Chapter 40
Rowan
I remembered falling asleep in his arms in the chair, but at some point in the night, he’d moved us to the bed.
I was still wrapped in the blanket that had been used to dry me after the bath, and now I was also covered by a quilt.
I was so toasty, so deliciously snug, that I forgot my fear.
Forgot all that I had been through and just let myself feel.
The strength of his arms as they held me tight. Safe. Secure. The sound of his heart beating against my cheek. Solid. Comforting. The familiar scent I pulled into my lungs. Soothing. Warm.
My spine prickled.
Woodsy pine…?
Wait, that wasn’t right. That had to be me. The soap I had used. I sniffed at him delicately. That was definitely his scent I could smell.
A chuckle had me stiffening. “Are you sniffing me, lass?” His eyelids cracked open, while my own eyes widened in alarm. “No need to be afraid. You can smell me all you want, I don’t mind at all.” He settled back again, closing his eyes. “I’m just going to stay here for a wee bit longer.”
His arms hadn’t loosened, and after a while, I relaxed back into his embrace. Drifting in that place between sleep and wakefulness. Drifting like I had in my cave. Safe. Quiet. Peaceful.
I must have dozed, for when next I awoke it was because Caelan was making movements to get out of bed.
“As much as I would love to stay here with you all day,” he murmured against the top of my head, “and I really do want to do that, lass… I’m hoping to make it home by nightfall.”
Home. Wyndaryn. A surge of hope flared within me. I held on to that thought as we prepared for the day.
We departed after a light breakfast of fruit and nuts.
Caelan unearthed a couple of apples from the saddle bags, and I happily crunched on that sweet flesh while he tidied the cabin.
I had never tasted something so delicious before.
Or maybe it was just that it was the only thing I had tasted for far too long.
By the time we left, a gentle snow had started to fall, so I was glad of the change of clothes I’d found.
Although the shirt and pants were far too big, I’d cinched them with an old belt I found in the back of the wardrobe.
Caelan had fashioned a new hole in the weathered leather, grumbling the whole time about my dwindling figure.
But I paid him no mind, simply relieved to be out of that shift.
Despite the shirt extending to my knees, I’d tucked it in to bunch about my waist, and with the addition of my fur cloak and a blanket draped over my lap, I was adequately warm.
We left the rocky hills of the valley shortly after noon and ventured forth along a meandering path that traced a river’s banks.
Barren trees and sparse vegetation clung to the hills, their naked limbs shivering in the frosty air, a sharp contrast to the thick forests that blanketed the land about us, their evergreen branches dressed in a heavy coat of snow.
Our progress was hampered by the need to navigate those snow-laden trees, forcing us to weave our way cautiously amidst the frozen foliage.
At times, Caelan chose to avoid the densest patches altogether, leading us on detours through crisp, untouched snow, over unknown terrain.
I held on to the fact that each step, however slow it was, brought us closer to Wyndaryn and what I ultimately saw as my freedom.
I hadn’t allowed myself to think too much about what reaching home would mean.
I still didn’t trust that this wasn’t all an elaborate ruse.
A sick and twisted game. One that would result in that final break that I could not come back from.
As the day wore on and the sun sank lower, I began to despair.
I was certain I would wake up. Realise it was all a dream.
A nightmare. And that I was still locked in that dungeon, huddled against the wall.
I scanned the horizon. Nothing looked familiar to me.
Wyndaryn?
“Aye, not long now, providing the weather holds out,” Caelan said.
I eyed the darkening clouds dubiously. It looked like it could snow again at any moment, and I wished for it to stay away, just long enough until I was under a roof again.
Another hour passed. Two. And the snow started to fall in earnest. Mack held steadfast, though, and continued to plough forward despite snowdrifts banking up around us.
Caelan was pushing him, and I got the distinct impression we weren’t far from home.
“We’re on the estate,” he advised, as if reading my thoughts, which he may very well have done. I still hadn’t mastered the art of keeping them to myself, though I felt I had gotten a lot better at it since my captivity. “We only have about thirty minutes to go.”
My heart leapt and I tried to calculate the distance. Two miles, three? Just three more miles until we were home, until I could be certain I was saved. The anticipation was surely going to kill me.
Feeling my need, Caelan urged Mack on and the great horse pushed forward into a run, covering the distance faster.
When we turned onto the drive that led up to the castle, I nearly cried out.
My chest hollowed, and a small noise escaped me as I clung to the saddle.
I could see it now. The castle towers rising above the trees.
The turrets coming into view. The lanterns shining in the windows. Tears streaked down my cheeks.
As we approached the front door, disregarding the stables entirely, my heart raced. Pounding. Threatening to burst from my chest.
This was it.
The moment of reckoning. The moment when I would know once and for all if this was an elaborate game or if I was truly saved. I could barely breathe.
When Mack finally halted, Caelan wasted no time in dismounting, extending his hand to help me down.
With trembling limbs, I turned towards the sound of the front door swinging open, every fibre of my being on edge.
The figure that emerged from the doorway stole my breath, and for a fleeting moment, time seemed to stand still as recognition dawned. As relief surged.
“Aenan!”
My voice cracked, unused and broken. The flood of adrenaline had me falling to my knees. My emotions, held tight for so long, suddenly poured out in one great rush, and I fell to the ground, sobbing.
I finally allowed myself to believe that I was truly safe.
That I had been rescued.
That I was home.