Chapter 13
“There you are,” Aegir said from behind me. I remained impassive about the fact that the Ice Prince’s boot nearly trod onto the patch of wet sand. It seemed we had a graver issue than that. “People are approaching—nineteen, no, twenty. Let’s go back, quickly.”
Yes, please.
Aegir urged me into the carriage. “You’ll be safe in here.” I hesitated. “Get in, quick.”
Being locked inside the carriage made me queasy.
I rummaged through their bags in search of a weapon but settled on a metal rod.
I clenched it in my hand. I remained kneeling at the centre of the carriage, facing the door, arm ready.
Through the carriage windows, I glimpsed shadows of the men who slowly approached.
Spoken words cut through the silent night, and I could clearly hear every one.
“I hope they’ll come again after we actually buy the weapons. I’m already aching to try them and I haven’t even seen them yet!” Joel said, ending it with a chuckle.
“Yeah, if we leave any of them alive,” Darius replied coolly.
“Behave, will you?” Aegir told his males as the army of twenty men approached. “Remember we’re on Amfir’s Land, not on Boreas’s.”
Oh gods, what if they’re Sand Wielders?
But they couldn’t be. There were too many of them. Normally, the weakest—in other words, humans—were the ones that travelled in numbers. And besides, Sand Wielders were too respected in society to be lurking around the desert. The gifted were invariably employed to serve the king.
“Open the carriage and we’ll leave you unharmed,” one of the men shouted.
Oh! He put me inside the fucking treasure as if I was worth more than water or supplies.
I swallowed hard, tightening my grip on the metal rod.
“You’d have to go through me to get to that,” Aegir replied.
“As you wish, then.”
And then it began. The bandits roared, weapons in hand—twenty against seven. Joel laughed and approached them unarmed. Aegir, too, didn’t reach for his axes.
Why, when twenty armed men moved towards us, did they look as calm as if—as if the approaching men were kittens!? They didn’t ready their godsdamned weapons. I shook my head at Darius’s radiating excitement. His grin reached both ears as they neared.
How fucking unhinged.
No, not unhinged. Now that I watched—they were simply…incredible. They took half of them down in seconds. No weapons, no magic, no powers.
Aegir alone took three of them in two swift moves—he disarmed them and knocked them out so fast, I didn’t even see the blows. I gaped, my eyes wide.
There’s no fucking way they’re getting anywhere near me.
But I finished my thought too soon, as suddenly one of them appeared in front of the barred window. I gasped, quickly readying my arm.
“Aha! It even comes with a yummy prize,” the lanky male exclaimed with a grin.
I grimaced as I watched him lick his chapped lips.
He tried to open the doors, but they wouldn’t budge.
In a heartbeat, green eyes met mine. Aegir seized the man by his nape and sent him flying feet away.
Then he just winked at me, white mist lingering between his upturned lips.
Is this male for real?
Grunts and heavy breathing filled the desert, and I watched the scattered twenty stumbling and struggling to get to their feet. They limped and crawled away from us.
Day one on a journey outside of the castle, and I was already in the middle of a fight.
Aegir opened the carriage door and extended his arm. “Are you all right?” he asked.
I handed him the metal rod and slid out of the carriage, looking at the deserted land around us.
“Em, yes, I’m all right. Are we going to have to move camp now?”
“There’s no need. They won’t be coming back, and even if they did, easy task,” Aegir replied. Joel agreed, grinning at our side, hands at his hips.
Aegir fished out a couple of thin blankets from one of the bags. He laid one of them on the carriage floor; the other, he rolled into the shape of a pillow.
“Do you want me to lock the doors?”
“Where will you be?” I asked, my voice low.
“My tent’s right here,” he replied, pointing at the one closest to the carriage.
“No.”
“No, as in you don’t want my tent there?”
“No, I mean there’s no need to lock it.”
“Oh, all right. Good night, Cordelia.”
“Good night, Lord Hailin.”
I was yanked into wakefulness by an abrupt clamour that had me startled and disoriented. I let out a relieved sigh the moment I realised that the “shouting” was Joel’s howling laughter. I rubbed my eyes, wiping away the remaining fragments of sleep, then pushed open the carriage door.
I took a deep breath in at the view that unfurled before me.
The calm dawn reflected hues of amber with trails of scattered pink clouds, like pulled strands of fluffy cotton.
It brought with it a sense of peace and tranquillity.
My deep inhale also exposed me to the aromatic smell of coffee and smoked meat, which had my mouth instantly watering.
All seven of them gathered around their tents, either having breakfast or polishing weapons—or both. At least that’s what I glimpsed Aegir doing. Most grinned as they listened to Joel’s supposed anecdote, which he himself found to be amusing.
I disrupted their perfect circle and turned it into something that resembled a hand mirror. From the corner of my eye, I could see him watching me as I laid down a sheet on the sandy floor a few feet away. I opened my book.
A few chapters later, a shadow fell over my pages, and one of them said, “Here you go, lady.” When I lifted my head, I saw Darius handing me a cup of coffee and a plate piled with meat.
“Oh, thank you,” I replied, giving him a warm smile.
When have I ever had meat for breakfast?
I told myself to slow down the moment I became self-conscious that I was basically inhaling my food. Thankfully, none of them paid attention. They were all busy dismantling the tents and gathering their scattered belongings.
I set the bookmark aside and savoured the last few pages. I smirked, then let out a long sigh after taking in the satisfying ending.
“Let me guess,” Aegir drawled from behind me, “his sweetheart forgave him, and then they lived happily ever after.”
I closed the book and twisted myself around. “Oh, you guess wrong, Lord Hailin. She actually destroyed him, then lived happily ever after with someone else,” I replied, gleaming. Aegir moved in front of me, sparing me from my uncomfortable position.
“Now I wonder what he did to deserve such a fate.”
“Well, for starters, he was a con man who was only after her coin.”
“Hmm. I see, so—”
“Aegir, what do you want to do with this?” Torvin bellowed, his voice carrying from somewhere near the carriage.
“Tend to your needs and pack your things, we leave in a few minutes and won’t be stopping anytime soon,” Aegir said, before following Torvin’s raspy voice.
Aegir didn’t lie. We stopped only once to ease ourselves.
We rode into the night’s gloam, and with nothing to do and no one to talk to, I just stared out the carriage window. I let past thoughts visit me and leave me as they pleased.
I hoped that Cinnamon was all right, safe.
“Come, help me clear this stall. We’re expecting a new mare,” Semuel announced.
“You’re getting another horse?” I asked eagerly.
“Yes, why have five when you can have six? She should arrive at the main stables this afternoon. Faern will let us know when she gets here.”
I loved how Semuel always surprised me with exciting news.
“Prince Semuel, meet Browny. She’s four years of age and in perfect health. See for yourself,” a tall, slender male said, pointing at the most beautiful mare I had ever seen.
Semuel circled her, assessing her head to hooves, then stopped to brush her neck. “She’s beautiful,” I whispered at his side, touching the white diamond in between her heart-melting eyes. “Look, she’s a sweetheart.”
“I hope she runs as fast as she’s sweet, though,” Semuel said.
Oh, I didn’t care about that! All I knew was that I wanted her.
“Oh, she runs,” Slender assured him. “If you want, you can try her out.”
“Busy day today?” Ismail said from behind me. We watched Semuel riding Browny in the eastern paddock.
“It’s actually my day off today,” I replied. “I’m just tagging along.”
“Good for you, then,” he said, flashing me a dimpled smile that exposed his perfect set of white teeth.
“How about yours?
“Mine?”
“Your day, is it busy?”
“Oh, yes. A bit. Well, I’m the only stableman working the evening shift, so yeah, pretty busy.”
“Oh, I see.”
“You know, if you’d ever want to come by…it would be nice to have some good company around here. I’m always here till late. I could show you the rest of the horses.”
“Perhaps I might,” I replied, hiding the beginning of a flushed smile.
“I’m already looking forward to it.”
The four of us made our way back to Semuel’s stables.
I didn’t leave her side, constantly rubbing her flank. My grin couldn’t grow any wider.
“Looks like everyone’s in love with Browny,” Faern said, pointing out the fact that the three of us kept glancing her way with lovestruck eyes.
“Oh, we love Browny, all right,” I assured him. “Although, I’m not really fond of her name.”
“Yeah, I don’t like it either,” Faern agreed.
“I mean, yes, she’s brown, but she’s also the sweetest. I’d say she’s more of a Cinnamon kind of girl.”
Semuel chuckled. “Cinnamon, yeah, I like that one.”
Faern let out a small laugh. “So, votes on Cinnamon?”
The three of us raised our hands.
“Welcome to our little family, Cinnamon,” Semuel said as we made our way into his stable.
Family.
“Hey, Semuel,” Faern called. The impish tone itself was a warning that he was about to tease someone.
“Yeah,” Semuel replied, raising a brow.
“Did you notice the way Ismail was looking at Delia?” Faern drawled, making himself sound childish.
“Oof. How could I not? He practically drooled all over her,” Semuel continued, ending it with a chuckle.
“He did not!” I protested.
“Oh, and the way he came out running to take the buckets from her hands,” Faern pointed out.
“Oh, Delia, let me help you with those,” Semuel teased, mimicking Ismail’s deep voice.
“Oh, stop it! He’s just a kind person; he would’ve helped anyone,” I countered, trying to keep an impassive face.
What would they say if they found out that he invited me over and later said that he was looking forward to it?
“He could have, yes, but he only helped you,” Faern said.