by Bekah Clark
He took a deep breath. Watching me quietly for a moment, I fidgeted in place, feeling exposed under his gaze. Then he growled, “I’m angry, and I’m worried that if I say something, I’ll scare you.”
I shuddered. “I’m sorry!”
He let out a short, humorless laugh. “I’m not angry at you. I’m angry with myself. I should’ve known you’d try to escape. It’s only natural. I should’ve tied you up. Or not fallen asleep. If I hadn’t woken up when I did and gone after you…I almost wasn’t on time!”
He stared at me, and I realized that the horror coloring his eyes was for what might have been. I whispered, “You… worried for me?”
“Yes!”
I scooted closer to him and rested my hand softly on his chest. His heart thundered under my palm, and I raised my gaze to him. He looked down at me, his eyes a war of rage, desire, and worry. “You’re angry at yourself?” I asked.
He nodded, and I gently touched his cheek. He closed his eyes and nuzzled his cheek into my fingertips. A soft sigh escaped his lips. For a moment, my heart melted. If he hadn’t come, I would be dead right now. I didn’t think about the fact that he took me because, at that moment, it didn’t matter.
And he must have seen something in my eyes, because suddenly his lips crashed down onto mine. I quivered madly as his tongue ran along the seam of my mouth, parted my lips, and slipped inside, stroking my tongue. Fire flooded my veins as I clumsily returned his kiss. There was a high-pitched noise and I realized that I was squeaking. It must have spurned him on, because I was soon on my back. His hand grasped my hip, dragging me to him as the fingers of his other hand entwined with mine and pinned me down. I whimpered and squirmed, suddenly fully aware of the hard planes of his body and the fullness of his need for me. My own core ignited in response. His kiss was hot and hungry, and even though I was not sure what I was doing, I found myself responding wildly to him.
And then, just as suddenly as it started, he was off me and backing away. I stared up at him with wide eyes. Confused, as I was left wondering if I had imagined what had happened. But I was still on my back, and his warmth was slowly leaving my body. So I knew it had been real. I sat up and stared at him.
His gruff voice tracked fire through my veins. “I shouldn’t have done that. You’re inexperienced, and you just tried to run from me. I came in hopes of finding a healer and bringing him or her to my king. I can’t take advantage of you like that.”
He strode over to the other side of the camp and sat down. I stared at him as he settled, wrapping himself in my old blanket. I felt bereft. And muddled. Why would I want him so much? Why was there still fire in my veins for him even as he sat there, staring into the dying embers of our campfire? I wanted to ask him so many things, but I didn’t know where to start. So I curled in on myself and huddled under the quilt. For a while, I just watched him. After he tossed on a couple of logs, he stared into the rising flames, his brow furrowed in thought. Taking a deep breath, I turned my gaze to the flames as well.
“Sleep. I’ll watch over you. I’ll let nothing happen to you, Zianya. You’re safe, lass. I’ll protect you. Even from me.” I curled up on my side. I didn’t think sleep would come. But I was wrong. Eventually, the excitement of what had occurred wore off and I was exhausted. As I drifted, I swore I heard him say, “Sleep well, my Zianya.”
Chapter Four
Five days. Five days passed after the kiss, and Torric still did not sit close to me. When we rode, he kept both hands on the reins and did not pull me tight to his chest. I found the whole thing confusing. A few times, I sensed he wanted to talk about it, but instead, we spoke of other things. I taught him what I knew of the plants around us; he told me about training to be a warrior. Yet, there were things he didn’t tell me. He didn’t tell me about the enemy they fought. He didn’t tell me his place within the armies that kept this darkness at bay. And he didn’t tell me more about the healers of his lands. I found myself curious. Why was he not telling me? What was going on in Kingshold?
“Will you tell me about the king?”
He was quiet for a moment and I sighed, holding onto the pommel of the saddle for balance. I began to wonder if he’d speak when he suddenly started, “The King of Glane, Donner the Just, is an honorable man. He’s held together our lands for a long time, as did his father before him.”
I smiled. “Do you know him?”
Again, there was a long pause before he simply said, “Yes.”
“Then let me ask you again. What is the King of Glane like?”
“Donner has a mischievous sense of humor that he rarely shows. He’s very affectionate with his wife and cares greatly for his children. His greatest hope is to end this war so that our land can heal. He’s the only healer left in Glane, and it kills him that he can’t go out there and tend to his warriors. Not to mention, because he can’t heal himself, right now he’s under great pressure.”
I paused for a moment, letting his words sink in. Then I asked, “How is it you know him so well?”
“My only sister is his wife.”
My eyes grew wide. “Really?”
“Really.”
My eyes drifted along the trail ahead of us. Large trees lined the path, and the rich green of the forest surrounded us. The air was unseasonably cool and felt as if soon it would be fall. I’d miss not seeing the colors as they changed. I greatly doubted I would be able to leave once I healed the king, no matter how honorable he was. But more importantly, how was it that the king’s brother-in-law was here in this land? I also wondered why, even though he knew some things, he didn’t know more about the needs of healers.
“How come you didn’t know about the dietary requirements of a healer?”
I could hear the smile in his voice. “I was a child when my grandmother died. Also, do you think my king would allow people to know such a weakness? Besides, he hasn’t healed anyone as far as I know. He can’t, he once told me. Now I know why. He probably is afraid to be out cold when our people need him most.”
Tilting my head, I glanced up at him. “Do you have any more siblings?”
“No.”
I laughed lightly at the short answer and pressed on. “Well, what is your sister’s name?”
“Sarine. She’s sweet, with hair as black as mine and the same green eyes. She’s currently carrying their third child. When we were little, she was always reading books and dreaming of adventures.”
“That sounds like me,” I said softly before I let my eyes roam to the mountains ahead of us. I knew we were heading toward the Pass of Winds. What I wondered was how he intended to get past the guards with me. From what I knew of the Pass, there was a contingent of guards protecting us from the barbarians of the West. But I also knew at least one warrior of Glane had made it all the way to Vella. The proof was sitting behind me. I let out a long, slow breath.
“What are you thinking of, lass?”
“Too many things.”
He chuckled. As a responding smile took me, I realized I loved how easy it was for him to do so.
Curiosity colored his voice as he said, “Well, pick one and we’ll start with that.”
My lips twisted as I drew forth my courage and whispered, “Since you kissed me, you’ve barely touched me. Why is that?”
I surprised myself at my own directness. It wasn’t like me at all, but it had been my obsession these last five days. He froze and remained quiet for a long time. After a while, I didn’t think he’d speak of it. But I was wrong. “I kidnapped you, took you from your home. I shouldn’t be taking advantage of you. That’s what I did.”
I tilted my head to look up at him again. “So you are a man of honor.”
He grinned down at me. “I am. Or at least, I’d like to think so.”
“Will I ever see home again?”
For a moment, his hand left the reins and I thought he’d embrace me. Instead, he returned his hand to the leather length and clutched it. Gently, he said, “Do you really wish to go
back to people who treat you as if you were a witch? My people,” —he shook his head—“our people, Zianya, will treat you kindly. If you help our king, you’ll have a place of honor amongst our people.”
I leaned back into his warmth and sighed, “Our people?”
“You know as well as I that your great-grandmother must have come from Glane.”
The surety of his words rang true, but still, I resisted the idea. “I don’t know that.”
Finally, he wrapped his arm around me and hugged me to his chest. I felt cozy and secure. A breath I hadn’t realized I was holding let loose, and I relaxed into him. His arm tightened around me. For a long while, we rode like that. I hadn’t understood how much I had missed his holding me until that moment.
Gently, he whispered in my ear, “You do know that.”
He went to remove his arm, but I clung to it and held it to me. “I like it there. I feel…safer.”
His rich, warm laugh filled my senses. “As you wish, lass.”
For a time, we rode on in silence. The heat of his chest seeped into my back and filled me with a sense of contentment. My mind rolled over that kiss—and the intense fire that had filled me—again. Would it be wrong to fall for the man who’d kidnapped me? He wasn’t like a normal kidnapper. I smiled. Not that I knew what one was like.
“Why do you smile?”
A deep flush filled my cheeks. “Never mind. How long will it take us to get to Kingshold?”
“If we only stop to rest, about six more weeks, so long as we don’t run into trouble. But if the wolves are any indication, you may be the type to attract trouble.” His voice teasingly caressed my ear.
I giggled in his arms and he squeezed me to him. Once again, we rode like that. It was easy to fall into a relaxed rhythm with him. I didn’t understand what I was feeling. Back home, I had spent as little time as I could with the men of my village. It was hard to have any sort of emotions for men who called you a demon spawn when they thought you weren’t listening. Even as a child, I’d avoided others. Yet, here I was in this stranger’s arms, feeling more at home than I ever had in my twenty-two years.
“You should let me season our meat before you cook it. If you packed my jars, I’m sure I’ve got some stuff for seasoning.”
I could hear the grin in his voice. “Disliking my food already?”
“No.” I did not want to mention that sometimes it was badly cooked. “Well. It is a bit plain. Yet, I’m sure that’s only because you don’t have anything for seasoning.”
He snickered in my ear. “Even if I had some, I wouldn’t know what to do. You can season the food, and I’ll cook it.”
“May I ask why you won’t just have me cook?”
“If you burn yourself, you can’t heal yourself. If I burn myself, you can heal me.”
Satisfaction filled me and an easy smile took my lips. There it was again—a feeling as if I should be with him. It was hard to explain it. I wasn’t sure I’d ever understand it. Yet, something in the back of my mind had made me feel that I belonged with him ever since I first felt his lips on mine. I couldn’t comprehend it. And if I was being honest, if he pressed me, I might have been too afraid to notice it. But right then, in his arms, it just felt…right.
It had been a little over a week and a half since my kidnapping when I asked, “Should we stop at a village to get more bread and cheese? Maybe some other staples? We’re out.”
He was quiet for a long while.
So finally, I pressed. “Well?”
“Lass, Vella is unusual in that they didn’t kill your great-grandmother.”
I blinked as I let those softly spoken words hover between us. And then reality sank in. Gasping, I could feel sorrow pierce my soul. My heart suddenly fluttered in pain, but still, I pressed on because I had to be certain. “How do you know this?”
His arm tightened around me. He was quiet as his horse picked its way along the path. It was barely a path and I wondered how often it saw use.
My eyes roamed the area and then I turned to him. “How?” The pain in his eyes as he looked down at me filled me with a sense of dread. He knew something, and it had to be terrible. I slipped my hand over his and squeezed softly. I said one soft word: “Please.”
He turned his eyes away and spoke gently. “I questioned a few villagers along the way. It wasn’t easy—if they looked too closely at my eyes, they’d run from me. But when I got someone to speak, it was always the same thing: they’d burned the witches as they came over the border ninety years ago. The only reason I kept going was a rumor that Vella kept a witch as a slave. My intention was to rescue you. I thought you’d be grateful. I didn’t expect you to have your own home when I found you. I was thankful that you seemed to be free and well, even if I regretted that I had to kidnap you.”
I took in a shaky breath and felt pressure behind my eyes. Tears were close and I fought them. But how could I not cry for all those men and women who had died simply because they were like me? I clung to his arm and then quaked when I started to sob violently. All that wasted life. That could have been my great-grandmother.
If Senna had had her way, that could have been me.
Hot lips brushed my ear as he whispered, “Hush now, lass. This is why I didn’t want to tell you.”
“It’s just so wrong!” I wailed. “The healers of Glane escaped only to be slaughtered by my people. How can you not want to take revenge?”
His body stiffened against my back and it took him a moment before his breathing calmed enough to speak. “Trust me, lass, there’s a part of me that does. But my first mission is to bring you home. King Donner needs you. And after all this time, whom would it help? I’d be murdering innocent people.”
For a stretch, we continued to ride in silence, tears dripping down my cheeks. Yet, soon, it was getting to be late afternoon, and Torric found us a place to camp for the night. As he went hunting for something to eat, I searched through my boxes until I found some seasoning. If we had a pot, I could have made us a stew. That would at least be something different. Although properly cooked some days, most days it was badly cooked meat over an open fire, and that was starting to get to me. There had to be something we could do.
When Torric returned, I rubbed the seasoning into the wild game hen he had caught. He watched me with a soft gaze, and I tried to avoid the worry I saw in his eyes. It seemed that he no longer feared me running after my near-wolf attack. Truth was, that I was not interested in trying to run from him again. It may have been because there was something unspoken between us since that day, and now there was this yearning in my blood that I didn’t understand.
My face finally dry from all the tears, he smiled at me and I could feel my cheeks brighten into a deep red.
“You look rather fetching when you blush,” he said.
I laughed. “Hush!”
His grin broadened. “I’m only admitting a truth, lass.”
A nervous giggle slipped from me, and I turned my gaze out into the woods. As I did, I thought about how we were now living on whatever he could hunt. Trouble was, I needed more food than normal people did. A few leftover bits of meat weren’t going to sustain me if this went on. If we could get flour, oil, and a few other staples, I could last. Glancing over at him, I wondered if he could trust me enough to do this. “We’re going to need more food.”
He eyed me quietly. Finally, he said, “Lass, I don’t know what you want me to do.”
“Let’s go fairly close to a village. I’ll stay out of it, hidden in the forest. You could trade a few of my herbs, or sell some of my creams or something. If you could get flour, oil, some other basics, and a pot and pan, we could eat better.”
“Lass, I can hunt enough food for us.”
I sighed. “I won’t run, if that’s your worry.”
His deep voice tore from him. “You think that’s what I fear? What I fear, Zianya, is one of those villagers getting their hands on you. Do you know what they’ll do to you?”
> “I’ll stay hidden, I promise. The trouble is that I can’t be missing a meal. If I truly have to heal you at some point, I’ll need a lot of food. If you can get the right supplies, we don’t have to rely solely on your hunting skills.”
Thoughtful eyes stared at me. I could see him debating it in his eyes. If he had taken me after my market day, I would have had a fully stocked kitchen for him to raid. But when he took me, all I had was four loaves of seed bread, butter, and a cheese wheel.
Finally, he nodded. “All right. Tomorrow, I’ll bring us closer to a village. You’ll stay hidden deep in the woods. Don’t come out. I’ll go in and out as quickly as I can.”
I smiled at him. “I’ll make a list of things we need and how much to sell each item we’re going to barter. I’ll also write down what they’re used for.”
He frowned. “There’s a trouble with that, lass.”
“What’s that?”
“As strange as it may seem, while our spoken tongue is the same, our written language is completely different.”
I blinked in surprise. “What?”
He nodded, and I sighed as I remembered my great-grandmother had bought those books to learn the written language of Renth. There was too much to tell him, I had to write it down. But what could we do?
I looked at him. There was one thing, but he wasn’t going to like it. “Then I need to go.”
“No!” His eyes flashed and the emerald color churned with his unspoken thoughts.
“Listen. You brought my shawl. I’ll braid my hair so that it isn’t in my face, and then I’ll drape the shawl over my head and hide my hair. My eyebrows are fairly dark, so no one should notice.”
“And our eyes?”
“Well, if we both put in a drop of aliin in each eye, our eyes will sting, but they’ll also take on a muddy color.”