I Will Never Be Yours novel · Chapter 19 of 24

Chapter 19: The Last of the Four

I smelled the pitcher once, and my wolf went flat in my chest.

It was the same bitter reek I had breathed every dawn for three years.

"Who filled it?" Caspian said.

He had pulled on his trousers and stood in front of the tub with his jaw tight.

"The cook says a guard brought it up from the well," Autumn said. "He said it was an order from the Crown."

"I gave no such order."

"I know," Autumn said. "That's why I came here and not to the kitchen."

I climbed out of the water and took the pitcher from her hands.

It was cold, and the smell would have dulled a wolf for a whole day.

If I had drunk it tonight, I would have walked into the ring at noon deaf and slow.

"Which guard?" I said.

"One of the four who came home from Ironcrest," Autumn said. "I asked the cook who he was. He's the last of the four still in the keep."

"The last of the four."

"The others were sent to far posts. He's on the east wall tonight."

Caspian's face went still.

"Get dressed," he said to me. "I'll find him."

"No."

"Sorcha."

"I'm going with you."

He looked at me.

"Rule two," I said. "I choose where I stay."

His mouth almost smiled.

"Then put on boots."

We found him at the end of the east wall, alone, with his back to us and a lantern at his feet.

He was a thin man with a grey face.

He heard us on the steps and spun, and when he saw me, the lantern shook.

"My King."

"Did you fill the Luna's pitcher?" Caspian said.

"I... no, my King."

"Autumn."

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