Page 19

He hears me approach and lifts his head to look in my direction. As soon as he sees me his expression changes to one of suspicion and distrust.

“Well, if it isn't the queen of Ardvalla,” he announces in a voice heavy with sarcasm, and I wonder if he still questions my position.

“Good morning, my Lord,” I reply, in the most regal voice possible. “I trust you got some sleep.”

“You may call me Prince Ronan,” he replies, his tone equally as regal as mine. “And I'm afraid I didn't find my surroundings all that conducive to sleep.”

I ignore his pointed comment and fix my gaze on the two young soldiers. “How are they doing?”

“Still breathing,” he replies. “I doubt journeying all the way to Valensia is going to help them much. I’m not beyond begging you, for their sake, to bring them to the nearest village. I promise you, no harm will come to you. You have my word. You can have me and my seed, I don’t care, just bring them to where they can get the treatment they need as quickly as possible.”

His concern for the two young soldiers and selfless disregard for himself touches my heart and I wish there were a way I could agree to his request, but it simply is not possible. I, too, am concerned the soldiers might not survive the journey. However, I am also worried at what might happen to them if, by some chance, the other prince discovers they are still alive.

“I'm afraid that's not possible,” I inform him, “we must break camp and make our way through Lord Greythorne’s lands as quickly as possible.”

The fire starts to burn in his eyes again and it's clear my words have angered him, so I decide to tell him part of the truth about what happened to these young soldiers.

“Also, I have reason to believe your men are not safe if they remain in Ellerban.”

He regards me with an incredulous expression. “What?” he asks. “In the name of the Goddess, why would they not be safe in their own realm?”

I decide to tweak the truth a bit. “Ailish caught sight of some of the men who did this to them and she believes they were from Ellerban.”

He looks shocked to his core and it would seem my words have rendered him speechless. He looks down at the two soldiers and then back at me.

“She is mistaken,” he says in a subdued voice. “There isn't an Ellerban man alive who would do this to another Ellerban man, much less a soldier of the realm.”

I find myself having to repress a wince at the naiveté of his words, and I wonder at how one prince can be capable of such cruelty when the other doesn't even believe such cruelty is possible between his fellow countrymen. I'm starting to question if they're even related.

“I'm afraid she is quite certain, and you may ask her yourself when she returns. One of these men is her cousin, andshe has nothing to gain by laying the blame for what happened to him on an Ellerban man.”

He looks puzzled and perturbed at my words but I can see he is starting to think there might be some truth in them.

“We need to leave soon, and I must ask that you exchange the cart for a horse, as we need to put the two soldiers in it to make them as comfortable as possible. I would ask for your word that you will not try to escape.”

“I told you,” he replies, his voice as hard as stone, “I will accompany my men and I will see them recovered. I will know who did this to them and I will avenge them. You have my word, until then, I will not try to leave.”

“Very well, I will have Kes untie you and one of the horses brought to you.”

He stands and approaches me. I notice how he walks with the ease and grace but coiled up power of a mountain lion. Moments later he is towering over me and glowering into my eyes.

“There’s no need to wait for your henchwoman, that's a perfectly good dagger you have on your belt and I believe it will cut through these ropes perfectly. The mark on my throat attests to the sharpness of its blade.”

I know it goes against all the training I've done with Kes and the Khaleeni to even consider untying his bonds myself, but I feel this is an important moment between us. I've asked for his word, implying if he gives it then I will trust him to keep it. Now, he is asking me to trust him in return, but to trust him not to break my neck once his hands are free. It's somewhat different to me trusting him not to flee. I have a lot more to lose from this trust trade-off.

I withdraw my dagger from its scabbard and look down at his hands. They're powerful and strong, just like him, and I've no doubt they could snap my neck in an instant. I look up intohis eyes and I’m surprised to see the hint of a smile lingering in them.

“Your pretty neck is perfectly safe,” he says in a low voice, as he raises his hands and runs his forefinger from the bottom of my ear to my collarbone.

My mouth falls open in surprise, not just because he read my mind, but at the ripple of desire that makes its way through my body at his touch. I slice through the ropes binding his wrists and he rubs at the marks left on his flesh.

“I will get the cart and place my men in it, and I shall ride alongside them for the journey. Tell me, through what lands do we travel?”

A stab of disappointment rushes through me at the thought of him not riding by my side, as I had hoped to make more of his acquaintance throughout the day. However, I push it aside and answer his question.

“We will pass into Lord Greythorne’s lands by early morn and I estimate it will take us two days hard ride until we reach the border with Lord Montague's province. A day’s ride should see us through his lands and within sight of Valensia by nightfall.”

“Lord Greythorne? That brigand?”