Page 9 of A Bond in Blood (Blood Bound Duet #1)

Chapter 9

“ T here are limits to cruelty!” an unfamiliar voice yelled out in the haze fogging my mind.

“There are laws and rules I must abide by!” a second voice shouted back.

My body went cold, and I kept my eyes shut. I may not have known who the first voice was, but the second voice had been haunting my nightmares. The king who found pleasure in my pain and suffering.

“My king,” the first voice said quietly.

Silence layered over the room. My breaths quickened in my chest while I hoped whatever room I’d been carried to would empty soon. I needed nothing more than the solitude I’d hoped for when Ulrich had left me in Olen’s room, allowing me a space to myself.

“Frode,” Ulrich’s voice rose with command. “Do what you must. I expect her to be healed and back on her feet in two days.”

“Yes, my King,” the unfamiliar voice replied, which I had just learned belonged to someone named Frode .

The room warmed but I kept my eyes sealed, trying to slow my breaths.

“You can open them now,” Frode’s voice said above me.

I remained unmoving, squeezing my lids tighter.

“Princess, do what the healer said.” Olen’s beastly voice came from another part of the room.

I gripped the blankets, forcing myself to welcome in the light. Fear coursed through my body, but to my relief, the pain that had knocked me unconscious was gone.

As I let out a breath, I turned my head to find the same older gentleman who had carried me out of Olen’s rooms.

Frode smiled down at me and my body instantly warmed with comfort and safety. His brown eyes, surrounded by the aged wrinkles on his skin, sparkled with kindness. My eyes took him in, desperate to memorize the face of the first genuinely kind man I’d met on this island.

Atop his head was grey and white peppered hair, combed back, but he had a full head of hair. Surprising given he appeared nearly my grandmother’s age. He stood confidently, smiling at me while I stared at his towering, solid body.

“You’re handsome,” I muttered, then gasped, covering my lips.

“Well, those tonics are working.” Olen’s laugh boomed out.

Frode’s smile rose, and he nodded his head. “I’m glad to see you’re feeling no pain, princess.”

I was nearly brought to tears when the healer bowed his head in respect. A gesture I hadn’t received since being taken from my home.

“I’m so sorry,” I apologized, shaking my head. “My manners have left me.”

Frode lifted his head then chuckled. “No apologies, your highness. Your inability to hold your tongue only means I’ve done my duty.”

I pressed my head against the pillow, trying to hide my embarrassment. My mind clouded as I stared up at a dark grey canopy.

“Where am I?” I asked.

“In the room my king instructed me to put you in,” Olen replied.

“My back no longer hurts,” I noted, moving my shoulders as the place where my wounds had been rubbed against the sheets beneath me.

“Yes, your highness. The pain shouldn’t come back.”

I turned my eyes from the canopy and met Frode’s kind gaze again.

“You’re mortal.”

He smiled. “Half-fae, highness.”

My eyes widened. “I rarely meet half-fae outside of my own home.”

Frode sat on the edge of the bed. Pulling myself up, I watched the elder gentleman admire the room.

“Nóatún is an island gifted to us by Fate.”

My body jolted at the name of my home. “What?” I asked, taken aback by how familiar Frode was with where I’d come from.

The healer turned back to me, grasping my hand. “How is Hilde?”

I darted my gaze to Olen, who sat unmoving on all fours, near the hearth. My pulse raced while I considered my response.

“My grandmother is fine,” I said quietly.

Olen cleared his throat and Frode released my hand. The healer stood from the bed, addressing the beast who’d been made my keeper.

“Tonics, several times a day even when she leaves this room in two days. I will return to apply salve twice more today and three times each day after.”

Olen nodded in acknowledgement and my heart sank as I watched the only tether I had to my home walk away. Once alone, Olen turned to me, his canines shining against his black lips.

“Sleep well?”

I laid back down, waving him away.

“Your king allowed me this privacy. I request you respect it.”

“Can’t do that,” he replied roughly.

“Why not,” I asked, glancing back at him.

“Ulrich only gave you these chambers until you were healed. He never said you were to be left alone.”

Frustrated tears ran down the corner of my eyes while I refused to look back at the fae.

“How does that healer know my grandmother?”

His clawed paws clicked against the floor, but I kept my eyes on the canopy. The bed shifted, and I jumped as Olen crawled into the bed beside me. Like he was some large pet searching for warmth and soft caresses.

“Not sure,” he sighed, laying his head on his paws.

“Get off this bed,” I demanded.

“Can’t, have to stay close,” he growled.

I cried out, hitting a soft pad of fur near his shoulder. “Please!”

His monstrous head snapped up. “I am not the king,” he snarled. “I will bite that hand off if you hit me again.”

I pulled it back to my chest, turning on my side to get away from him.

“Your king hates me.”

“Yes, but he doesn’t kill or hurt without reason,” the beast replied sleepily.

I laughed. “He killed that man in the ballroom. He beat me until I lost consciousness. He chased me down the halls, determined to end me.”

Olen yawned and laid his head on his paw again. “The man was a traitor . You keep trying to kill him . And he chased you because you attacked him. From my understanding, the poor man was only trying to bathe.”

I huffed out an annoyed breath, twisting myself to get further from the beast. The blankets tugged with the weight of him.

“Did you have to lay beside me?” I groaned.

“This bed is more comfortable than the hearth.”

“Why are you in your beast form?” I asked.

His head moved up again and his black eyes studied me. His large mouth opened with a yawn and he laid his head down again.

“It’s more comfortable to sleep as a beast, princess.”

“I don’t believe that.”

The bed shook along with his body while that same unsettling laugh sounded from within him. “You’d never know.”

His breathing turned heavy, and I observed my temporary room of safety. It was simple, one window overlooking Ulrich’s city, that I suddenly realized I’d never learned the name of. In one corner was a bathing room door, and in the other, a modest hearth warming the space.

The simplicity instantly reminded me of my room at home, bringing me unexpected comfort.

Once I settled into the covers further, I laid my hands over my chest. An attempt to guard myself from the sleeping creature beside me. I watched the sun complete its crest over the city and listened while Ulrich’s palace quieted for their day-sleeping.

And to my surprise, my body drifted back to sleep. Seemingly adjusting to life living under the blood moon.