Asher switched to a hallway far from the rabble-rouser. He had confessed his crime, and while Asher wasn’t sure if the ravings could be trusted, his words on the Queen were troubling.
Hurrying through the remaining bowls, it was several cells more before Asher found Finn. His temple was bruised and swollen, and in the dreary confinement he looked defeated.
“Asher!” He pressed forward against the bars.
“Are you insane?” Asher said, releasing his pent-up frustration. “What were you thinking?”
Finn scowled. “That piece of trash deserved it.”
“They think you were trying to get the Princess! They think you’re a rebel assassin!”
“That’s stupid.”
“You’re stupid!” Asher said and sighed. He slumped to the ground, resting back against the wall, the bowl of mash cradled in his lap. Finn sat down next to him, the rusty bars dividing them. “They’re going to hang you in the morning.”
Finn looked at his hands, which were still filthy. He slammed one against the bars and recoiled, seething in pain. “They had me shoveling horse scat!” he said, holding his hands out as evidence.
“I know,” Asher said. “They made me a handmaiden.”
“You’ve got to help me escape. If we—”
“I can’t.” Asher shook his head. “They’ll just hang us both.”
Finn opened his mouth, but it just hung there.
“I’ll talk to the Queen,” Asher said.
Finn looked over. “You’ve been here a day and you think the Queen’ll listen to you? Unless you’re her handmaiden…”
“No,” Asher said, tilting his head toward Finn. His stomach turned liquid just at the thought of his secret hope. He lowered his voice as much as possible. “But I think I might be her son.”
Finn jerked his head away to better look at Asher. He paused, then laughed. “Her son? You’re the insane one.”
“Sh!” Asher hissed, looking down the hall. “I’m serious!”
“Her son?” Finn whispered.
Asher didn’t try to explain—how she’d questioned him, kept him near, even protected him inexplicably. They sat for a moment, listening to the tinkling of chains. An empty bowl clattered in one of the cells, and someone retched.
“I’ll make her see,” Asher said. “I swear.”
Finn hung his head, took a breath, and looked Asher in the eye. Asher understood that this might be the last time they ever spoke. He wanted to say something—something about being friends.
Finn spoke first. “Give me some of that slop,” he said, and reached through the bars for his bowl.
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The Queen of Grass and Tree (Southwind Knights #2)
Teen Fiction★ Book #2 in the Southwind Knights series. If you haven't read Book #1, stop now! ★ Southwind is in uprising, and Asher is lucky to escape alive. With an orphaned Finn and the exiled Healer, he journeys north to the Queendom’s ca...
