Chapter 48
At dawn’s arrival, Araes and Tethys said their goodbyes to his family, leaving Penelope with a note addressed to Lord Ophis.
He would ensure the safety of their escape while keeping the Venians from falling into frenzy over the disappearance of their queen.
Tethys suggested that, in the aftermath of the attack, she and her guard escaped to an undisclosed location where they would remain until the culprits were found.
“Are you sure about this?” Araes asked, securing their packs to his horse.
Tethys nodded and glanced over her shoulder at the cottage blurring in the horizon.
Somber quiet fell over her. Was this the last time she’d look upon her city?
She whispered a swift goodbye before tears welled in her eyes.
No, it wouldn’t be the last, she promised.
She would return. Even if in another lifetime.
“So long as you stay with me, Lieutenant, I’m sure,” she whispered. Araes smiled softly and offered a hand. She took it and mounted the black mare—Gaia. The horse had a gentle demeanor, but Penelope reassured them she was their fastest mount.
“Always,” Araes whispered. His words left a trail of shivers down her spine.
The feel of his forearms wrapped around her waist sent wicked visions through her as he clicked the reins and Gaia quickened into a trot.
She could stay in his arms forever, tucked safely away.
Tethys breathed in his scent, letting it melt the frost coating her bones.
For the first time in her life, someone chose her. She wasn’t entirely alone, not anymore. Not ever again. With Araes she could face this unknown and all the horrors it may bring.
The backwoods trail to Aquilae was long and grueling.
What would take them only a couple day’s ride to the southernmost realm on the main roads turned to a full week’s journey before them.
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and watched sunbeams filter through the green canopy overhead.
They scattered with each gentle flicker of leaves, sending bursts of light in every direction—like stars painting the midnight sky.
Tethys took in a long breath, her lungs inflating with a fresh taste of new, wild air.
These woods were ancient, yet in eternal spring they didn’t grow past their infancy.
The taste of each wondrous secret, shrouded in greenery, glazed on her tongue.
What mysteries lurked in the shadows of their underbrush?
What creatures whispered from their lichen-covered rocks?
“You truly think the key is in Aquilae?” Araes asked, knocking her from her thoughts.
“If my visions are correct, then yes. Phosphora hid it long ago to prevent someone, ‘her’ as she referred, from finding it,” Tethys replied, running a thumb over Araes’s hand resting above her navel. “I just pray we’ll find it first if someone else truly is searching.”
“We’ll know soon enough, I suppose,” Araes said, leading Gaia around the curve in the trail.
“My sister told me of a fishing village, Piscium, a couple day’s ride from here.
The Aquilaean fishermen tend to keep to themselves, so let’s hope they don’t recognize us.
Unfortunately, until then we’ll have to make camp in the forest,” Araes said.
“But fear not, there’s nothing in these woods I can’t handle. ”
Tethys raised a brow. “Do you forget, Lieutenant, that these forests were here before your earliest ancestor took their first breath?”
The corners of his eyes wrinkled into an amused grin. “Well then, oh powerful goddess, I’ll be the one in need of protection.”
“You’re in excellent hands, Lieutenant,” she replied, her lips brushing his cheek. Heat pooled in her belly as she felt the shift of his clenched jaw against hers.
“That I’m most certain of,” he growled, tightening his grip around her waist. Visions of their night flashed through her as she felt his cock rigid against her back.
Araes brushed the loose hair from her ear and brought his mouth close enough for the tingle of his breath to send shudders through her.
“We won’t make it to Aquilae if those damned hands of yours don’t keep to themselves,” she breathed feeling a rogue pinky caress the curve of her breast.
“They have a mind of their own for you, Goddess,” Araes said, leaving a flaming kiss on the tender part of her neck.
This damned mortal.
She shifted in the saddle, aware of every point of contact between them.
“It will be a long journey then,” she replied.
She swallowed her breath as he circled her nipple beneath the thin cotton tunic.
Much to her body’s protest, though, she laced her fingers with his and returned them to a far more tasteful position.
“We must focus on the trail now, Lieutenant. Just as you said, there are things that lurk in the shadows of these woods. I’d prefer not to meet them. ”
He groaned and kissed the crown of her head before flicking Gaia’s reins once more.