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My irritation that was building as soon as I saw him only increased at the show of authority. The only part of this trip that I’d been looking forward to was the space from Nickolai. Being stuck without anywhere to escape from him for a week was really going to put a kink in that.

I followed my bag as he carried it to a blue-gray horse, securing it to the saddle. “This is Blue, she is the calmest horse we have.” His voice caressed my ears while his hands did the same to the mane of the horse.

I turned my attention to Blue, immediately feeling some relief from the anger that Nickolai caused by being here.

She was beautiful, with a white mane to offset the dark color of the rest of her coat.

I reached a hand out to pet the side of her neck, which caused her to tilt her head into my torso—rubbing her head up and down the fabric and metal.

A surprising giggle escaped my mouth and I stiffened at the odd sound before looking at Nickolai, who also appeared shocked.

“Too bad you won’t let me do that to you,” he snickered as he nodded to the horse's head.

Deciding not to call any more attention to it, I moved to put my foot in the stirrup.

But as I boosted myself up, I felt large fingers slide along my hips just under the armor, pushing me further into the saddle.

I swung my leg over to keep myself from falling and turned to glare at the man who belonged to those fingers.

My new blade was against his throat before he could blink, “Don’t fucking touch me again!”

His face hardened, and after a moment, he leaned into the knife. “Don’t forget who you’re speaking to,” he growled.

“I don’t care if you shit gold, I will make you remember how to ask before you touch.” I held the dagger for a few more seconds before placing it back along my pants.

Nickolai seemed to believe my threat because in the next moment he turned around and begrudgingly stalked over to his own horse.

He mounted the large black stallion with matching silver armor—rage pouring off him.

I caught a wide-eyed glance that was shared between the others who saw the exchange and turned my glare upon them.

They may be fae, but they will soon know that they weren’t the only ones not to be messed with, even if I was human.

Nickolai’s voice was clipped as he commanded the group, “We will be setting up the first camp just past the river. At any sign of a beast, we stop and check it out. Keep your eyes peeled.” With that, our horses started hauling us toward the tree line.

Nickolai and Nessy were in front, leaving Loughlan and me to take up the middle, followed by Calin and Rita.

Crunching gravel from the path turned into soft collective thuds, joined by the snaps of twigs breaking in half under the weight of each hoof and wheel of the wagon. Leaves and branches brushed across my legs, which were clinging to the ribcage of the horse for dear life.

My body jostled like I was but a doll being shaken until the seams ripped, making me regret the morning waffles.

I could count on one hand the number of times I’d ridden a horse.

It wasn't without want or effort, but with the majority of my life being spent captive or sleeping in a new barn each night, it left little time to do horseback riding.

“You’re sitting too far forward,” Loughlan corrected as he looked over at me. “Lean back, relax, and balance yourself on the horse.”

I tried to follow his instructions, which ended with me having to grab the horn of the saddle to keep myself upright and Loughlan laughing.

“Bring your shoulders back and point your toes forward, not at the sky.” This time it was Nickolai giving the correction. I begrudgingly took his advice, which annoyingly helped ease the bouncing of the horse.

“You haven’t ridden much, have you?” Nessy stated.

Nickolai threw back a look with a suggestive smirk.

Prick.

My lips thinned as I glared at him. “No, I haven’t,” I growled.

“What did you do with your time as a child?” Nessy asked, the exchange between me and Nickolai going unnoticed.

“Not much,” I clipped.

She continued her questioning even though my tone suggested otherwise, “Where are you from? Nic refuses to tell me.”

I couldn’t blame her for asking questions. If someone showed up with an obvious past with my brother, I would want to know more about them too.

I blew out a breath, “I was held captive in Wrodgow until I was eleven, when I sailed here.”

Wrodgow and Ylouver were the only two kingdoms not apart of the continent, each of them having their own island of isolation. One for humans, one for fae. I, of course, was the one filled with fae, nothing more than a slave.

I didn’t mind sharing this part of my life, it was a major part of what made me who I was. But as I said it, everyone other than Loughlan and the king looked shocked by my revelation.

“Were you on the run?” This time, it was Loughlan who spoke.

Nickolai perked up from his brooding, seemingly curious as well.

“Sort of—I received a large sum from the man who helped me escape, which lasted me for a few years while I kept a low profile. But when that ran out, I just did what I could to survive until I found that cottage. By that time, I figured since no one had found me, they weren’t looking for me. ”

Nickolai turned his gaze forward, trying to seem unbothered, even though the muscle in his jaw ticking gave away his need to say or ask something. No one else seemed to notice as they moved on from the question.

Loughlan looked at Nessy. “Remember that one cabin we found as kids by the river?”

Her eyes bugged as she looked back at him, “Yes! And when Nic got us in trouble because we showed up at the castle with his nose broken from running into that tree.” She burst out laughing at the memory.

“Why didn’t it heal?” The question left me before I had even realized it.

“It healed, just in the wrong spot because these two and Zeke kept bickering over who got to reset it,” Nickolai answered, shooting a look at Loughlan and Nessy, who smirked at each other.

“We’ll have to show you the place sometime, Mira. You can still see the dent in the tree from Nic,” Nessy said.

“I‘ll cut off my arm and give it to whoever gets me a painting of that tree,” I declared, which caused her to snort.