“I love you too,” she gasps, taking my shirt in her fist, not wanting to let go.
But she has to. The beach is coming up now, and I need to tie us off. “We shall figure it out. I promise.”
She tilts her chin up and looks at me with an expression that says she doesn’t believe me. The way her lips frown a bit on the sides, causing worried lines, and the way her brows pinch together, tells me everything I need to know. I kiss her cheek, grab the rail with my hand and hop off the boat. I land in the cold water with a splash, a few droplets spray against my face. I take the rope in hand and start to pull. The water is up to my knees as I trudge through.
Eventually, my feet break the shore, and the water is no longer slowing me down. I have to yank harder to stop the boat from getting stuck in the sand. I place the rope over my shoulder and tug with all my might. One, two, three, and then it slowly comes up.
The boat is small, so I’m able to get the entire thing on the shore. I tie the rope on the post and walk to the side of the boat to help my lady out of it. “I got you, come on.”
I smile when she adjusts her dress in her hand and climbs onto the rail. “You better catch me.”
“Like I’d ever let you fall,” I say, holding out my arms, eager to hold her, even if it is just for a second.
She squeals when she launches herself off the boat and into my arms. Sylvie lands with a hard thud against my chest, but my hands find the nook of her arms to keep her safe and secure against me. I steal a quick kiss and set her down on the sand.
“Come on. We have a bit of a walk before we get to the castle.”
“We could take our time, you know. We can stop and look at the birds and different trees,” she offers.
“Trees?” I ask with lift of my brow. “An odd request.”
“I’m just trying to buy us time,” she explains sheepishly as we break through the treeline.
The leaves crunch under our feet, breaking the silence as we dodge our way between branches and thick tree trunks. The closer we get; the tension grows thicker in the air. The sound of water rushing in the distance lets me know the river is coming up. Once we make it by the river, the kingdom will be in sight and our lives will change. No turning back now.
The sun is starting to set, bringing a cooler breeze along with it. Oranges and pinks peek through the tendrils of branches above us. We don’t have much time before night falls. It’s a good thing we are almost there. The river comes up quick, not flowing as fiercely as it was before, and the water seems lower.
“We shall have to walk through it. There isn’t another way around for miles,” I say, finding the shallowest area to cross. I take the first steps down the riverbank and splash through the water, soaking my boots once more. I pick her up in my arms again and her hands lace together around my neck as I carry her to the other side.
“I can walk, you know,” she says.
“Aye, but I like to feel you in my arms.” I turn my head to press my nose against her hair and inhale, letting her fresh smell wash over me, calming me. “As a matter of fact,” I continue, lifting us onto the other side. “I want to carry you the rest of the way.”
“I’m not helpless, you know. I’m perfectly capable of walking to and from places.”
“I know.” I roll my eyes. “Will you hush and let me hold you?”
“Don’t tell me what to do,” she replies, but I hear the playful smile on her lips. Our banter isn’t as mean sounding as it used to be.
“I’ll do what I want, when I want.” I press her against my chest, gripping her body a little too tight. I’m afraid someone is going to jump from behind a tree and steal her from me.
She doesn’t say anything about it. If anything, she meets my grip tenfold by digging her nails into the back of my neck, hard. The skin breaks and it stings, but I say nothing. It’s her way of holding onto me like I am holding onto her.
Like our time is coming to an end.
We break through the treeline and the lavender fields come into view, swaying in the breeze. The relaxing scent wafts towards us, but even inhaling it into my lungs isn’t enough to calm my nerves. The kingdom seems quiet and peaceful. For some reason, I expected fire and smoke and angry warriors charging me, but everything is silent. I know once we enter the gates, the bustle of the village and conversations will float in the air, but from here, it’s silence.
“Wow,” she marvels, taking in the view. “It’s beautiful. Everything is so green. The stalks of lavender… it’s breath taking.”
I know she is looking at the rolling hills and stone castle, but I’m looking at her. She has no idea.
“Time to face the music, aye?” I step forward, trying to not jump to conclusions in my head for the future that awaits.
“I think it’s best if I walk in there on my own two feet.” She rubs her hand along my chest, and it eases my heart rate. I know she is right but letting her go doesn’t seem like an option right now. How can I remove her from my arms when soon we may be separated?
“I don’t know.” I frown, unsure.
“You must. I must walk in there with my head held high, not like some damsel in distress.” She wiggles, rocking her body back and forth to try and free herself from my hold.
“Stay close to me.”
I drop her to her feet, and she brushes the skirt of her dress to smooth out the wrinkles. I want to laugh. That dress is ruined. Not even a good wash is going to save the material. It has mud and dirt all over it, soot, tears, and a bit of blood from our time on the island. It’s best if it is burnt to ash.
She snorts, “And where shall I go? It’s not like I have many options.”
“Don’t get smart with me,” I tilt her chin up, growling at her in warning.
“Or what?”
“Mmm,” I rumble, wishing that we were in a different time and place so I can tell her what would happen. “I’ll bend you over my knee until that pert little arse of yours is red.”
“You’re awful.” She blushes, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. “And you wish you could.” She spins on her heel and begins the short journey to the castle.
I watch her hips sway before I run up behind her and tickle her sides. She screams, loud laughter filling the air like music. It eases some of the tension. Nothing is better than making her laugh. Well, besides a few things that require us to be naked.
There are two guards standing outside the castle, one surprisingly being Abram. Looks like Warlord Einarr finally trusts him to do something other than train. It’s been a long time coming. The boy is more of a man now. His eyes widen when he sees me, and he puts the horn to his mouth, blowing hard and alerting the entire kingdom that there is someone at the front gate.
“So much for silence,” I mutter, readying myself for a fight. Sylvie elbows me in the ribs, and I grunt pretending it hurts.
Abram falls out of line and takes a step forward. “Sir Trident, where have you been? Lord Grimkael is furious. And Sir Wulf has put us through rigorous training that’s more brutal than usual.”
I hear the blame toward me in his voice, but he doesn’t say as much. “I did what I had to do, Abram. It was for my family.”
“Your family is not happy, Sir Trident. It didn’t take much for them to put the pieces together. With the threat from her father, and then you disappearing; they knew what you were up to.”
I crowd Abram’s space and lean forward. “Don’t tell me about my family. It isn’t your place. You’re a guard. Be a guard,” I hiss. If Abram wasn’t the Warlord’s son, I would show him his place.
The young boy gulps nodding, knowing he crossed a line. He takes a step back right when the pounding of feet and armor sound from behind him. Sylvie gasps, and when I look away from Abram and toward the stone path, Lord Grimkael approaches. His fur is floating behind him, making him look more regal, and Wulf is at his side with Erik, Jericho, and Alexie. Wow, I haven’t seen the Keivan Rus’ Prince since the battle with the Jackals where Wulf rescue
d Lilith. I wonder what he is doing here.
“Lord Grimkael,” I greet him, lowering myself to one knee.
“What did you do, Trident?” His voice is urgent and defeated all at once. “You fool. Please, tell me that is not Aland’s daughter you have by your side.”
“Hello. I’m Lady Sylvie,” she says, a bit too cheerfully.
He pinches the bridge of his nose and shakes his head. “You have no idea what you’ve done.”
“I do,” I say, getting back up to my feet. “Aland threatened my family. I went to kidnap Lady Sylvie for leverage, to end the feud. He threatened war, but I fell in love with her, Lord Grimkael. And we have information on her father that you can use and prepare for. He never planned on stopping the attack when or if my family paid him back. He is in ruins. The kingdom has no money. He is going to come here to try and take everything from us.” I’m talking fast, too fast, but the look on Lord Grimkael’s face tells me it doesn’t matter. None of it matters. “Lord Grimkael, you must listen to me. He will be here.”
“He will. I overheard him at the party I was having. My parents were trying to marry me off to a wealthy family, and I ran away, like I usually do, and heard my father talking about it. He invested all of his money with the Jackals.”
“Jackals!” Wulf growls, slamming his spear against the ground.
“She was there at the party, Lord Grimkael. I was there,” Alexie, the Kievan Rus’ Prince explains.
“You were?” I snarl, thinking about him with my darling, my Sylvie.
“Do not ask questions of my guest, Trident. He is the reason I know about you, along with Wulf. Wulf said he didn’t know where you ran off too, but that he tried to stop you.”
I slide my eyes toward my best friend, confused why he wasn’t honest with our leader, but I’m thankful he had my back.
“Prince Alexie saw you crawling into Sylvie’s tower on his way home. And he came here—”
“You had no right to interfere with something that is none of your business,” I charge at the Kievan Rus’ Prince, but Lord Grimkael stops me, throwing iron cuffs around my wrist.
“What? What is going on? Lord Grimkael? Wulf?” I fight Lord Grimkael’s hold in an attempt to get to Sylvie, but Wulf is next to her, holding her arm as the Lord takes me away.
“You trespassed on their land. You kidnapped a Lord’s daughter. You must be held in contempt before we find out what is truly going on. We can’t have you running around here without punishment. What you did was foolish and stupid. It put the entire kingdom at risk.”
“Sylvie! Everything will work out. I promise,” I yell, trying to yank out of his grasp again.
“Trident,” she whimpers, her eyes flickering to all the men around her.
“Keep her safe,” I shout at Wulf. “Promise me.”
“She will be fine, but now I must worry about you,” Lord Grimkael hisses. “Her father could demand your head and according to law, I have every right to let him have it.”
He takes me down to the tunnels beneath the castle. They are old, dirty, and wet. Water drips from the surface, but the cells are huge, and the iron is strong. It’s the perfect place to keep a criminal.
“But he is going to attack you. We have information,” I repeat weakly as he locks the cage from the outside.
Lord Grimkael grips the bars and pierces me with disappointment, staring at me through the small squares in the cell door. “Trident, I thought I taught you better. Where did I fail you? Hmm? What made you think with your heart? You can’t. You can’t be a warrior and think with emotions. You were protecting you family because of love, and look, you are a wanted man.”
“Lord Aland is going to attack. He was never going to wager with you.”
“I don’t do wagers, Trident. I’m more disappointed that you don’t have more faith in me. I would have never allowed her father to get close. I would have dealt with it myself. Now I must figure out how to clean up your mess and keep you alive.”
With those words, he vanishes into the darkness of the tunnels, the splashes of water from his feet grow more distant with every step.
I shiver from the draft that blows through the cracks of the wall. It whistles with every gust. There isn’t a dry spot to sit or a pot to piss in. I slide down the wall and drop my head in my hands, tugging on chunks of my hair until my scalp stings.
What the hell am I going to do?
Chapter Twenty-Two
Sylvie
Everything shall be fine. Everything shall be fine.
Then why does it feel like it isn’t? Oh, maybe it’s because I have shackles around my wrist, again! I’m not in a dungeon like Trident is, but that only makes me feel worse. His own home, his own family cuffed him and tossed him somewhere. Goddess, I don’t even know where. What if he is injured?
My stomach rolls again. The sea sickness still lingers. I hardly had time to get my legs under me before Trident got taken away. It all happened so fast. I blinked, and he was gone. Now I’m sitting at a large wooden table that looks like it has had a few good years of use, and someone puts a plate a food in front of me.
I’m not hungry.
“You’re safe here,” the large man says. I think his name is Wulf. Ah! Yes, Beowulf, if I remember Trident’s stories correctly.
I tilt my chin up and give him the best menacing look I can muster. “I’m not safe unless Trident is next to me. And I’m shackled. Whose safety is that for? Mine? Or yours?”
Wulf smiles and pulls out a chair, causing it to scratch along the floor. The puny chair creaks from his weight. An image of him splattering to the floor makes a grin tease my lips.
“I can see why Trident likes you. You have fire.”
I roll my eyes. “No, I just have a brain.”
“Most ladies don’t have such a smart mouth.”
“Are you calling your wife unladylike?” I take a jab, hoping it gets him upset.
He his elbows land on the table as he chuckles. “Aye, she’s a lady when it matters most.”
I crinkle my nose when I get what he means. Too much information. I lean back in my chair and huff, letting my imprisoned wrists fall to my lap.
“Are you playing my friend?”
I narrow my eyes at him, “Excuse me?”
“He kidnapped you, but you say you fell in love. For all I know, you are using this to your advantage. You decided to go along with his plan and perhaps report back to your father of everything you learned here. You’re planning on betraying us, aren’t you?”
He slams his fist on the table causing the plate to shake and my body to jump.
“No. It isn’t like that. It isn’t like that at all. You don’t understand.”
“Make me understand,” Wulf demands.
“My father planned on selling me off and promising me to a wealthy man. I wanted nothing to do with it. Trident scared me when he came into the tower, but his timing couldn’t have been better. I also knew Trident previously. I saw him at the border patrolling when he was injured, and I helped him. He didn’t know who I was then, and I didn’t know he was a Karsten. We don’t care about any of that. I do not care for the family grudge. I just want to be with him. It isn’t fair for us to be stuck in the middle. We just want to be left alone.”
“I understand. Believe me, I do, but you should know nothing is ever that easy.”
“Don’t tell me things I already know.” I scratch the palm of my hand with my nails.
“Lord Grimkael won’t take this lightly, you know. He just battled with the Jackals. Now he has to fight again because of two people falling in love?” he barks out a laugh. “He won’t go to war for that. You and Trident are better off being apart, going on and living separate, but instead, due to your own selfish wishes, you’re willing to tear down not one, but two kingdoms.”
“Oh, don’t sit there and act like a martyr, Wulf.” An older man I’ve never seen before strides through the doorway with an air of annoyance and entitlement. “If I remember
correctly, in the beginning I didn’t want your Warlord dating my daughter.”
I lift my brows at my guard and keep my mouth shut when Wulf’s mouth twitches with words he is dying to say but doesn’t.
“Lord Troy, I have nothing to do with who you daughter chooses to love. Oh, I meant to ask, how was the mental break away? Spear any more heads while you were out?” Wulf sneers in a disrespectful manner.
“Only one I was missing was yours, Wulf.” The man, Lord Troy, pats me on the shoulder. “Give me one reason, and I’ll get rid of him for you.” He has a pep in his step as he strolls away, whistling as if all is right in the world.
An awkward silence falls between us. I do not really know what to say after that. It isn’t my place to say anything. I want to. I want to so bad my tongue could tie itself in a knot to stop the words from forming. I must tread carefully, I’ve decided. If I have any hope of seeing Trident, I must be a good, patient hostage. Prisoner? I’m not really sure what I am right now.
“Eat.” Wulf points to the plate in front of me. It’s full of potatoes and juicy slices of meat with the slightest hint of pink in the middle. My stomach grumbles from the delicious smell. Goddess, it smells so good. “I can get you warm bread too,” he offers.
Warm bread. How am I supposed to defy them if they are offering me food like this? “I’ll only eat if Trident eats. If he is offered the same as me, I’ll gladly eat.”
His eyes soften at his friend’s name. “I’ll make sure he gets his food. I promise.”
“I won’t eat until he gets his food first. I’m assuming he isn’t in the castle, right? He is somewhere worse because of the crimes he committed?”
Wulf taps his fingers against the table, the light tap tap tap grating against my nerves. “Aye, he is in the dungeons. The last person we had in there was the leader of the Jackals. Troy’s wife, actually. Mad bastard. I can see how they got along now,” he mumbles, completely off subject of what we are talking about.
“That’s unlucky,” I say cautiously. I’m not sure where this conversation is going. “Is he safe down there? Can you take me to him? Please take me to him,” I beg. “I can take the food to him and have a meal with him. I’m begging you.”
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