Chapter Twenty-Seven Riela #2
I had enough food to linger for a few days, but it was risky with the forest creatures who would see me as food. Still, if the woods wouldn’t let me go, maybe I could get someone to bring me the things from my cottage.
Assuming the mob hadn’t already burned it down when I’d failed to return quickly enough.
There were a few people who would likely help me, but getting their attention without alerting the others would be nearly
impossible. I ate a travel biscuit and drank some water while I pondered the options. Both the forest and the meadow remained
still, quiet, and empty.
With no other reason to procrastinate, I capped my canteen and approached the edge of the wood.
Stepping cautiously, I made it to the very last line of trees before the seal on the forest halted my progress.
I raised my magic and let it drift around me in wisps of deep blue.
I still couldn’t see the barrier, but my magic hit an invisible boundary and rolled up like smoke hitting a wall.
I ran my hand along the barrier for several paces in either direction, but there were no gaps or weak points that I could
find. And when I forced my fingers through the resistant magic, fire singed my fingertips as soon as they emerged on the other
side.
I jerked my hand back, and the tiny flame of hope I’d been carefully nurturing for the past three days flickered out.
My heart sank, and despair drowned out everything else.
I let it have one breath, then two, before straightening my spine and forcing it back. Garrick hadn’t lied; the forest would
not let me leave, not even here where I’d first entered.
These woods were now my entire home, and I had three options: try to make it on my own, return to Garrick’s castle, or try
my luck with the Blood King.
Only one of them was truly feasible. And I wanted to open the door to Lohka again, not just for Garrick, but for myself, too. I wanted to see what was on the other side, to
explore a world filled with magic and mages.
Maybe an Etheri mage could teach me how to control my magic, human though it was.
Anyone could make a mistake in the heat of battle, so I would give Garrick one chance to keep his word, to prove that he was
as honorable as he claimed. One. If he failed, then I would take my chances with King Roseguard.
Decision made, I turned resolutely from the remnants of my old life and took a step toward a different future.
Once I was far enough from the border, I stopped and called, “Come out, Garrick. I know you’re lurking nearby.”
Grim slipped from the trees first, a silent shadow. I couldn’t sense his magic at all, which meant he’d let me feel it the
first time we’d met. He rubbed his shoulder against my thigh, and I reached down to scratch his ears.
Garrick was slower to appear. The Etheri king looked both wary and haggard. He had a crown of flowers similar to mine, and he was wearing his dark armor, but the tunic underneath was stained with blood.
My heart twisted with worry, but I steeled myself against its softness. He wasn’t mine to worry about. Ours would be a partnership
of convenience and nothing else. I might have forgiven him for the attack, but I wasn’t willing to risk my heart again.
Unfortunately, the organ in question had other ideas when Garrick swayed in place before stiffening his spine with a subtle
grimace.
“Have you slept?” The soft question slipped past my control. I was in so much trouble.
He blinked, then the shadow of a smile touched his mouth. “Briefly. How did you kill the chuyari?”
“Magic, luck, and desperation.” He accepted that explanation with more equanimity than I expected. Maybe I wasn’t the only
one tired of constantly fighting. “Did you kill the rest of the pack?”
He nodded silently.
“What are you going to do if I decide to build a hut right here and live in it?”
“I’ll help you, then I’ll teach you how to protect it. I’ll also enclose it in my own protection charms for additional security.
And I would request that you build it big enough for a guest room, so when I return to refresh the charms, I’ll have a place
to stay.”
“And if I don’t want you in my house?”
Garrick shrugged easily. “Then I’ll sleep in the dirt. It wouldn’t be the first time.”
“And if I don’t want your help at all?”
His expression hardened. “I will not leave you unprotected. You won’t ever have to see me, but you will have protection.”
I stared at him, judging his sincerity. Would he truly let me live here, knowing I’d opened the door? How long would his patience
last? A month? A year? Forever?
He blew out a slow breath, and the weariness clinging to him seemed to deepen. “I know you don’t trust me,” he murmured, “and that’s my fault. But as you found out, the forest is dangerous, and until you learn to protect yourself, I will protect you.”
I probably trusted him more than was wise, because I believed he was sincere. “You would let me stay here, wouldn’t you?”
“You are not a prisoner. Where you go is your choice.” The corner of his mouth tipped up into a tiny smile. “But I might leave
a trail of sticky buns all the way back to the castle as a temptation.”
“I thought a forest creature was trying to ensnare me.” I slanted a dry glance at him. “It seems I wasn’t wrong.”
“Shall I start building?”
“Would you?”
A thrum of magic filled the air. It wasn’t the moonlit magic I was used to from Garrick, but deeper and wilder, like the forest
given form. Four rocky walls rose from the ground, complete with a stone door and the same smooth, seamless windows as in
the castle.
Garrick grimaced and leaned heavily on the tree next to him. “The roof will have to wait since I need to get basic protections
up today.”
That pulled me from my stunned shock. “Wait. I didn’t mean for you to actually build me a house. It was a question. You could’ve just said yes.”
“I could say many things. Would you believe them?”
Yes. The surety of that thought surprised me, but as far as I knew, Garrick had never misled me. “I’m willing to return to your
castle with you, but there are conditions.”
“Name them.”
“You will keep your vow not to harm me. No matter what happens, no matter how bad things look, you will stop and think before
you attack me again. I will not betray you. Remember that before you jump to the worst possible conclusion. You have exactly
one chance to prove that you are indeed honorable.”
Garrick studied me for a long moment before his chin dipped in agreement.
“I will help you try to open the door, but it will be on my terms. I don’t know how I did it. I was highly emotional, but that doesn’t give you free rein to torment me to try to replicate it.”
His jaw clenched. “I vowed not to harm you, Riela. Torment is harm.”
My name on his lips tugged on something low in my belly. Even exhausted and filthy, he was still striking. Desire stirred,
but I squashed it with ruthless control. We’d been down that path, and while it’d been pleasant in the moment, the aftermath
was anything but. We both needed clear heads if we were going to make this work.
Well, I needed a clear head. I doubted I’d been anything more than a momentary diversion for the Silver King.
“I would like for you to help me learn how to control my magic, since I think it’ll probably help, but it’s not required.
My final condition is that if I do manage to open the door, you’ll take me with you to Lohka, and protect me while I’m there.”
“I offered to give you anything, and all you want is basic courtesy and to go to Lohka?” Garrick snarled with a scowl. “I
am the Silver King. Demand more.”
“But—”
“Demand. More.”
He’d vowed not to take advantage of my ignorance of Etheri customs, and that vow must be driving him now. What else did I
need? Money wasn’t useful if I couldn’t get the door open, and I had no idea what I would need in Lohka.
“Very well,” I said after a moment’s consideration. “If you have any contacts outside the forest, I’d like for you to try
to get the things from my cottage for me—specifically the miniature portraits of my mother and father. And if I successfully
open the door for you, you’ll owe me three favors.”
It was a bold request. A single favor from an Etheri sovereign was the stuff of legend—both good and ill.
Garrick’s eyes gleamed. “I will protect you, and I will try to retrieve your things for you. And if you open the door for me,” he said, “then I’ll owe you two favors.
Neither can be used to harm me or mine, and I will try my best to fulfill them, but if I am unable, you will agree
to choose something else with the same terms.”
“Agreed.”
Garrick ran a frustrated hand down his face. “You are terrible at bargains.”
“Do you agree or not?”
“The bargain is struck,” he said, and magic sizzled in the air between us. Apparently the handshake last time had been just
for show.
Garrick pinned me in place with a glare. “When we get to Lohka, don’t agree to anything without asking me first. I don’t want to have to kill half my court to keep you safe.”
“Would you?”
His expression flattened. “Yes. A vow of protection is no small thing.”
Okay, so I wouldn’t be making any bargains with unknown Etheri. I’d have to watch myself when we got to Lohka.
Which we would.
I just had to figure out how.