Wed to the Barbarian (Barbarian Duet #1)

T he beast was gone.

As Jem groaned on the hard ground, his body aching in places he hadn’t known possible, he blinked in the murky dawn light at the empty grass beside him. He bolted up to sitting, the furs sliding to his lap. Had Cador abandoned him? He wasn’t sure whether to be hopeful or terrified.

But no, the others were still there, although Jem was the only one still abed—if one could call huddling under animal pelts on the hard ground “abed.” The fire blazed, some of the Erghians sitting by it eating, a few milling around.

Cador wasn’t in sight, but the pale horse they’d ridden still grazed at the stream.