Page 81 of The Nymph Prince

He knew the area well. He’d traveled all over the land when he’d been an assassin, and he knew of hidden paths that’d give us the element of surprise. But mostly to avoid being seen by any of the human king’s men. If sighted, they could view it as a threat and start the war before we had chance to prevent it.

Troy stopped every so often to admire the rocks and plants. But then Eva would protest and tell him to keep walking. He’d sigh and stomp his feet a bit before sneakily bending down and grabbing something else from the earth to fiddle with.

Malik’s gaze hardly left Troy.

He protected my greatest friend just as fiercely as he protected me. The difference was he viewed Troy more as a helpless male who needed constant supervision. His performance before we’d left Avalontis had been a great one, but I knew better. He hadn’t argued about Troy accompanying us because he thought Troy would ruin the mission. No, it was because he feared for Troy’s safety.

I feared for him, as well. Feared for all of us should I fail in convincing King James that we needed to band together, instead of attacking each other while the real enemy grew stronger.

“Say farewell to the sea,” Reif stated in his gruff tone. “For we take to the mountains now.”

As we neared the passage, the top of the mountain blocked the sun. My skin cooled instantly with the transition from sun to shade and bumps formed on my arms. It grew dark, too. Eerie, almost.

A hand slipped into mine, and I thought it might’ve been Alek.

It was Troy. His eyes were wide as he looked around the dark, narrow passage. He rarely touched others. Even from a young age, he’d had a thing about keeping his distance. But not with me. Never with me. He’d grown to trust Malik and let the larger male hold him at times, too, but I was the one he usually leaned on.

I gave his hand a reassuring squeeze and offered my best smile. There was nothing to fear. Not yet.

As the day drew on, conversation idled before eventually dying off all together. We were all exhausted. If we planned to reach Talena by midday the following day, we couldn’t rest for long in between hours of trekking through the mountainside.

“I don’t like mountains much,” Troy muttered after slipping on a rock and nearly falling into a chasm. Quick thinking on Malik’s part had saved him from that very painful fall. “I don’t think they like me, either.”

We stopped to make camp for the night as the sun was setting. Malik gathered wood so we’d have warmth and a fire to cook our dinner. Troy caught several rabbits and Eva collected herbs to season them with. I’d found berries while Alek and I’d been fooling around in the bushes and they’d add sweetness to our meal.

Reif stood off to the side, hand on his sword and his gaze on the nearby field. We’d chosen an area with a high wall of rock at our back, a stream to one side and a forest on the other. The only opening was straight ahead. That’s where he watched.

“Reif?” I called out. He didn’t look at me, but I knew he’d heard me. “You need to eat.”

“Odd how I’ve spent so much time with him, but know very little of his life,” Alek said, staring at his guard. “He liked me once. Before I nearly killed him, that is. If I could take back that day, I would.”

“Do you think you would’ve actually killed him?” I asked, resting my head on his chest.

We sat by the fire as Eva seasoned the meat. Troy sharpened sticks for arrows, even though he had plenty of them in the quiver. Trying to keep himself occupied.

“I’d like to think not,” Alek answered. “It kills me to have hurt you as I did. The bruise on your back took many days to fade, and each time I laid eyes on it, I felt as though my soul was chippin’ away.”

The accent I adored was thick and I focused on the smooth lilt of his words. He’d become much more comfortable with his speech and no longer fearful of anyone recognizing the beautiful inflections in his voice.

The fire caught Malik’s orange eyes. They glowed brighter as he watched us from several feet away.

“Mage,” he said before standing and approaching us. I trusted him with my life and knew he’d never defy me by killing Alek…yet, nerves wound in my gut anyway. “We have things to discuss.”

Alek’s expression gave nothing away, not fear or even curiosity. Just indifference. It was his mask that I knew all too well. He pressed his lips to my temple before withdrawing his arm and getting to his feet.

Cold crept along my side at the absence of his warm body.

They walked toward Reif. I couldn’t take my eyes off them. And yes, I was much too nosey and wished to know what they spoke of, but was too far away to hear. I couldn’t even read their body language. Maddening males and their unwillingness to show emotion. They all wore stoic expressions as they chatted.

Alek turned to where I couldn’t see his face. Reif and Malik watched him, their brows furrowed.

“Here you are, Loo-loo.” Eva placed a wooden bowl on my lap.

“Thanks.”

The mouthwatering aroma had me momentarily forgetting about my mage and the two guards that, at one time, would’ve loved to see his head on a pike. The rabbit was juicy and well-spiced and the berries made my mouth water with their balance of tart and sweet.

Troy joined me. His inquisitive eyes no longer darted everywhere as they had when we first surfaced, but any small noise had him jumping and turning to look to find the cause of it.