Chapter 13
Thirteen
AMbrOSE
I was still reeling from the shock and embarrassment of my assumption, so I didn’t see what was happening until Godr stumbled away from me. He looked like someone had stabbed him in the chest, and the pain on his face echoed in my own when he turned and ran away from me.
Finn burst into tears, clinging to the barbarian holding him. I whipped my head around to Zoya for an explanation. Please tell me I hadn’t hurt that sweet man.
“Finn told him what you thought, but—” She shot a worried look at Godr, who leapt gracefully onto his horse and took off. “He didn’t really get a chance to explain. I’m worried he took it the wrong way.”
I bit back a curse. I should have kept my mouth shut.
No, scratch that. I shouldn’t have assumed in the first place.
I’d been so sure I knew everything, I ended up making all the worst mistakes and making things harder for everyone.
Including Godr, who was literally running away from his people because of me.
Unwilling to let Godr take the blame for my mistake, I ran after him, leaping over the fence and racing for the horses. I wasn’t going to let him be chased off because I was an idiot who didn’t think to ask before throwing myself at someone.
My erratic behavior spooked most of the horses.
Only one stood steadily watching me. The one that had kicked Godr in the chest the other day.
He came straight for me, letting me scramble onto his back before guiding him in the direction Godr had gone.
I heard shouts behind me, but I refused to sit and wait for him to come back.
They might think I was trying to escape, but I only wanted to fix the mess I’d made.
I ignored the fear in the back of my mind that they’d chase me and hurt me for running, urging the horse forward with a light tap of my heels.
It was a good thing I was holding onto his mane, because he didn’t start slow.
He took off at a gallop, and I nearly slid off the back of him before we got more than a few feet.
I had to hug his neck to keep my seat when he jumped over the fence.
My miniscule riding skills did not include bareback racing.
I managed to readjust to a more comfortable hold, squeezing the horse’s sides with my thighs to keep from falling off.
We followed the dust trail Godr’s horse had left in its wake, and then the path through the tall grass he’d cut through.
I thought we’d be chasing him for a while, but apparently, the horse that had chosen me was fast because we caught up after a few minutes, and Godr came into view, his body low on his horse as they ran as fast as they could.
“If you can go faster, do it,” I urged the horse beneath me. “We have to catch up to them.”
Almost like he understood me, the horse picked up the pace, and if the moment wasn’t so serious, I would have whooped at the speed we were going.
It was dangerous—falling off would surely kill me, or at least injure me badly—but it was thrilling at the same time.
I’d never let loose enough to enjoy something like this before.
My enjoyment was short-lived as we caught up to Godr and matched his stride. He glanced over, doing a double take when he realized it was me that was chasing him.
“Ambrose?” he shouted incredulously.
“Slow down!” I called back, gesturing with my hand to get him to understand what I meant. When this was all over, I was going to take those language lessons more seriously. I wasn’t making this kind of mistake again.
Thankfully, Godr seemed to understand because he tugged lightly on his horse’s mane, slowing the animal down. My horse kept pace, slowing with him, and we came to a stop together.
Godr was wide-eyed as he said something to me, that same sweet concern on his face I’d come to recognize over the past few days. I shook my head, giving him a chagrined smile.
“I still don’t understand you. And that’s my fault. I should have taken the time to learn. I never meant to hurt you. None of this was your fault. I made assumptions and took matters into my own hands. You did nothing wrong.”
It was his turn to shake his head, showing he didn’t understand.
At this point, we were just talking at each other.
I should have brought someone with me to explain things to him.
I’d made another stupid decision in my haste to fix things, and now we were stuck trying to talk without any hope of actually communicating.
Huffing out a laugh, I ran my fingers through my hair, admitting mostly to myself, “I’m a mess. I’ve been in survival mode since Evie was selected as tribute, and I’m making stupid decisions.”
Godr cocked his head, urging his horse closer to press his leg against mine. Reassuring me like he always did. When his expression turned pained again and he tried to pull away, I reached for him, snagging his arm before he could.
“Don’t. Please don’t blame yourself. This is my fault, Godr. I’m sorry.”
He put his hand on top of mine, his eyes searching my face for answers neither of us could give. Even if I had the words to speak with him, I wouldn’t know what else to say. He probably thought he’d taken advantage when it was really the other way around.
Godr’s head whipped around suddenly, and his eyes narrowed. I followed his gaze to another dust cloud coming our way. Shit. Had someone followed me because they thought I was running away? Or did we have something else to worry about?
“Godr…” I asked, worried. I really needed a better way to communicate with him.
His hand squeezed mine, and he waited to answer me until the dust cloud got closer and he could see who it was. His sigh was relieved when he said, “Einar.”
I didn’t know what that meant, but his relief was enough for me. It probably wasn’t an enemy, at the very least.
It didn’t take long before the newcomer came to join us. Something about him was familiar, though I couldn’t quite place where I knew him. It wasn’t until he pulled to a stop beside us and a smaller man peeked out from behind him that I realized who he was.
“Matthew?”
He gave me an awkward smile and a wave, still quiet like the last time I’d met him.
He’d needed treatment for a stab wound to the abdomen.
He was lucky to have lived long enough to get to me.
His barbarian, who I now recognized as Einar, had stayed glued to his side through the whole ordeal and glared at me whenever I came into the room.
If I hadn’t been needed to keep Matthew alive, I doubted he would’ve let me that close to his lover.
As it was, he’d taken Matthew back to their clan earlier than I would have liked, mostly because I worried about him riding on a horse for who knows how long while still recovering.
Einar’s eyes were narrowed suspiciously on me. “You are the physician,” he said gruffly.
“I am,” I agreed. “I wasn’t running away. I just wanted to make sure Godr was okay.”
He grunted in response, which honestly didn’t surprise me.
Einar was exactly what I thought when I imagined a barbarian.
He was gruff, thickly muscled, covered in scars, and if the weapons were anything to go by, incredibly dangerous.
He wasn’t outwardly affectionate with Matthew and I’d felt the need to ask more than once whenever Einar was out of sight if Matthew was safe or needed to be rescued.
He’d always said he didn’t, that he was happy with the barbarians.
That should have been my first clue that I didn’t know everything about the barbarian clans and how they treated tributes.
Godr said something to Einar, who responded in kind. Matthew watched them curiously, but he didn't look worried about whatever was being said.
Switching back to the common tongue, Einar said, “We will go back now.”
I was fine with that, but before we went back, I wanted to make sure Godr and I were on the same page first.
“Wait. Do you mind—Would you tell him something for me?”
“No,” Einar grunted in response. “You want to talk to him, learn our tongue.”
His outright refusal surprised me, but before I could argue with the terrifying man, Matthew poked him in the side and gave him a tiny scowl. Something like a smirk flashed across Einar’s face, but he shook his head. “I am no translator, zoragar. He can ask another.”
That got him an eye roll in response, and Matthew opened his mouth, his words trembling as he spoke. “I-I c-can t-t-try t-to?—”
Einar growled, which made me think he was frustrated about Matthew’s stuttering. That wasn’t fair to judge him for—it wasn’t something many people could control—and I couldn’t sit back and listen to him berate the poor man for doing his best.
“Be kind,” I snapped. “He’s trying. You should be ashamed of yourself for judging him.”
Matthew hiccuped, his eyes wide as he hugged Einar a little tighter. Protecting me from the wild man who looked furious at my assumption.
“I do not judge my bondmate,” he hissed, glaring at me so hard, I felt lucky I wasn’t within arm’s reach of him.
He looked ready to strangle me. “I am angry he is forcing himself to speak when he is uncomfortable because you are unwilling to wait until we return to speak with your protector. He is not your translator. Learn the language or hold your tongue.”
Godr moved his horse between us, speaking in low tones to Einar while keeping me out of Einar’s sight. His actions reminded me again what a fool I’d been for assuming the worst. He was sweet. I never should have thought so poorly of him.
“I just want him to know he didn’t do anything wrong,” I interrupted, moving enough to see around Godr. “He blamed himself for what happened, but it was all on me. I don’t want him thinking he’s responsible for any of it.”
Einar didn’t seem interested in translating for me, but another poke in the side from Matthew forced his hand.
He grumbled something to Godr, hopefully a direct translation and not his interpretation of it.
Matthew looked curious, but not like he’d heard something odd from his barbarian, so I let it go.
I’d wait until we returned to have a better conversation with Godr.
Godr turned to look at me after listening to Einar, his expression cautious and still a little sad. It hurt me to see him like that. It was going to take a lot more than a couple words to make it up to him.