Chapter 40
Valen
Belle sprinted for her horse, and gods, it was a sight. She wore the riding habit like she belonged in it. My eyes traced the cut of the leathers—every stride accentuated the curve of her ass. I ground my teeth as she pulled herself up into the saddle, my jaw straining. Focus.
Bringing her had been a mistake—for so many reasons.
We rode into the dark cover of the forest, a hint of frost in the air.
The woods were perilous on a hunter’s blood moon, and I should’ve kept my gaze on the way ahead, yet I couldn’t stop myself from stealing looks at her.
The woman was nothing if not a distraction.
I’d been foolish to let her join the hunt, but somehow, I hadn’t been able to turn her away.
That was a problem.
As we moved through a gap in the pines, I pointed to the ribbon of light drifting above the treetops. “We’ll make for the Fold. That’s where the Vaythir will be found.”
Two months ago, I would’ve charged ahead, fearless, with nothing to stop me from taking the honor of the first kill, but tonight I’d planned to hang back and let the others run in.
If there were dyrwulf stalking the woods, the other hunters would either drive them off or satiate the wolves’ hunger. Better them than my princess.
I let Belle set the pace. I relished seeing her like this—focused, intense, free.
Could I trust her with this freedom? With other freedoms? I wanted to, but the last time I’d trusted a woman, my heart had been cleaved in two.
The trees thinned, and Belle guided Briar closer so that we rode side by side. Her scent was different tonight. Fuller and brighter, less guarded. She was in her element, and it suited her.
“This isn’t the first time you’ve called a hunt for the Vaythir?” she asked.
“Only once before, when I’d first gathered my court—to remind them of the home they’d lost.”
The home I’d lost.
Belle nodded silently.
“Hunting the Vaythir is an ancient rite,” I continued, “done only in ceremony or in times of great need.”
“Then his story is real?”
“As real as you or I. He sired our line. Usually, we hunt for the dyrivar—the great stag—in his honor, and not the bloodgolt. Perhaps someone will be lucky enough to sight one.”
“Have you ever brought one down?”
“Never. My brother and I sighted one when we were young, but it fled. No one has killed one in my memory.”
I set my jaw, a bitter taste in my mouth.
My brother. We’d hunted together, fought side by side, even shared women.
Everything had been a competition, but I’d never expected him to betray me.
I’d been a fool, oblivious to how much he’d changed after our father’s death, or how much he’d coveted my throne.
The mages had corrupted him, fed his ambition, turned him against me.
Siggy’s voice rose, unbidden. Your brother had nothing to do with it.
A woman’s lies. She was playing with the truth, making it read the way she wanted. The mages may have cast me out, but Cassius had been the one to send the assassins.
And why not? The bastard had everything now. Unchallenged rule, the wealth of my kingdom, and a bride as powerful as she was beautiful.
I glanced at Belle. The thought of him seeing her—of coveting her—made me murderous. When had I become a godsdamned hypocrite? The answer was obvious, but I wouldn’t acknowledge it.
“What is it?” Belle asked, jarring me from my thoughts.
“You led hunts for my brother when you were at Silverthorn.”
“Yes. A few times, but once the beasts started coming across the border, Cassius forbade me to go into the woods alone.”
And he’d left me to die in them.
My fingers fisted around the reins. “You must be a skilled tracker if the king requested your assistance. Our sense of smell is far more powerful than that of humans.”
“I knew the forest well—the trails and seasonal haunts of the game. My duty was to get the hunting parties into position. The immortals tracked by scent once we were close, and I hung back.” She looked at me almost apologetically. “I can’t stand the sight of blood.”
It was difficult to hide my smile. “I’ve gathered that. Strange that you should take up such a bloody profession.”
Her gaze returned to the forest ahead, but I didn’t need to see her face to sense her grief. “My father disappeared, and someone had to support our family. I learned out of desperation, not out of love for the hunt.”
Duty.
That drive, I understood. We were ice and fire, sunlight and shadow, yet our sense of duty was the one thing we shared.
It seemed to consume her and drive her every action.
She’d been an older sister, struggling to feed her family.
She’d set out into the cursed woods in a desperate gamble to protect people that weren’t even her kin.
She’d traded herself for a pair of fools.
I wondered if she even knew where her life began and her duty ended. What would she want for herself if all those burdens were taken away? Had anyone ever offered to fight for her, as she had fought for them? The question unsettled me more than it should have.
“You didn’t need to come tonight,” I said, shifting in my saddle. “I would’ve killed a bloodgolt for you and brought you the tusk.”
Her gaze drifted across the trees, and she sighed deeply. “I know you think I’m a liability, but I wanted to come. Back home, the woods were always my place of refuge. Then…” Her words drifted off.
Then my brother forbade her from entering them.
I would’ve done the same if I didn’t know it would break her.
Seeing her in the woods—in her element—free and unbidden was like seeing her for the first time.
It was little wonder that she chafed at the confines of the castle.
She had an unbridled spirit, one that demanded freedom and adventure.
And I was the bastard holding her captive, forcing her to be something that went against the grain of her nature.
She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. We’ll bring down a bloodgolt, and I’ll have the beginning of an answer.”
A splinter of guilt twisted in me. I’d given her hope, yet the tusk would only protect one person, and I had no intention of letting anyone wear it but her.
The bitter wind flushed her cheeks, but she rode high in the saddle, poised and indomitable. She was a wild, magical animal I could neither catch nor command. I should stay away. But the gods only knew I couldn’t.
Perhaps that was why the Fates put her in my path. They wanted me so desperate that in the end, I’d welcome ruin, as long as it came from her.