Chapter 40
Zarek
A SILLY LITTLE THING
“Oh!” Lilias cries.
Her horse prances, pawing the ground, as Lilias’s hand flutters over her chest. It’s distracting. Several of the soldiers stop riding and look at the exact place where my wife’s hand is brushing the air.
“What is it?” Anura says. “What’s wrong?”
“My cloak!” Lilias replies.
She turns in her saddle, batting her eyes at the green valley behind us. The sun is already sinking into the horizon. If we’re going to make it to the next shithole town by sundown, we’re going to have to move.
Lilias has been riding slowly ever since we left Tanic, and the soldiers have been grumbling. I’m not sure what’s going on. She didn’t seem reluctant to cross the border this morning. If anything, I’d imagine she was glad to be back in Marion.
“What about your cloak?” one of the soldiers growls. Lyam, I think.
Lilias brings a hand to her forehead. “I left it in the inn,” she cries. “Oh, that’s so stupid of me!”
“So?” Lyam replies.
His fist tightens around the reins of the horse he’s riding. Lilias smiles sweetly at him.
“I can’t leave it behind,” she says.
One of the soldiers beside me spits on the ground. Another growls something under his breath that sounds like fucking women. Lyam sighs heavily.
“Fine,” he huffs. “I’ll send someone—”
“Oh, dear,” Lilias gasps, cutting him off. “Oh, I’d hate to inconvenience everyone. It would be so much work to turn us all around for such a silly little thing.”
“I’ll go,” Anura says. “I can get it for you.”
“Oh, would you?” Lilias replies. “That’s so kind of you!”
Lyam looks back and forth between the two women.
“It’s no bother,” Anura says, turning to Lyam like she’s responding to something he hasn’t even said. “Look, we’re barely out of Tanic. We’re heading to Detec, right? I can meet you there, with the princess’s cloak.”
Lyam frowns.
“Oh, thank you, Anura,” Lilias gushes. “Gods, I can’t believe I forgot my cloak. I just can’t travel any farther without it. I don’t want to make everyone turn around, but I simply cannot leave a gift from King Malrik behind—”
“Your woman can go,” Lyam growls as Lilias’s voice trails off. “We’re supposed to be in Detec by nightfall. Gods know we’ll never make it if we all turn around for some fucking cloak you idiots left behind.”
Lilias smiles at him like he’s just paid her a compliment.
“Thank you for being so understanding,” she says. “I’m so sorry for the hassle. Anura will travel quickly.”
Anura nods. “If I don’t meet you in Detec, where are we going next?”
Lyam glances over my shoulder, at the soldier who called my wife a fucking woman, and then back to Anura.
“The Dragon Mine,” he says.
Anura nods, as if a gold mine is a normal destination for a married couple on their honeymoon. Before he can say anything further, she turns and begins to trot back down the road. Lilias calls a final thank-you, and Lyam rolls his eyes.
“Fucking hells,” he mutters. “Can we just get on with it?”
Without waiting for an answer, he nudges his horse forward. Lilias follows him without a backward glance. The soldiers behind me fall into line.
So, we are going to the mine.
I suspected it ever since we veered west, although I still can’t imagine why. None of the people who actually control the mine would be here in the freezing mountains, watching the snow melt.
And my wife is behaving strangely. My horse follows the soldiers with precious little input from me, which is fine. I let the gelding pick his way down the rough mountain road as my mind picks up and examines everything that’s happened since we left Tanic.
Lilias has been perfect. Even now, riding slightly ahead of me in a beautiful scarlet dress that wasn’t designed for this kind of travel, with her back straight and her long, dark hair falling over her shoulders, she’s the picture of royalty and grace. She smiled and applauded, she kissed me—
Gods, she kissed me. I shift in the saddle as memories burn through me. She never pulls away. She’s never the first to break our kiss, and sometimes, when I pull back, she’s staring at me with a sort of longing I know I’ll see in my dreams.
Fucking hells. I thought maybe she’d drop the act now that we’re back in her homeland, but no, she’s been just as convincing as ever.
Who is she trying to convince, though? The old man wearing the mink stole, who looked every bit like the leader of Tanic, vanished shortly after embracing her.
Perhaps she wanted to look good for the rest of the town, although what she has to gain from promoting unity between Vsenrog and Marion is beyond me.
One of the soldiers behind me makes a nasty comment about women who leave their clothing behind. I tuck my hand into my jacket and brush the handle of the dagger strapped below my arm. I could pull it out right now and toss it between his eyes.
I bring my hand back to the reins. I’m outnumbered here, and horribly aware of the fact that all these men answer to Syvan. If they feel like I’m not loyal to this stupid mission, even for a moment—
I frown. My eyes rest on Lilias.
She understands. That’s who she needs to convince, after all.
It’s not her people, not the hardscrabble farmers and shepherds of Tanic, and not even the local leaders.
It’s the soldiers escorting us who need to believe in unity between Vsenrog and Marion.
Between me and the woman I was forced to marry.
I sigh as I watch Lilias. She rides like she was born to do this, like the horse is an extension of her body. She’s more comfortable on horseback than all the soldiers around us. I feel a pang that’s almost jealousy. I’ll never be as good a rider as my wife. I had to learn fast, and in secret.
Lyam’s horse starts, jumping sideways across the road. The horse next to him snorts and stomps. Lyam curses and kicks his horse.
Lilias moves to the side, gently and silently, while Lyam argues with his snorting mount. I watch her as she watches the horses. She could stop this, I’m certain. But she doesn’t offer, and I very much doubt Lyam would ever ask a woman for help.
The soldier next to Lyam reaches out and smacks the spooked horse. The horse responds by tucking its ears back and rearing.
Lyam flies off his saddle and lands on the ground. The horse bolts down the road. The other soldier dismounts awkwardly as his mount paws the road. Lyam unleashes a string of curses. He turns to Lilias, red-faced and furious.
“Get off your fucking horse,” he snaps as he staggers to his feet.
Lilias blinks, the picture of noblewoman naivety. “Why?” she asks.
Lyam looks like he’s about to punch something. My hand drifts back into my jacket, fingertips against the hilt of my dagger.
“Ride with your little bitch of a husband,” he growls.
The soldiers around me all laugh. Lilias sniffs, holding her head up.
My horse shifts underneath me, as if he can sense the tension in the air.
Lilias dismounts slowly and elegantly, gathering her skirts in her hands before swinging her leg over the saddle.
When she lands, she gives her horse a gentle pat on the neck.
She hands the reins to Lyam, then walks over to me. I dismount as another soldier helps Lyam into the saddle. Lilias’s horse snorts and stomps as Lyam tries to mount. I hand the reins to Lilias.
“You ride,” I say. “I’ll walk.”
A smile twists her lips. I think it’s the first genuine smile I’ve seen in days. My cock stirs in response, and as usual, I try to ignore the bastard.
“You don’t want to ride with me?” she whispers.
“I’m thinking of the poor horse,” I reply. “I doubt he wants to carry both of us.”
Her smile widens, and her mouth opens. But Lyam roars, cutting her off, as his new mount stomps and snorts below him. Lilias frowns. Her perfect princess smile falls away, and for just a heartbeat, I can see exactly what she thinks of Lyam.
That look is rebellious enough to have both of us killed.
I clear my throat, and her smile comes back.
She takes the reins from me, lifts her leg into the stirrup, and mounts the gelding in one smooth, beautiful motion.
He flicks his ears at her, almost as if he’s expressing gratitude that he’s finally getting a competent rider. I grin, then pat the horse on the neck.
“Take good care of her,” I whisper into his shaggy brown ear.