Free Servant of the Crown by Brian McClellan

fingers from the stock of his rifle and fished in his pocket for his watch. “Half past eleven,” he said.
    “Have you slept?” she asked.
    “No.”
    “I could stand watch.”
    “I wouldn’t be able to sleep if you did,” he said. “Took too much powder.”
    Erika sat up and stretched. “You still think they’ll come looking for you here?”
    “I don’t have any idea. If the cabal knows about the cottage, they will. All I can do is wait and watch.”
    “For how long?”
    “Days? A week or two? I would rather force a confrontation with whoever they send where I can pick my own battleground.”
    “I’m not sure if I can be gone that long,” Erika said. “My parents will wonder.”
    “About that,” Tamas said, “You should get back to the city as soon as possible. You don’t want to raise any kind of suspicion.”
    She gave him a coy smile. “You don’t enjoy my company?”
    “Look, it’s …” Tamas hesitated, his mind blank. He spent so much time holding back what he wanted to say, that having no words at all was disorienting. “About last night,” he continued.
    “Admit it, you were impressed.”
    “I’m not talking about the fight. I’m talking about after.”
    “So was I,” she said.
    Tamas coughed. “This is serious.”
    Erika’s expression sobered. “I’m sorry. I know. The royal cabal is probably hunting you. Maybe hunting me. It’s a little hard to wrap my head around. I’m just avoiding the subject.”
    “That’s not the subject …”
    “I know what you’re talking about,” Erika cut him off, “And I think it’s the least important conversation we could be having right now.”
    Tamas’s mouth snapped shut. He couldn’t exactly argue with that. He chewed on his words, trying to form a response. He was her elder by seven or eight years. The gap between them was not uncommon, but it made him feel as if he should be in control of their relationship. In reality, he felt anything but.
    “You should go somewhere your family can shield you from the wrath of royal cabal,” Tamas said.
    “I will. Once you’re safe.”
    Tamas almost scoffed at that. He was the experienced soldier, and she the sheltered noblewoman. Why would she be protective of him ? “That might not happen.” Tamas was still trying to come to terms with the consequences of their fight with the Privileged, trying to decide if he could salvage his career.
    “I’m young,” she answered, “I have all the time in the world.”
    He shook his head. “Why would you bother?”
    Erika settled back with one elbow beneath her. “Because I like you. Or did I not make that clear?” She paused for a moment, then said, “You think I’m naive and foolish, don’t you?”
    “A little.” She liked him. The phrase made Tamas feel like a giddy schoolboy, and he immediately felt ashamed of it. He was a soldier. He was a commoner, proud of his birth, rising above his station. What was he doing with a noblewoman?
    “I am naive,” she admitted. “But I am not foolish. Do you think I’m here because of some passing fancy? That I’m looking for the thrill in the arms of a dangerous man?”
    “It had crossed my mind,” Tamas said honestly, immediately wishing he hadn’t.
    Erika pressed a finger against his chest. “You asked me why I want to learn to use my powers. Last night, you asked me what I meant when I said I was returning the favor by saving your life. I will answer both those questions, Captain Tamas. I first heard your name when I smuggled a fugitive powder mage child past the Kez Longdogs and into Budwiel not more than a few days before we met.”
    “You did that?” Tamas breathed. The Longdogs were the royal magehunters. Had Erika been caught, she would have been tortured and executed despite her family name.
    Erika went on, ignoring his question, “The child I brought across the mountains was able to enter Budwiel because the guards there were prepared for fugitive powder mages and let her in