Chapter 28
Keira
There was something about the skin of a bear that brought Keira comfort, the feeling of her massive body lumbering slowly through the woods.
Covered in thick rugged fur, the snow was hardly a bother.
Subtle scents of the forest floor were so much clearer, especially with her nose so near the ground.
Most of all, bears had very little to worry about.
Hardly anyone approaches a bear, not even the other animals.
Which meant that Keira was left on her own to think and generally feel sorry for herself for as long as she pleased.
Keira wandered the woods for a few hours this way until she found a comfortably sheltered cave where she could curl into a great lump of fat and fur. There she planned to pass the night.
At first she had been angry with Caspian for keeping his secrets, for humiliating her, but that did not last for long.
It was overcome by melancholy images of Caspian in a castle, being called m’lord and eating at a rich table.
It was strange enough to picture him in such a life, but herself?
Where would she fit? So naturally, there was another by his side.
The Lady Priscilla. Of course, Keira had never seen her, but her mind was a cruel thing, and so of course Priscilla was lovely and benevolent and people adored her and eventually Caspian would too.
That’s what killed her, the undeniable fact that He’d moved on.
His engagement proved it. Maybe he didn’t love this girl, not yet, but he’d agreed to marry her…
to tie knots. She knew the implications.
Whatever he’d felt for her in the past would have paled in comparison to the devotion he would have for his new wife.
Keira had spent years watching Lilith and Rhea, how Lilith looked at her like she was the only one in the world, how Rhea doted on her, even put herself in harm’s way to keep her safe.
Every time, all Keira had been able to think of was how much she wanted that for herself…
And Caspian was the only person she had ever considered making such a connection with.
To know that he had been so close to tying himself to another was agony.
Caspian had let her go.
It had been three years, she tried to console herself. Would she have had him love a ghost forever? Perhaps not… but it still cut deep. He’d been dead to her for just as long, and though she’d sought out others for comfort, she’d never truly opened herself to another person. Not in her heart.
As Keira was floating in the depths between despair and sleep when she heard Caspian calling out her name.
She roused, collecting her wits to be sure that she had truly heard his voice in the wood and it had not been only the beginnings of a dream.
His voice echoed again through the pines, unmistakable this time.
Night had fallen, and though she could see well enough with her bear’s sight, Caspian would be wandering by torchlight. He was going to get himself hurt, or lost, or eaten. Keira stood and shook out her thick fur. She’d been in a heap so long an inch of snow had settled over her coat.
“Keira!” Caspian’s voice sounded again. He was getting farther away.
Her sigh escaped her as more of a snort. If he was searching for her at this hour, he’d probably been at it for some time. Keira followed his voice and, when that was quiet, the ample sound of his heavy footsteps through the underbrush and snow.
At last his torchlight came into view, and soon enough himself.
He carried on as if there wasn’t a bear within charging distance.
Keira rolled her eyes, thinking she might give him a scare when she caught sight of movement in the distant trees.
She scanned the forest, spotting the movement again in another direction, circling him.
Keira pushed her massive form into motion as three wolves emerged from the underbrush behind him.
Caspian turned, dropping his torch and drawing his sword with a quick, practiced motion.
Another leapt from the shadows, encircling him.
The leader lunged, snapping its jaws, but Caspian knocked it to the ground with a hefty swing.
It whimpered as it fell heavily on its side.
She was nearly upon them when she saw another waiting in the trees.
It had seen her as well, fur raised as it snarled in warning.
As it charged, Keira batted it away with a massive paw.
It was almost effortless pinning it down.
Instinct washed over her as she finished the animal with a bite to the neck.
Its hot blood coated her palate as she heard Caspian cry out in pain.
One of the wolves was latched onto his shoulder.
As Keira watched, another took the opening to sink its teeth into his thigh.
She charged as Caspian knocked the first to the ground.
He slashed the other with his sword, and it released him.
Keira crashed through the trees, lips drawn back in a snarl as she planted herself between Caspian and the wolves.
They were swayed by her greater size for only a moment before they struck.
The first broke the thick hide of her shoulder.
Keira roared as she knocked it aside. The other clamped down on her arm, using its weight to shake her balance.
She sunk her teeth into its neck until it went limp in her jaws.
Behind her, Keira heard Caspian shout and then the sound of his steel finding its mark. Her panting breaths steamed the night air as Keira raised her eyes to the haggard remains of the pack. The leader bared its teeth in a parting snarl before retreating into the brush.
Sides heaving, Keira turned to where Caspian was standing before the body of a wolf. His blade was still wet with its blood. His brow was gleaming with sweat as he turned to her. She tallied his injuries, his shoulder, his leg, his arm.
They stood, taking one another in as they caught their breath. Keira hardly noticed as she returned to her true form. Not until his eyes moved over her, noting blood from the bite on her arm now running down to her fingers. The wound on her side stung with each breath.
Keira walked, more accurately limped, over to him and reached for him.
“No, Keira,” Caspian protested. “You’re bleeding.”
She shot him an inarguable glance and placed her hand on his shoulder. It was a familiar spell, to speed the healing. It would stop the bleeding at least, dull the pain. The wound closed, and Keira rounded to his arm.
“You should save your strength, heal yourself,” Caspian said, backing away slightly.
“You should have stayed in the cave,” Keira snapped back.
She winced as she reached for his arm, pain igniting up her side, and he gave it to her.
“I was worried about you.”
“I can handle myself in the woods.” She eyed him scathingly as she bent down to see the wound on his thigh. She could see the clear ring of teeth marked deeply into the skin, worse than the others.
Caspian hissed as she placed her hand on it, soothing it with her magic.
“I was going to come back,” Keira said quietly as the last of his wounds began to close.
“I-” Caspian stopped as she stood. “I couldn’t lose you again.”
Keira was speechless for a moment. “You’re not going to lose me, Caspian.”
He nodded, looking at the ground.
Keira laid her hand on the deep bite on her arm. She sighed as the skin began to stitch itself back together.
“Priscilla, she’s really- I don’t love her, Keira.”
“I know-,” Keira growled as a shot of pain ran through her back. “Fate’s mercy, there’s a cursed tooth stuck back there!”
“Hold still.” Caspian came around her as she tried to twist to remove it herself.
She felt his fingers graze her skin for a few moments before brushing against the offending tooth.
“Just do it,” Keira said, clenching her eyes.
He pulled it out, sharp and quick, as Keira gritted her teeth. “I believe you-” Keira panted. “-that you don’t love her. It’s not about that.”
“What is it about, Keira?” he asked, coming to face her once more as she channeled her magic to work over the final bite.
“It’s that-” She took in a full, painless breath.
“That we lost three years. We’re different people.
You have this whole life now that I don’t know anything about, that I’m not a part of, and-” Keira faltered, trying to force the final words past her lips.
“And you gave me up, Caspian. You moved on, even if you don’t love her…
Once you tied knots, she would have been the only one you could love. ”
Caspian’s black eyes fixed on her as he slowly put his arms on her shoulders. “I never wanted a life without you in it. I just didn’t think I had a choice.”
Keira looked back at him, trying to soak in the truth of his words.
Caspian sighed. “But, you’re right. It has been three years. There’s plenty I don’t know about you… like how you learned to fight like that, or when you got that tattoo on your stomach.”
Keira blushed red as he smirked down at her.
“It’s a nice bird. I like it.”
“It’s a harpy,” Keira argued.
He just smiled softly. “I have to go back, and I want you to come with me. I want to get to know you again, and to show you my life. I know that it’s… different.” He sighed. “It’s still daunting to me- But you will always have a place in my life.”
Keira took in the weight of his words. He was asking her to plunge into his strange new world, that of the Lord of Northall. What did she know about the nobility? But this was a part of him now, and he wanted to share it with her.
“I’d like that,” she said finally.
Caspian smiled genuinely, as if her answer had surprised him.
“But you need to get out of that engagement,” Keira said.
His brows raised.
“For her sake, Caspian,” Keira explained. “That girl deserves to be with someone who actually loves her.”
“You’re- You’re right. I’m a cursed fool. I never thought-” He rubbed his neck. “I will break it off, but it might take some time. Like I told you, these things are complicated. I don’t want to offend her family or make her look… unmarriable.”
Keira rolled her eyes. “You’ll figure it out, m’lord.”
Caspian coughed out a laugh. “You can’t call me that.”
“I can and I shall,” Keira said, picking up the torch with a sigh. “We need to find shelter for the night. This way, m’lord.”