Page 214 of The Chains You Defy

Gasping, I was catapulted out of young Dion’s head and stared into the open eyes of the real prince, who reached out to wipe the tears off my face.

“You witnessed your mother dying.”

“Yes. And he forced me to behead my father. After that, if I showed only an ounce of emotion, he’d wield his powers on me.”

I couldn’t suppress icy shivers running down my spine as I recalled the terrible feeling and awful pain of Galrach’s magic entering my system.

“Nayana, did my grandfather use his foul talents on you?”

Denying the truth made no sense, so I nodded. “Briefly. During the second ball, as he danced with me. Maybe on my food.”

“You’ll have to tell me everything that happened before you fled from Alaiann. And what you remember of your time at the Cuirt. But first, you need to eat, and I’ll order Ireas to examine you. Then we’ll make plans and decide what to do with this fucking clusterfuck of a situation.”

“Do you already have an idea of where we’ll travel next?” Exhaustion powered into me when I only considered sitting on a horse.

“There’s still some minor disagreement in our group about our destination. Antas and Fig don’t trust that the tear will stay dormant, and I don’t give a flying fuck and demand taking you to the Ainmhi for treatment.”

All I did was nod and hug closer to my prince.

Five minutes later, Dion gently disentangled himself before getting up and reluctantly stalking away.

Two days later, we were still staying at the same campsite. The males couldn’t decide on a course of action, and Dion got more restless by the hour.

And so I slept a lot.

The prince had left my side a few minutes ago—something he’d rarely done lately—and when he returned, he bent down, wrapped me tightly in a blanket, and picked me up, carrying me as if I weighed nothing.

“I can walk myself.”

“You’re still weak.”

“Dion.”

“Naya.”

“Since when do you coddle me?”

“Since you almost died one too many times. The strongest male can only handle so much when his beloved goddess is so damn squishy and obviously trying her everything to transcend to Udiona.”

Well, that shut me up. Almost certainly, he’d meant his answer as a joke, but there had been enough hardness and agony in his voice that I recognized the kernel of truth behind his words.

“I need to hold you, at least until I’m convinced you’re not going anywhere. Let me have this.”

“Territorial bastard.”

“Oh, you haven’t seen anything. I swear to you, from here on out, whenever anyone so much as looks at you funny, I’ll annihilate them on the spot. I’m done taking risks when it comes to you. You thought I was unhinged before? Welcome to your new reality, Nayana. You invited someone like me into your life. Therefore, you only have yourself to blame that I’ll never leave you again.”

An icy trickle ran down my spine. He’d basically just repeated what he’d told me two days ago, but in much darker words, and even though I fought the sentiment, something in his murderous tone filled me with utter satisfaction. Did his grim promise scare me? In a way, yes, but then again, I couldn’t fight the sense of protection he instilled in my battered soul.

We arrived at a bigger campfire than the one burning next to our bedrolls, and I blinked as Dion lowered me into another prepared nest. “Where did you get all those pillows from?”

“There’s a village nearby.” Dion preened while he tucked me into sheer softness and made sure that my blanket was fully covering me—he confirmed this notonly once, but three times. His care was thorough—and entirely over the top.

Turning my head, I spotted Antas smiling as he observed his nephew, and I decided not to comment on the prince’s mother hen behavior.

“Ireas, you can approach.”

“Don’t be so bossy, princeling.”