Chapter 45
Grateful for his sword training, Halsten blocked the Ryktarvan warriors’ attacks. He had never had to use these skills in a real fight and practice meant nothing compared to the real thing.
When the traitor siren soldiers had first attacked, Halsten had shoved Linnea behind him and so far, he had been able to protect her. Liva was beside him guarding Niklas. If only Gyrial hadn’t left them—they would have stood a far better chance with a fae warrior here.
There were five grunts in total. Halsten knew it was unrealistic for him to think he could kill them all, but he had to at least try to run them off. Did the enemy know that they possessed the mirror? Was that why they were here?
They were so damned close to home. So close to making it out of the journey unscathed. If they hadn’t been held back by a dangerous storm for almost a full day, they would be in Orntali right now.
Halsten’s arm muscles burned, but he couldn’t stop fighting. Linnea was behind him, and he would not let any harm come to her.
Liva plunged her sword through one of the siren’s hearts and he toppled to the ground in a heap. One of the merfolk hissed, fangs glinting in the fading sun. One down, four to go.
Though Halsten could not distinguish what they were saying, he could hear Linnea and Niklas speaking behind him. There was a terrible screech, and another siren went down under Liva’s blade.
Come on, Halsten. Don’t let Liva do all the work!
Halsten had never actually been in battle before, nevermind kill someone, but he needed to try. If they lost, it meant Linnea would be injured—or worse—and he could not let that happen.
The thought of Linnea getting hurt started the rage within him, and the memory of how her own mother treated her back at the estate sent the fury pumping throughout his entire body.
How could someone hurt Linnea? Strike. How could her own mother starve her? Strike. How could anyone look at this marvelous, strong woman and want to do anything to dim her light? Strike. How could Halsten even let these soldiers get within ten feet of her?
Halsten purposely left his ribs open, enticing the soldier to step forward for a killing strike and at the last moment, he twisted forward and let his blade spin with him, aiming right for the siren’s neck.
Halsten didn’t feel the impact of the steel on skin, didn’t feel the resistance of slicing through muscle and bone.
Didn’t feel remorse as the siren’s head came clean off and rolled away.
So that was Halsten’s motivation—Linnea.
He moved onto the next soldier, trying the same method, but this warrior was stronger and faster than the last. The creature met each of Halsten’s strikes with a block no matter what training strategy he used.
Then, the soldier started fighting back.
Each swing of her blade came quickly and Halsten was barely stopping them inches before impact.
Halsten’s first kill had made him cocky.
Realistically, he knew he had never fought before and likely got lucky.
Now, he was paying the price. He aimed low, trying to slow the siren down by injuring a leg, but the creature jumped, her boots landing directly on Halsten’s blade and ripping it from his hands.
He stumbled back, but could not retreat because Linnea was behind him and he would not expose her.
The female siren spun and threw a short sword, which speared through Halsten’s thigh like a warm knife through butter.
For a few seconds, he couldn’t feel the pain, and in those few seconds, he watched as Linnea plunged a dagger into the gloating siren’s jugular. Then, the world went black.
The world was still dark, but Halsten could feel his body slightly jostling and hear the sound of hooves hitting dirt. At his first attempt to move, pain like he’d never experienced seared through him emanating from his thigh.
Forcing his eyes to open, he found himself riding a horse backwards, his back leaning against the other rider who was leading the horse.
His leg was stretched out in front of him, his ankle and foot dangling off the horse’s rump.
His pant leg had been cut off very high up on his limb, dangerously close to revealing his manhood.
The fabric from his pant leg was then used to secure a thick patch of white—now covered in blood—cotton to what Halsten knew was a life threatening injury.
White flashed in his vision but he eventually turned his head enough to see who he was leaning against, shocked when auburn hair blew in his face and tangled with his own black locks.
“Oh! You’re awake!” Linnea exclaimed, the horse slowing down and the hoof clapping sounds ahead of them stopping as well. “Help me get him down.”
Liva and Niklas came into Halsten’s view and they eased him down off the side of the horse. He would never tell them how painful it was for them to move him since they took such intensive care of his injured leg, but the throbbing made him want to vomit.
Halsten sat on the ground, injured leg stretched in front of him. Linnea sat down next to him, holding a square of cotton. “We have to change your bandage. You should drink some water and try to eat something, too.” Linnea offered him a waterskin and a handful of dried apple slices.
Halsten drank the water as Linnea watched intently.
When he was done, she encouraged him to nibble on the apple slices while she changed his bandage.
She warned him that releasing the pressure of the bandage temporarily will likely hurt, and he did not have the heart to tell her how much agony he was in already.
He tore off a very small piece of the dried apple slice and nearly heaved.
A cold sweat spread across his forehead and his palms became clammy.
When Linnea untied the fabric and released the pressure, Halsten turned to the side, vomiting all of the water back up. Again, the world faded to nothing.
Halsten stirred in bed, listening to birds chirping through the window beside him. Wait—in bed.
He opened his eyes and looked around, surprised to find himself in his suite back in the Orntali castle.
The warmth of the sun beat down on him while he laid tucked safely under a heavy comforter.
No one else was in the room, so he peeled the blankets back to investigate further and found his leg to be splinted and heavily bandaged.
At least this time, there was no strikethrough.
A woman came bustling in with a tray. “Oh, Sir Halsten, you’re awake!
” The woman rushed over and dropped the tray onto his bedside table.
She grabbed the blanket and placed it back over him.
“Best you don’t get up yet. You’re not quite ready for that yet.
Here, try to drink something. I’ve also brought some broth in hopes that you would be awake enough to try eating. ”
Halsten heard a gasp near the door and all sounds faded, all scents dissipated, as Linnea stepped into the room, her fiery hair illuminated by the golden sunlight. Her expression changed from shock to relief, a soft smile tugging the corners of her mouth up ever so slightly.
“I’ll excuse myself. Call if you need anything,” the woman said before stepping around Linnea and closing the door behind her.
Linnea slowly approached the bed, perching herself on the edge near Halsten’s hip, and laid a hand on his chest. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again, Halsten Seung, you stupidly brave man.”
Halsten smiled, “Do you think I’ll have an impressive battle scar?”
Linnea lightly pushed on his chest. “And who will be looking at your thigh so intimately that you’ll have the chance to impress them?”
“Just you, Little Flame.”
Linnea blushed, then reached for the bowl of broth. Halsten sat up slowly, the world slightly spinning as he did. He must have lost a lot of blood from his wound.
He reached forward to grab the bowl from her and she pulled it away, holding up a finger. “You’re still recovering.”
She held out the spoon to him and he begrudgingly swallowed down the broth. “Lin, my hands aren’t wounded. Solely my leg.”
She didn’t care. She sat there and spoon fed him the entire bowl of broth, then watched as he drank down the water that the nurse had brought. Halsten had never been taken care of like this by anyone, not even when he was sick as a child. Linnea was a caretaker, so he let her do what she did best.
Linnea rested a hand on his chest again and he grabbed her wrist, pulling her down so they were face-to-face. Halsten leaned forward, pressing his lips to hers and she gingerly moved hers in response.
He backed away, eyebrow raised. “My lips aren’t broken, love.”
He kissed her again, and this time, she kissed him back. An unfamiliar warmth grew from the center of his chest, overtaking his entire body and he knew what it meant. Halsten knew that he was falling for Linnea.
She kissed him more passionately then, her chest resting on his, her tongue sweeping into his mouth playfully, and he was incredibly proud of her for taking control. It was a bloom of confidence he wanted to nurture in her and watch grow over time. Over their time together. Forever.
Linnea suddenly backed away. “I should go. You need rest.”
“I am resting,” Halsten protested, pulling her back to him. “I don’t need to get out of bed to do what I want to do to you right now.”
Linnea blushed again, a little giggle escaping her. Halsten guided her hand that was previously resting on his chest down his body slowly, setting it on his hardness. “That’s not broken either, my wildfire.”
Halsten did not leave bed that afternoon, but he certainly did not get any rest.