not recall agreeing to sitting around and waiting on your return.”
“I didn’t expect you to sit and wait.”
I halted, and faced him. He was close, having approached me in that unnerving silent way of his. “What did you expect then?”
The blue of his eyes was luminous as he stared down at me. “For you not to hide from me.”
“I wasn’t hiding, Your Grace.” I lifted my chin. “I was simply enjoying an evening stroll.”
One side of his lips curled up. “Or were you simply seeing if I would find you?”
I clamped my mouth shut. Had that been why I’d come out here?
His smile deepened.
That he came for what is his.
Pivoting, I nibbled on my lower lip as I began to walk, the gown I’d changed into before supper whispering along the stone path. “You met with the people of Archwood today?”
“I did.” He fell in step beside me.
I kept my gaze trained ahead. “Did many show?”
“Many but not all that could,” he told me, his arm brushing mine as we walked. “Your baron did.”
“What?” Surprise flickered through me as I looked at him. “He did?”
Thorne chuckled. “I was as surprised as you.”
I blinked, focusing ahead. “Did he train?”
“No, but there wasn’t much in the way of training to be had today, as Rhaz needed to differentiate those who had skill with sword or arrow from those who had none,” he said, and I found it amusing, the shortening of their names. Rhaz. Bas. Thor. “You are likely not surprised to hear that most have no such skill.”
“I’m not. Beyond the guards, I doubt many have lifted a sword,” I said. “The only ones who likely have skill with a bow are the long hunters, and they are likely on a hunt. The rest work in the mines.”
“For the most part, it was only they who showed and were eager to learn,” he commented. “Yet they aren’t the only ones capable of defending the city.”
I knew he spoke of the aristo. “I imagine most of them had yet to awaken from their evening pursuits to join,” I said, still stuck on the fact that Claude had gone. “What did the Baron do?”
“He mostly listened and watched, which is more than I expected from him.”
I glanced at him, stomach dipping when our eyes locked. “He’s not completely irresponsible, you know?”
“We shall see,” he replied. “But I believe he is better suited for Court life than to govern a city.”
What Maven had shared with me flickered through my thoughts. I twisted my fingers, having the sense that whatever I asked, I had to do so carefully. “Is that what most caelestias do?”
“Some. Depends on the Court and how they treat caelestias. Some Hyhborn treat them as if they are . . .”
“A lowborn?” I finished for him.
Thorne nodded.
“How so?”
He didn’t answer immediately. “They are treated more like servants than equals.”
I exhaled slowly. “And does that differ from your Court? I’ve always heard that lowborn were not welcomed.”
“They aren’t.”
My head cut toward him. “And here I was beginning to think that what was said about you not liking lowborn was another false narrative.”
Thorne stared ahead. “The Highlands are fierce lands, na’laa. Dangerous for even a Hyhborn to travel without knowledge.”
I thought about that. I knew that the largest portion of the Wychwoods was in the Highlands. “Are there any caelestias that live there?”
“There are. Some are even knights of the Court.”
“Oh.” That made sense, since I knew that many caelestias were in the Royal regiment. I worried my lower lip, searching for a way to ask what I wanted to know and finding it. “I’ve always wondered something. Can you or other Hyhborn sense a caelestia?” I asked as I opened my senses, creating that cord. I came into contact with that white shield, and when I pressed upon it, it did nothing.
He nodded as I severed the connection. “Their essence is different than that of a mortal.”
Well, that threw a wrench into what Maven claimed. The Prince had repeatedly referred to me as a mortal.
“That was an odd thing to wonder about,” Thorne commented.
“I wonder about a lot of odd things,” I said, which was true.