Chapter 16
“Don’t you worry, sweet thing, I won’t let you fall,” Thain whispered in my ear.
“I have no reason to be worried. Don’t forget, I rode with Dion for weeks, and even he didn’t drop me. Though I bet he wished for it many times.” Although my words were meant as a joke, there was a grain of truth in them.
A small laughter escaped my lips. I’d gotten to know the redhead well enough to understand he was a shameless flirt. I didn’t take it too seriously when he used terms of endearment for me or acted like my personal hero.
Passing the time with him was easy, but I’d never give in to his advances.
Not that we were often in each other’s presence anyway, thanks to Dion.
Who, by the way, would be more than pissed after returning from the mission Fig had assigned to him.
He’d always dodged provision runs for the past few weeks, and my best guess was that the reason might have been the redhead who beamed as if he was the king of the world when he helped me up on his horse.
What surprised me the most was that Thain acted quite polite. He didn’t pull me too close or touch me indecently—neither intentionally nor accidentally.
“Ignore His Broodiness. He was born with a frown, scowling instead of crying like a normal baby.”
Laughing with him provided a welcome distraction after the tense situation during the border control.
As long as I didn’t dwell on the fact that Fig and Dion thought some guard had behaved suspiciously, I was fine.
“What’s the problem between the two of you, anyway?
” My question diverted the conversation to a more serious note—or so I thought.
“Whenever I ask Dion, he just huffs, glowers at me, and changes the topic.”
“Oh sweetling, I can tell you that. So, listen up. We didn’t know each other before this mission.
I mean, yes, we’re both soldiers in the king’s army, but we’re placed at very different stations, and the force is huge, I can tell you that.
Actually, the only one I knew before all of this was Antas because his mother lived in the same place I grew up in, and I think he did so too, although he never confirmed it.
It’s some sort of commune, quite remote, but still my favorite place in the worlds, by the way.
From all that I’ve gathered, Antas isn’t a fan, but maybe things were different in the past when he presumably was living there, I don’t know.
He gets incredibly tight-lipped when I try to find out, no matter how much I poke and prod.
I think I actually saw him visiting his mother once, but since I had a wild phase at the time, I could be mistaken. He’s—”
My head was reeling from the stream of consciousness coming out of Thain’s mouth at a speed that felt twice as fast as normal. It was impossible to get a word in, and I just tried to follow his stories as best as I could.
“—and well, anyway, then I accidentally took the decanter instead of the glass meant for me, drank it all, and subsequently disturbed the rite in a major way. Shit, that was embarrassing when I came down from my high. After that—”
Damn, I’d missed a part of his tale, and no matter how much I fought to recollect his words, I couldn’t. Also, it was a mystery to me how Thain was able to breathe while talking.
“—rlann suggested that I should go to the capital, join the army, and be some kind of ambassador for our community. However, I’ve stopped advertising our place since most people aren’t cut out for it, and those who are interested find their way alone, so why bother?
So, the capital. Ah yes, that’s when I met Antas again—or for the first time, depending on if I really met him before. ”
“Uhh, Thain—”
“Yes, sweet thing?”
“You wanted to tell me what the problem is with you and Dion.” I’d given up following his story, which sounded more like the ramblings of a confused person than something that remotely made sense.
“Oh yes! Shit, I got distracted, darling. That’s something that happens to me sometimes. A lot of people told me time and time again that I have no filter, and—”
“Thain?”
“Oh, right. Dion and I.”
Even if he’d never start to explain, I already had more than just an inkling of what one of the problems between the two men might be. Also, I was surprised that I had no idea how much Thain talked once he got excited. It was almost endearing. “Yes, but only if you want to talk about it.”
“I’d do anything for you, sugar. Alright, Dion.
Well, in the beginning, everything was civil, but Dion is the opposite of approachable and open, and I think our personalities just clash.
After our first conversation, he glowered at me as if I was beneath him and told me not to bother him—I would talk too much.
Can you imagine? I was just so excited to meet him! Oh my, the joke’s on me, hmm?”
“Hmm—knowing Dion, maybe?”
“Well, admittedly, things did escalate a tiny little bit between us after an incident in Thamia. Oh, Pasa! I loved it there, I’m not kidding. Everyone was so friendly, the climate there is so amazing, and the food—”
“Incident?” Giving up on politeness, I interrupted Thain to bring him back on track.
“Ha, funny! That story has something to do with Pasa’s food as well!
So, we’ve been in Thamia, and I was so hungry, and I was kinda drunk and got carried away.
So when I spotted a wedding celebration, I invited myself to the party.
I ate, drank some more, and got horny like a cat in heat, and let me tell you, as good as Pasa’s food is, their people?
Quite stuck up. Still, in the end, I fucked the daughter of the keeper of the keys—who, by total coincidence, was the bride.
I was cock-and-balls-deep inside of her when her father stumbled into the storage room where we were at it.
So yes, I got caught and was thrown into the dungeons.
Dreadful place, I tell you. And well, all that happened after I’d been warned by the others not to let my flirtations influence our mission.
Nobody was too happy, and especially Fig gave me a stern talk—but Dion was furious with me.
After the others had bailed me out, we left Thamia as fast as possible, and well, Dion decided to be mad at me until the end of time. ”
I was stunned speechless for a moment, and it took me a second to register that Thain had actually stopped speaking, which was almost as hard to believe as his story. “Thain! You bedded a bride on her wedding day? Are you serious?”
“I don’t see the problem. I wanted to seduce the groom as well, but he wasn’t open to my advances. Sometimes that happens.”
I was on the verge of answering when Ireas, who was riding in front of us, suddenly cried out in pain.
I jerked my head around and, with horror, spotted an arrow impaled in his shoulder.
He sagged into the saddle, and I screamed his name at the top of my lungs.
It was fortunate that he hadn’t fallen off the horse, and since he was moving—albeit jerky—I was certain that he was at least alive and conscious.
But it didn’t stop there. I screamed again as an array of arrows rained down on us. It was a miracle that none of them hit, and I silently thanked the gods.
When the assault finally ceased, fortunately, nobody else had been shot.
But then mercenaries appeared from the surrounding trees, both on horseback and on foot, forcing us to halt abruptly.
The time between Ireas taking the arrow in his shoulder and now felt like an eternity, but it could have only been mere moments.
Fig was shouting orders, and Thain’s hand forced me to cower flat against the horse’s neck. His voice was full of authority, at least a few notes deeper than usual and much sterner than he’d ever sounded before. “Stay down, darling.”
As I did my best to follow his order and made myself as small as possible, my heart thumped in my chest as the smell of the animal burned itself into my nostrils.
“On behalf of Perran Feroy, hand over the murderess, or your lives shall be forfeited!” The demand of one of the attackers reverberated through the forest, and I stiffened in panic.
The King of Merchants had sent these men, and I’d be dead if they brought me to him, that much was certain.
Dread crashed over me, and I had problems filling my lungs.
This was all so overwhelmingly wrong! I was painfully aware I couldn’t even defend myself.
Yes, I’d asked Dion for training once, but I’d never brought it up again.
Why hadn’t I? Maybe because he’d always been so adamant he’d keep me safe no matter what.
And now I was in the middle of a dangerous situation, and it was clear I was useless while my self-proclaimed number one protector was somewhere that was not in front of me. How could I’ve been so careless and stupid?
Fig’s laughter rang out as he dismounted and drew his greatsword. Why did he laugh? My stomach was in knots as my gaze darted toward him. “Did such a demand ever work out for you? The only ones dying today are you and your men.”
The mercenary didn’t answer. Instead, steel clashed with steel. I was sick with worry for Ireas and the other men, just as I was for myself.
Antas remained unseen, but his lethal skills were evident as an enemy mercenary near us—how did he come so close?—was struck down by one of his arrows.
The others—my men, as I dubbed them—were more skilled and far superior, at least to my untrained eye, but the attackers outnumbered us by far. Still, it calmed me down to see how much more deadly my men were, and the threat of me throwing up from nausea slowly ceased.
“Stay down!” Thain hissed as I peeked up to get a better view of the fight.
Suddenly, my world tilted, and moments later, I hit the ground hard. At the edge of my vision, I noticed Thain was lying on the ground, and his face was contorted with pain.