6. Chapter Six
Chapter Six
The surrounding landscape is beautiful—pristine snow, glittering snowcapped trees—but my idiot eyes can’t seem to appreciate anything besides Mayah’s ass.
She strides ahead, arms crossed tightly, throwing an icy glare at me over her shoulder every ten steps or so. Her clothes are still soaked from the rain, clinging to her curves.
And I’m just a man.
My thigh throbs with each step, though the pain isn’t nearly as bad as when Lev punched a fist-sized rock into my leg as teenagers.
“Are you normally this chivalrous?” Mayah bites out through chattering teeth, stepping over a fallen branch. “Making me walk in front.”
I frown—her teeth haven’t stopped clacking together since she awoke. She’ll need to change into the spare clothes I found soon.
“I won’t let the rebels hurt you.”
“It’s not them I’m worried about. I don’t like you behind me.”
I don’t respond, transfixed by her swaying hips. Am I imagining it, or did she add an extra sashay for my benefit?
Of course not, idiot. She despises you after you tied her up and pinned her to the ground in the snow.
Mayah speeds up, and I’m so distracted, I nearly miss it in my periphery.
“Wait,” I call, stopping beside a small tree. A jagged break splits the trunk in half, needled branches drooping on either side. My distrust comes crackling back.
“What?” She crosses her shivering arms, chin tilted in defiance.
“Look.” I point to the center of the tree—there’s a thick, twisted column of ice where the bark splits, as if water had surged through the trunk and then frozen until it cracked in half.
Slowly, she meets my eyes.
“A waterwielder did this,” I add casually.
She doesn’t respond.
“You don’t know of any waterwielders that might have followed us, do you? The captain of the Tundrayni royal guard, perhaps?”
She shifts on her feet. “Not that I know of.”
I stare, waiting for the telltale proof that she’s lying.
It never comes.
“Seriously?” she snaps, arms crossed. “You think I sent Daak after you? Maybe I should’ve.”
A low grunt is my only response. I pivot and head back to the clearing where I left the satchels with our clothing and supplies, distinctly aware of the quiet crunch of her boots, the soft thrum of her energy signature as she follows.
I grab her satchel from the base of a large tree and hand it to her. “Change out of your wet clothes before you freeze to death.”
I half expect her to argue, and if I’m being truthful, I’m disappointed when she doesn’t.
She opens the leather pack, brows knitting together.
“You went through my things.”
“I had to.”
“And here I thought I had a shred of dignity left. Silly me.” She laughs, but it’s colder than the snow.
I arch a brow. “Happy to strip that from you too, if you like.”
Mayah glares at me, fingers twitching as if she wants to slap me again. I’d like to see her try.
She refuses to change with me here, so I turn and take a few steps away to appease her, trying desperately to think about anything except her naked behind the tree.
Rebels. Faramir’s stupid face. The stench of burning flesh.
Mother.
When she finally returns, I ask, “Are we going to be civil?”
“Depends. Are you going to be an ass?” She flings her bundled clothes at my feet. “What do we do now, oh great commander?”
Her tone grates at me, but it’s expected. I did tie her up, after all.
“All my men are dead. The rebels knew exactly where we were and how many soldiers I had.”
“You don’t still think I had something to do with that, do you?”
A beat.
“No. I believe you.”
“Finally. Some progress.” She rolls her eyes. “We’re not too far from the palace. We can make it back within a day, regroup, get supplies—”
“We’re not going back to the palace.”
She blinks slowly. “Excuse me?”
“You expect me to walk into the Tundrayni capital with no soldiers? They’ll impale me with ice spears before I reach the gate.”
“You keep forgetting—there’s a ceasefire in place. That only—”
“—I have broken,” I interject. I clench my jaw, irritation crackling inside me. She gets under my skin so easily. “So you’ve reminded me. Several times. The ceasefire is shaky enough as it is. The moment I show up alone, it’ll be forgotten.”
“Fine. Do what you want. I’ll go back myself.”
“And if the rebels catch you?”
“That’s not your problem.”
“You’re betrothed to my brother. You are my problem.”
“Oh, now you remember?” she shoots back, arms crossed tightly over her chest. “You seemed to forget that little fact when you tied me up and manhandled me.”
I flinch, a fresh wave of guilt battering me. My gaze drops to her bruised wrists.
“Look,” I say quietly. “It’s dangerous out there.
I can’t let you go alone. Believe it or not, I don’t actually want you harmed.
” She scoffs, but I press on. “And if anything happens to you, your father could blame me and attack Arbinj.” It isn’t my main motivator, but it’s something she might actually believe.
“What do you propose, then? You won’t go with me. You won’t let me go alone. Should we just pitch a tent and freeze to death?”
“We travel to Arbinj together. Where you’ll marry my brother. As planned.”
She gapes at me. “That’ll take weeks on foot! Over a month, even. We don’t have the supplies.”
“Definitely over a month. You’ll slow us down.”
“This is madness,” she bites out. “You’ll be safe in Tundrayn. You’re under my protection.”
No prickles. I smirk. It’s cute that she believes she could protect me. “I appreciate that, Mayah.” She flinches. “Truly. But the answer is no.”
She worries her lower lip, glancing sideways at the snow-covered trees.
“Don’t even think about it.” I take two long strides toward her until only a foot separates us. “I’ll catch you in seconds and drag you back. We’ll have wasted even more precious time.”
She glares at me with open hatred. “Fine,” she grits out. “What next?”
“We keep walking ‘til nightfall. Tomorrow, we’ll keep going. There’s an Arbinji base near the border.” I walk away, certain she’ll follow. What else can she do? “The rebels might still be close. Skies, you’ve been shouting enough to lead them straight to us.”
“Maybe next time, don’t call down a storm just because you’re cranky,” she mutters. “Giant thunderclouds make it very obvious that there’s an insufferable stormwielder nearby.”
I don’t turn around, otherwise she’d see the begrudging smile that curves my lips.