Page 49 of A Rose Among Snakes (Gardens of Ruin and Revival)

Chapter Forty-Eight

Mihrra

V elian crouched by the fire pit, preparing to get a fire started. Enverro moved forward to assist, but Velian held a hand out and said, “I’ve got it,” keeping his gaze pinned on the ashes.

Enverro retreated to his seat in the dirt with a wrinkle between his brows. A pang of empathy rattled in my chest, but I understood Velian’s hostility. I felt I knew him well enough to assume Enverro’s claim of loving Kezara would not thaw the ice between them, either.

A moment later, the fire had sparked, and Velian fed twigs to the flames as I scooted closer, soaking up the warmth. It was much colder up in the mountains than I was used to, the air more akin to a fall evening rather than early summer. My fingers ached from the cold, and I inched even closer, but Velian’s hand rested on my knee.

“Careful,” he murmured. “Any closer and you’re going to go up in flames.”

His casual touch sent a flicker of that very flame through my body, and I shivered. With a soft smirk, he sat next to me, flaring out his cloak behind me to envelop us both. My blood pulsed in my veins, and I looked at Enverro to distract myself but found him staring unblinking into the fire, his face drawn and his mouth downturned.

“Enverro, how did you come to work for the king?”

He rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. “He caught me trying to steal from the castle, and instead of killing me, he offered me a deal—my life in exchange for helping him deal with unruly subjects. He left me with no choice, really. I’ve been trapped the last nine years.”

Nine years. The words clanged through my head like a bell. It might have been a coincidence, but what if it wasn’t?

“You mentioned earlier that the king had only come to see a prisoner once before. What happened?” I felt Velian’s eyes on me, but I refused to look away from Enverro’s face.

With a grimace, he said, “It was the first man he put me in charge of. Leoro had him at the castle and told me he didn’t want him to stay there, so we tied him up and put him in an old hay cart. Leoro gave me directions to the shack in Hawling and told me that was where I would live and keep watch over people for him.

“The man was only there for a couple of days, and he constantly begged me to let him go. He kept saying he had a wife and five kids to take care of and that he would be able to protect me if I went with him. He almost had me convinced when Leoro suddenly showed up. He cornered the prisoner and stabbed him. Leoro told me that’s how he dealt with traitors, and he would do the same to me if I ever crossed him. ”

There was a ringing in my ears as my head spun. Hot tears streamed down my cheeks, and with a choked voice, I asked, “What was his name?”

Enverro’s eyes snapped from the fire to mine. “I don’t quite remember, but he carved his initials into the wall—G.N.”

Velian tensed beside me.

My heart shattered and I shut my eyes against the pain. I sucked in a deep breath, willing myself not to sob, but the pressure in my head felt like I would explode. Velian’s hand rested on my back, rubbing a small, comforting circle, but I jumped to my feet, all my boiling emotions needing somewhere to go. I fled down the path to the horses, burying my face in Eamis’ mane, and letting the tears flow in silence.

The breath in my lungs was like shards of glass stinging with every ragged inhale of cold mountain air, but it didn’t compare to the cleaving inside my chest. My head swam with a thousand questions, but the most prominent ones were what had my father done to betray the king, and how did it warrant his death?

Thinking of Leoro replaced that splintering ache with a white-hot rage. Fragments of ice were superseded by flickering coals threatening to burn me from the inside out unless I found some release. I whirled and faced the tree, pounding my fist against the rough bark, over and over until my skin tore and blood seeped down my wrist. I wanted to scream, to bellow until my voice gave out, but I didn’t dare draw unnecessary attention to us. Instead, I kept slamming my hand against the tree until the flames reduced to a simmer .

Feeling slight relief, I wiped my hand on my pants and turned back to the gentle bay who was watching me with warm, brown eyes, not at all alarmed by my outburst. I was stroking his face when I heard footsteps behind me and glanced over my shoulder to see Velian approaching me with slow, cautious steps.

“Mihrra?” I waited for him to come closer. “Mihrra, I’m so sorry.” Standing behind me, he placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. I leaned into his soothing touch, allowing it to quell my anger enough to think clearly.

Without a tremor in my voice, I said, “I’m going to kill him.”

“Get in line,” he replied.

I turned around and stared at him to convey my sincerity. He blinked twice and then, horrified, whispered, “Mihrra, you can’t. That’s treason, you’ll be killed.”

I threw my hands up in the air. “Velian, he has taken so much from all of us! He abducted your sister and is either going to kill her or imprison her forever as his queen. He took away both your and Enverro’s freedoms and he murdered my father. Murdered him.” I shook my head furiously. “He is an evil, manipulative monster, and he has to be stopped.” My chest heaved with emotion, and Velian set his hands on my shoulders and pulled me into his chest, wrapping his arms around me.

I resisted at first, trying to shove him away with the last sparks of rage, but he tightened his grip and murmured, “I know, sweetheart, I know.” His deep voice rumbled in my ear as the remaining embers winked out, all that fire cooling into bone-deep exhaustion, and I sank into his embrace. My tense muscles relaxed one by one with each calming stroke of his hand on my back, his steady heartbeat lulling me into serenity.

Tilting my head back to look at him, I found him already watching me. It was dark, but away from the fire, my eyes had adjusted to the moonlight, and my breath hitched. He was beautiful in the daylight, but the moonlight favored him, sharpening his features and turning his gemstone eyes from emerald to glittering fluorite.

Studying his face that had become so familiar to me I reached up to touch his cheek, rough with stubble. He shut his eyes and leaned into my hand, but when he opened them again, he watched me with such overwhelming affection I could have started crying all over.

He removed my injured hand from his cheek and inspected the abrasion, then turned it over and brought it to his mouth, placing a delicate kiss on my palm. Heat spread from where his lips met my skin and flowed down my arm to seep through my chest. This heat was different from the one that had consumed me earlier. It was slow and methodical; comforting like a soft, heavy blanket, safe and innocuous, unlike the rage that had threatened to swallow me up.

Moving my injured hand to rest over his heart, the pounding rhythm pulsed beneath his shirt as he brushed a stray hair behind my ear. He slid his fingers down the length of my braid to pull off the ribbon tying the ends, and worked his fingers through, unraveling the braid .

The only sounds were the horses’ tails swishing, the distant crackle of the fire, and our shared breaths as we stared at each other. He used his other hand to cup my cheek, holding my gaze steady.

“I think,” I said hoarsely, licking my lips, his eyes tracking the movement, “I want to call in my debt now.”

The corner of his mouth tugged upward. “How would you prefer to collect?” He brushed his thumb across my lips, making me sigh. Butterflies swirled in anticipation as I flicked my eyes to his mouth, letting my gaze linger.

“I think you know.”

He moved his hand from my cheek to tip my chin up and bent his neck, bringing our faces closer together. I held my breath, agonizing over the distance still between us.

“Velian,” I breathed, gripping his shirt as I stood on my toes and pressed my lips to his. My heart soared as the rest of the world melted away, nothing else mattering, or even existing, other than the feel of his warm lips on mine. And those perfect lips—they were even better than I could have imagined, soft and full, gentle and hungry. They fit against mine like that’s all they were made for, to be the perfect complement to my own.

A sigh escaped me as his hand slid from my chin to rest on the back of my neck, his fingers kneading into my skin. Every inch of my body tingled as our tempo increased. While it was not my first kiss, it was certainly the most meaningful. I’d never known a man such as Velian; someone who I couldn’t stop thinking about, someone who made my body have such a visceral reaction, always aware of his presence and wondering what he was feeling. Someone patient, kind-hearted, protective, and understanding.

There was no trace of the brick wall around my heart, the last remnants burned away by the new fire racing through me, ignited by passion and desire. His tongue danced along the seam of my lips and as I gave in to the fervor, I knew there was no returning from that moment—not that I’d ever want to. With one hand still woven into my hair, his other brushed down to my lower back and pressed our bodies closer together. I ran my hands over the muscles beneath his shirt, my fingers itching to slip under the thin fabric and feel his skin, and in our gaining frenzy, we were oblivious to everything around us.

A throat cleared and I jerked my face away from Velian’s to see Denzen and Corman had returned. Velian did not release me from his grip even as I made to step back. Corman smirked at us, but Denzen kept his eyes trained on the ground.

“Sorry to interrupt, Boss, but we got food,” Corman said, holding up loaves of bread. “The butcher was also still up, and we got some smoked meats.”

“Good work,” Velian said. “We’ll be right there.” Both men nodded their understanding, dismounted and gathered up their purchased victuals, then headed toward the fire. Turning back to me, Velian asked,

“Are you alright, Mihrra?” His voice was husky and his eyes still smoldered with desire .

“I’m not sure.” I was tempted to lie, but what was the point? He always saw right through me and I knew he would want the truth, no matter what it was.

“What can I do?” He stroked a knuckle along my cheek, sparks scattering in its wake to travel throughout my body, still humming with energy.

I trailed a finger down his sternum and looked up from beneath my lashes. His brows were raised, but I noticed his pulse beating in the base of his throat. “You could kiss me again.” I’d never been so brazen in my life, but that was just it; it didn’t feel brazen, it felt natural. With everything out in the open between us, it felt right.

Velian flashed me a dazzling smile, his dimples appearing, and my breath caught as his hand rested on my waist. “Anything for you,” he said, as he brought his mouth to mine once more. The kiss was restrained, more controlled, but no less blissful. After pulling away, he wrapped his hand around mine and led me back to the fire to join the others.

Enverro stood as we approached. My fingers dug into Velian’s hand as I prepared for his words to claw at my wounds.

“Mihrra, I’m-”

“Don’t,” Velian cut him off, his thumb stroking the back of my hand, and I breathed a sigh of relief at his insightfulness. The kiss had soothed my raw edges, but the pain was still there, pulsing with every beat of my heart. I didn’t blame Enverro for his part, but I didn’t want to talk about it, either .

Nodding and resuming his position on the ground, Enverro still held my gaze, the corners of his mouth tightening. Corman handed out bread, Denzen the dried meat. When he reached me, he kept his face toward the ground, looking sheepish. A small part of me felt bad for him, but it was rather convenient that I didn’t have to put a stop to his advances before they escalated.

We sat on the ground around the fire, Velian’s knee resting against mine as he said,

“Enverro, tell us your plan to get into the castle.”