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His expression went hard.

She looked at me again and winked, patting my hand like one would stroke a pet. “We must stick together.”We?I stopped short from asking what she meant by that. Likely she meantweas in women collectively. How else could we be alike? “My name is Thora.”

“I’m Tamsyn.”

“Lady Dryhten,” Fell supplied. “My wife.”

“I would wager she is new to the title and position.” Sniffing as though she smelled something offensive, she pushed to her feet, her smooth and unlined features the height of judgment as she considered him. “Might I suggest, my lord, that if you want your lady in riding shape, you attend to her with more care.” She looked at him archly, and I suspected she was not speaking of horseback riding. At least not only of that.

It was all rather perplexing... and humiliating.

I wanted to proclaim that I was not his wife—not in truth. Not of his choice, at any rate. Whether it was my choice was up for debate, too.

It had been nearly two weeks, and he had not placed a finger on me. Not looked at me. Only spoke to me when I’d pushed him to the edge and he wanted to vent his ire. Cleary he was not interested in intimacy between us.

Fell’s expression did not crack. He nodded grimly. “I will have more care.”

Thora extended a hand and helped me to my feet. Suddenly standing close, she leaned in and whispered into my ear. I heard the words... but failed to understand them. What did she mean?

There was no time for clarification, though. She moved away as abruptly as the utterance passed into my ear.

Wading through the stream, Thora tossed over her shoulder, “Safe crossing, Lord and Lady Dryhten.”

We watched her disappear through the murky haze and into the trees. After a moment, I glanced down at the small jar in my hands. If not for its solid weight in my palm, I would wonder if she had even been real and the entire encounter not some bit of whimsy I had imagined.

“Well. That was lucky,” I murmured.

“Was it?” he asked vaguely, his strong profile pensive as he stared at where she had disappeared.

I turned to study him curiously. “How could meeting her have been anything other than chance?”

“Indeed. How could it?”

We made our way back to camp and the large tent waiting for us. Someone had prepared a stew, and we ate in silence. I wolfed down my steaming bowl with embarrassing speed. When I was finished, Fell took my bowl and pointed to the bed, his gruff command to sleep so at odds with his previous solicitousness.

The bed of furs was the most luxurious thing I’d ever felt beneath me, and that was saying something. My accommodations in the palace had always been quite agreeable. I snuggled in with a sigh, marveling that such comfort had been provided—that it had been available to me all along. I tried not to let that annoy me and reminded myself that I would have the remainder of this day and all night to rest and recover. It would be heavenly. I might not feel as though I wanted to die when I took to the saddle in the morning.

My heavy eyelids drifted shut. As I floated off to sleep, Thora’s low voice wove through my mind as if she was still before me, her words a soft rasp in my ear:Take heed. He will not tolerate the likes of you. He would sooner see you dead.

17

Tamsyn

IWOKE SEVERAL HOURS LATER TO FIND MARI OVER ME,prompting me to eat and drink. Fell was nowhere to be seen, and I felt a bit deflated. Perhaps he was back to avoiding me. The fading light of dusk greeted me when I emerged from the tent to relieve myself in the nearby woods. The rest had served me well. Already I moved with more ease, my limbs looser. The earlier fog was long gone now, so there was no fear of losing myself within the trees. Everyone was settling down for the night, and no one even seemed to notice me slipping back inside the tent.

I climbed into the bed, stretching languorously within the furs and marveling at how much better I felt. Only a faint twinge of soreness lingered. That salve was truly miraculous. Or perhaps the long nap had given me time to begin healing.

“How are you?”

I jolted upright at the deep voice.

Fell ducked inside, setting a lamp down. The flickering flame cast writhing shadows over his face. Standing over me, he removed the scabbard at his back, lifting it over his head. The leather loop caught at his ink-dark strands. He shook his head slightly, freeing his hair. His arm bracer came off next. I watched avidly as he went through the motions of undressing, reflecting that this was what he did every night. Watching him perform this routine felt intimate, reinforcing that I was now a part of his world—and he was a part of mine.

He sank down onto the edge of my bed of furs and pulled off his boots. His hands moved to his leather armor. Off that went, followed by his under tunic. Each item hit the ground with a heavy thump.

His attention slid to me, and I realized I had yet to answer his question.

“Much better,” I replied, shaking my head slightly.