Chapter 46 – Rowan #2
Without warning, he steps back, and I can finally take a full breath of air.
“Stay close,” he calls as he backs away, slowly heading back toward the trail. “Slough demons travel in packs.”
I have no idea if that’s true, but the possibility sends me jolting off the tree. I grind my teeth, glaring at Ayer as I reluctantly follow after him.
We’ve been walking for a few hours when the game trail intersects with a road that continues winding its way through the woods.
I can feel Ayer’s smirk, though I refuse to look.
The wider path leaves us more exposed; the breeze picks up and I shiver. We’re both still soaked through from the river. But what was just uncomfortable at first is quickly becoming dangerous. I wrap my arms tighter around my body for warmth, shooting a withering glare at Ayer’s back.
I scent rain on the wind; a storm is brewing.
We need to stop—to rest. I need shelter, a fire, and sleep. But I’m not about to be the one to break our war of silence and say as much.
“There’s a village around the bend.” His deep voice startles me after hours of silence.
I peer down the darkened path and see nothing. Nothing but shifting moonlit shadows.
A harsh caw cuts through the quiet.
A raven glides overhead, its black wings eclipsing the moonlight before it disappears beyond the trees ahead. My gaze follows it until it’s gone.
Even with my fae hearing, I catch nothing that suggests civilization lies just beyond the bend.
I turn back toward Ayer, finding him studying me carefully.
“Maybe they have an inn,” I say quietly, unable to keep the hope out of my voice. The mere thought of warmth… food… a bed…
Gods, I might cry.
“We’re still in Sitara.” His words are clipped, and for the first time since I met him, he looks uncertain.
I blink up at him, confused until it dawns on me.
“It’s not—” I start, stumbling over my words in my exhaustion and sheer desperation for rest. “They won’t recognize me,” I try assuring him, dropping my gaze to the ground. “If that’s what you’re worried about?”
I feel his eyes linger on me; the pull of his gaze is strong, but I refuse to look up.
“I’ve never been through the Wyldewood—never been to any of these villages. They won’t know who I am,” I insist, raising my eyes to meet his.
I reach down, tugging at my mud-stained, soaked, and torn dress while letting loose a tight laugh as I survey it. “Especially like this.”
Before I can say anything else, Ayer’s hand shoots out, gripping my jaw and pulling my gaze back to his.
“Listen closely, Princess,” he says, his voice low and threatening.
“I don’t trust you, and if there were a better option…
” His jaw tightens because we both know there isn’t.
And I at least know just how close we are to freezing to death.
“We’ll go to the village, but on one condition.
” His gray eyes blaze with silver fire as he stares down into mine. “You do everything I say.”
My eyes narrow, and his grip on my chin tightens as though he expects an argument.
“If you draw attention to yourself, if you try to seek help in any way…” he shakes his head, his expression grave, “there will be consequences.”
Despite my utter exhaustion, anger bubbles up and I squint my eyes defiantly, leaning into his threats. “What more could you possibly do to me, Captain?” I spit his title at him like it’s a poison on my tongue.
His expression darkens, and he leans in closer until his mouth brushes against my ear as if he’s about to share a secret. I fight the urge to pull away—to put some distance between us—but I also want to hold my ground.
“Oh,” he breathes, and the warm air… I shiver again, but this time not from the cold. “There is so much I can do to you, Princess,” he murmurs low in my ear.
Something twists in my stomach, deep in my abdomen, and I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from flinching. My cheeks flush pink.
“But it’s not you I would worry about tonight, love.”
I frown, confusion knitting my brows together. “What do you mean?”
He pulls back just enough for me to see his face again.
His hard, cold, dangerous face.
“The villagers,” he says, gesturing lazily with his free hand in a way that is far too casual for the dark tone of his voice, “the innkeeper… Perhaps he has a wife… children too, maybe.”
My stomach drops, a grim understanding sinking through me.
“If they learn who you are... who I am…” His eyes are nearly black. “They’ll be the ones to pay for your mistakes, Princess,” he says, throwing my own title back at me.
I swallow hard. The gravity of Ayer’s threat hangs heavy in the air. Before, I only considered the village a source of warmth and food, but now, the thought that innocent lives might be at risk if I try anything, or if someone recognizes me, presses down on me. .
I nod. Slowly. Reluctantly. I agree.
A few beats pass, but Ayer doesn’t move. His hand remains on my chin and his gaze lingers, his steel-gray eyes studying mine, reading my expression until finally, he seems satisfied by whatever he sees there, and his hand falls away.
“Good,” he mutters, shaking out the hand that touched me before gesturing down the path. “After you, Your Highness.”
I don’t bother masking my scowl as I stalk past him.
The silence is thick between the two of us again as we round the bend together, a small but tidy village coming into view. Together we start down the hill, the power struggle between us a delicate but dangerous dance.
“Behave yourself, Princess,” Ayer warns one last time as we close in on the village entrance, his tone cold and unyielding. “For your sake, and theirs.”