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Sorin chuckled, urging Eirwen faster to catch up to the others. And while she would never admit it, Scarlett missed his steadying arm around her as the horse ran.

They caught up with the others quickly enough, and Sorin moved past Callan, Finn, and Sloan without a word. When they came up beside Eliza, she glanced over at them. “Anything exciting happen I need to be aware of?”

Sorin sighed dramatically. “No. Scarlett here just informed me I am not allowed to touch her unless she asks me to.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Scarlett moaned. She heard Finn and Sloan snicker behind them.

“Language, Lady,” Sorin chided mockingly.

“I swear to Saylah, if you call me Lady one more time, I am going to touch you right off this horse.”

“I am not sure I consider that a threat,” he purred low into her ear.

“Saylah?” Eliza cut in. “The goddess of shadows and night? She is not usually spoken of.”

Scarlett wasn’t sure what to say to that, but Sorin spoke before the silence became too awkward. “She bears the goddesses’ amulet, Eliza. Surely you have noticed.”

“I have. It is still surprising though.”

“She is certainly full of those.” Scarlett felt him fiddling with something, and a moment later, he reached around her and offered her another pear. “I can hear your stomach growling, Love. Please eat.”

There was no teasing in his tone at the words. None of the sarcastic arrogance.

With one hand still on the saddle horn, she took the pear from him and bit into it. The juice was sweet and lush, and at that first bite, she realized how ravenous she was. She practically inhaled the pear, and Sorin was offering her another as she finished off the first.

“Has Amaré returned yet?” Eliza asked as they rode along, and Scarlett ate her second pear at a much slower pace.

“No, but I trust he will accomplish the task I sent him on,” Sorin answered.

“If Cyrus and Rayner are not at the border, Sorin—”

“They will be,” Sorin cut it.

“You both seem very concerned about the border,” Scarlett observed.

“There are Night Children loyal to the mortal kings at the borders,” Sorin answered. “It is why we supplied Callan and his men with extra black ashwood arrows, and why you now have a shirastone dagger at your side. They can kill Night Children just as they can kill Fae.I am going to assume that they will try to retrieve you for the Lord and Mikale.”

Scarlett twisted around at the words and nearly lost her balance on the horse. Sorin’s arm was instantly around her, pulling her back into him as she dropped the pear and both hands clamped onto the saddle horn.

“This was considered a necessary touch,” he whispered into her ear. When she didn’t say anything, he went on. “Are you steady?”

She nodded her head, and his hand squeezed her hip gently before his arm slid away from her, returning to his own thigh.

“When you told me of the time you lost that powerful female, when you were attacked by a small clan of vampyres, you told me that some Night Children were allowed to stay in the kingdoms while others were forced into their secluded territory,” Scarlett said, readjusting herself in the saddle once more.

Eliza’s head whipped to Sorin at her words, but she couldn’t see Sorin’s face as he said, “I did.”

“Why? Why would they be allowed to stay? Do they not feed on humans?”

“They do, but they are also natural enemies of the Fae,” Sorin answered. “Fae blood to the Night Children would be like… opium to an addict, I suppose. The Night Children are descended from the Avonleyans. When the Great War broke out, many sided with Deimas and Esmeary because the Avonelayns would not allow them to feed from the Fae. They forbid it. By fighting with Esmeray, they were basically allowed to feast.”

“But you let Nuri feed from you?” Scarlett pointed out.

“Yes, I did,” Sorin replied, reaching around her with a piece of bread. Scarlett took it from him without thinking as he continued. “If a Fae is fed upon and not drained and killed by a Night Child, they actually become a bigger threat to the Night Child. The Fae becomes immune to that vampyre’s entrancing, and the vampyre cannot harm that Fae until his blood has left the vampyre’s system which takes days.”

Scarlett mulled that over while she chewed on a bite of bread. “If they are descendants of the Avonleyans, how did they get here?The Avonleyans have been locked in their land since the end of the war. Before that even, if the history books are true.”

“That depends on which history books you are reading,” Eliza cut in from beside them.