Chapter 32 #2
Only when he returned to his seat did he speak. “Is he truly Skul Drek? I keep trying to convince myself it was not real. That I did not see what I thought I saw.”
In the prince’s hand was a rolled bit of parchment. I recognized the writing on the page.
“So you did receive his missive?”
Thane looked at the words. “He taunted me in it, as we always did. Said I was being petulant, and if I wanted the true story, I was to meet him in a week’s time near the Black Fjords.
I was rather inclined to meet him with every Stav Guard.
Until we received your note and my desire shifted to getting you free. ”
A heart for battle, or a heart to be a hero. Elisabet, what have you done?
My heart cracked on behalf of the prince, for the look of despondency written in every line of his face. Try to hate Roark all he wanted, such pain would not be in his voice if he had not loved him.
“Skul Drek is not what you think.” My voice was clearer, stronger. One glance at my wounded palm, and I nearly broke into a smile. The wound was healing. Yrsa’s craft was fighting Ingir’s.
No mistake, the princess was stronger than she knew.
The prince closed his eyes. “Why did he come to Stonegate? There had to have been a purpose.”
“Me,” I whispered. “He was to find the lost melder and kill me. In the meantime, he fought against soul bones.” I could tell him Roark had little control over his life and the actions of Skul Drek. I could tell him his Sentry never wanted to betray him.
I told him none of it. Thane would not believe a word.
Not yet.
“He didn’t kill you,” Thane said when I remained silent.
“No.” I shook my head. “He didn’t. He is not your enemy, Thane.”
The prince shook his head and leaned onto his elbows over his knees. “I wish I could believe that, Lyra. You’re healing well, so you should know we’ll need to be leaving soon.”
—
I learned quickly to play into their hopes. To play the part of the poor melder recovering from a Draven trance.
It worked.
Yrsa wiped away a tear from my cheek and helped me sit up once she removed the bindings from my wrists. “You mustn’t blame yourself. They lied to all of us.”
Emi. Yrsa’s voice was as harsh as Thane’s. She was broken believing Emi betrayed her heart.
I would go mad if I could not find a way to convince them otherwise soon.
“Come.” She forced a smile. “I’ll help you wash a bit and get some food in you before we set off for Jorvandal. We want to be on our way before nightfall.”
“Yrsa, where is Kael?” I ran a cool linen over my dirty cheeks. “How is he?”
She arched a brow. “Your brother?”
“Yes. Is he well? Safe?”
“Lyra, I thought…I thought he was with you.”
My stomach dropped. “Kael did not come with us.”
“I don’t know. I have not seen him, and I assumed he was taken with you.”
No. No. My eyes clenched. I pressed a hand to my chest. Where was Kael Darkwin? What had they done to him? He lived. He had to live.
Something flickered in my chest when the pain grew too much. Like a caress against my heart. A comfort.
My eyes snapped open. Roark.
How many times had Gunter insisted that the bond would be a draw to the other? Craft roared in my head, not to meld, but to find those threads. Heat glided over my fingertips, smooth as fine satin. The burn was a fire after a storm, a lover’s touch in the night.
My fingers danced in front of me, hidden from the princess as she gathered a fresh tunic for me to wear.
Unseen, my fingers curled around silky threads. There, crisscrossed beneath my flesh, in my blood, to my soul. I tugged. Flickers of warmth, like a splash of steaming water, spilled from my chest to my limbs.
Again, I pulled.
The burn of his eyes filled my mind, the villainous cold of his soul, and I tugged them toward me.
When it faded, my spine felt straighter. My pulse slowed. Yrsa smiled and directed me to a corner where I could dress in peace.
“You will not let me leave?” I asked before the princess abandoned the tent.
She dragged her bottom lip over her teeth. “Not yet, Lyra. We…just want to be certain you’ve returned to us fully.”
Because they still believed me to be under some sort of Draven control.
I dipped my chin, silently conceding, and stared at the flap of the tent she’d used. A dark tunic stepped in front of the gap. Another guarded the back wall. How many Stav Guards Thane brought with him, I didn’t know.
In truth, I didn’t understand how he and the princess had slipped away from Stonegate without Ingir and King Hundur stopping them.
It didn’t matter. I sat on the edge of the cot, focusing on the tent flap.
He was coming.
No doubt, my husband was hunting me.
—
“We must go.” Thane returned, a leather strap in his hand. He offered me a sheepish sort of glance. “You understand, don’t you? We don’t want you to get hurt by fleeing. You’ll feel clearer when we get back to Stonegate.”
“Do you really believe that, Thane?” I hugged my middle. “Do I look confused? Bespelled? In a trance?”
“In truth, you look a little frightening.” He held up a hand. “Gods, I don’t mean it offensively. I only mean, you look like you might bite if I step too close.”
I chuckled flatly. “I won’t.”
“See, that’s what I mean. That doesn’t sound like you. We always got on all right, but now you look at me like the enemy, and I simply want it to go back to what it was.”
“But it can’t.” My face softened. “I’ve seen too much, Thane. Your enemies are not who you think. If you would trust that bit of doubt I see in your eyes, perhaps I could tell you all that has happened. All that will happen if you do not let me go.”
Thane parted his mouth to reply, but it was choked off by a shout from one of the Stav Guard beyond the tent.
An arrow hissed overhead and thudded against one of the outer posts. Thane dropped the tether and drew the blade off his belt.
I grinned.
“Lyra.” He whirled on me. “Please, by the gods, stay here. I’ll see what’s going on.”
“No need.”
“What?”
Passion, fury, violence—all of it sped this way and that across the threads in my heart.
“I already know what is happening,” I said, my voice low. “I think you do too. My husband has arrived.”