Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
A Dangerous Escape
A Secret No More
Dravic caught her around her waist and pulled her against him, laughing, then nibbled along her neck.
She melted against him just as she did in the middle of the night when they woke and made love quickly.
And again, only a short time ago when they woke, a quick joining.
Far too worried a knock would sound at the door, and their secret would be discovered.
He wanted to make this time alone with her last, touch her as he pleased, kiss her, hug her, and have her do the same with him. For once they left the cottage, they could do none of that.
He was king and she was his companion.
Dravic scowled at the thought and pulled her closer.
Adira smiled up at him, her arms slipping around his neck.
“I suppose we cannot remain in here forever.”
She rested her head against his chest as though perfectly willing to try.
Dravic smiled. He liked the idea far more than he should.
A flutter of movement near the hearth caught his attention.
Fiora appeared from behind the stonework and flew toward them.
“How the bloody hell did you get in here?” Dravic demanded.
Fiora rolled her eyes. “I’m a fairy. We can get ourselves into almost anything.”
Dravic opened his mouth to respond.
Fiora immediately pressed one tiny finger to her lips. “Shhh.”
Something in her expression wiped the remnants of Dravic’s smile away.
Adira straightened in his arms.
Fiora flew closer and kept her voice barely above a whisper. “It’s a trap.”
Dravic went still. “What is?”
“The village. All of it.” Fiora glanced toward the door. “Don’t go outside. They’re waiting for you.”
Dravic’s arm tightened around Adira. “Who?”
“I don’t know. Warriors started arriving before dawn. More came out of cottages. Your men and the Hunters are surrounded. They were taken before they could lift a weapon.”
Fury hardened Dravic’s face. “All of them?”
“From what I could tell and they’re all alive. That’s why I came to you instead of doing something clever and heroic myself.”
Dravic ignored that. His mind was already racing back over the night before.
A cottage waiting for them. A fire already burning. Food set upon the table. Privacy offered before he’d even asked for it.
He scowled deeply. “They knew.”
Fiora nodded.
“They knew we were coming.” He cursed beneath his breath.
He had walked willingly into the trap, pleased by the prospect of getting Adira alone when he should have questioned why everything had been prepared for their arrival.
Merek.
His directions had brought them here.
Dravic’s gaze went to Adira.
She had heard every word. She kept her expression carefully controlled, but fear had begun to gather inside her. Not for herself… for him.
Fiora darted toward the back of the cottage.
“The window in the rear wall. No one is watching it. They’re all waiting for the king to walk out the front door.”
Dravic looked toward the window.
“You need to leave. Now,” Fiora whispered.
“My men are out there and the Hunters who serve me loyally.”
“And what good will you do them if they capture you too?”
Dravic’s jaw tightened. He didn’t need a fairy pointing out what he already knew.
Seger and his warriors had followed him into Driochmor and fought beside him.
Every instinct demanded that he go to them.
But walking out the front door would accomplish nothing except give their captors the one prisoner who mattered most.
“You said they’re all alive?”
“Aye. The Hunters too. They have them surrounded and disarmed, but no one has been hurt.”
He did not have to wonder why his men were not harmed. An attack would have woken him. This way all they had to do was wait until he left the cottage to capture him. But who waited to capture him?
“Did you see who commands them?” he asked.
“Nay. Some may be mercenaries and warriors disguised as villagers.”
Dravic cursed beneath his breath. “This could be Tharne’s doing.”
He looked at Adira again.
He would not take a chance with her life simply because he felt honor-bound to walk out that door to his men. Remaining free gave him a chance to find help and return for them. Captured, he could do nothing.
Fiora fluttered impatiently near him. “We don’t have much time.”
Dravic made his decision. “We’re leaving.”
He and Adria dressed quickly.
With their cloaks on, Dravic went to the window and eased it open and peered outside.
The rear of the cottage remained deserted, just as Fiora had promised. A narrow stretch of frozen ground separated the cottage from the forest, the trees close enough to offer cover once they reached them.
He glanced back at Adira and held up one hand, telling her to wait. Then quietly as possible he climbed out a window.
There was nothing graceful about it. The opening was narrow for a man his size, forcing him to turn sideways and duck his head before dropping to the ground.
Under different circumstances, he might have been annoyed by the indignity of it. Today he was simply grateful no one was there to witness it.
Fiora fluttered through the opening behind him. “I saw.”
Dravic sent her a warning glare.
The fairy grinned.
“Not one word.”
Fiora pressed both hands over her mouth.
Dravic turned back to the window and stretched his arms out to Adira. “Come to me.”
Adira heard him clearly.
She gathered her skirt enough to maneuver through the narrow opening, then hesitated when she saw the distance to the ground.
“I’ve got you.”
Her heart gave the same ridiculous leap it always did when she heard his voice, but this was no time to savor it.
She lowered herself through the window.
Dravic caught her around the waist and lifted her easily away from the wall, setting her on her feet without allowing her to move out of his arms.
For a moment, they stood there together.
His gaze went to the cottage, then beyond it toward the front of the village where his men were being held. Leaving them went against every instinct he possessed. But walking willingly into captivity would not free them.
He needed help, and he needed Adira away from whoever had gone to such trouble to bring them here.
Fiora suddenly flew higher. “Someone’s coming.”
Dravic’s caught Adira’s hand. “Stay with me.”
He tugged at her hand and ran, and she ran with him.
They crossed the open ground and disappeared among the trees just as voices sounded somewhere behind the cottage.
Dravic didn’t look back.
He kept Adira’s hand locked firmly in his as they moved deeper into the forest, choosing the thickest cover he could find. They had no horses, no supplies beyond what they carried, and he had no idea how many men would soon be hunting them.
Worse, he didn’t know where the bloody hell they were.
He slowed only when the village could no longer be seen through the trees.
“Fiora.”
“I know,” the fairy said, flying close. “See if we’re being followed.”
“Aye and come straight back.”
She flew off.
Dravic continued forward, keeping Adira close. He needed distance between them and Dunvar before their escape was discovered. Once it was, every road and path would be watched.
A faint sound behind them made Adira turn, then stop.
Dravic was brought to a halt with her. “What’s wrong?”
Adira stared toward the trees behind them. She had heard something. Not clearly enough to know what it was, but distinctly enough to know they were no longer alone.
Dravic gestured for her to keep moving.
Adira remained as she was, realizing this could no longer continue. Not now. Not when the secret she’d been protecting could place them both in danger.
Dravic’s expression hardened with impatience. He pointed ahead and then motioned for her to follow.
Adira caught his hand before he could finish.
He scowled. “We cannot—”
She rushed to touch her ear.
Dravic shook his head. “We have no time for—”
Adira pointed to him and touched her ear, repeating the gesture over and over.
His brow creased and he shook his head. “It’s not possible.”
She nodded rapidly.
Dravic’s eyes widened. “You can hear me?”
Adira nodded.
He didn’t move or speak. His eyes remained fixed on hers as shock gave way to a dozen questions, she could see gathering behind his stare.
“How long?”
She wished there was time for her to explain, wished she hadn’t needed to tell him here and now, but she had had no choice. Not if they were to escape.
She shook her head and pointed urgently behind them.
Dravic heard it then, voices carried faintly through the forest.
His head snapped toward the sound. Whatever he wanted to ask would have to wait.
He gripped her hand. “Run.”
This time, Adira didn’t need a gesture. She ran.
The trees swallowed them quickly.
Dravic kept Adira close as they ran, choosing no path and trusting the thick forest to conceal them. Branches clawed at his cloak and uneven ground threatened their footing, but he refused to slow until the voices behind them had faded.
Only then did he pull Adira behind the broad trunk of an ancient tree and hold one finger to his lips.
The gesture was unnecessary. That realization struck him hard.
Adira knew what was coming before he spoke.
“You heard me last night.”
Her heart jumped. Of all the questions she expected, that was not the first.
Dravic’s gaze remained fixed on hers. “When I told you I loved you.”
There was no anger in his voice. Only certainty as something that had puzzled him finally made sense.
Her reaction. The tears. The way she had clung to him.
Adira nodded.
He reached for her, his hand settling against the side of her face. “You heard me.”
She nodded again, smiling this time.
Dravic kissed her.
It was brief, fierce, and completely unsuited to two people being hunted through a forest, but he didn’t give a damn.
When he lifted his head, Adira touched his chest, then rested her hand over her own heart.
Dravic understood. “You love me.”
She nodded.
The pleasure that struck him was fierce enough to make him want to drag her back into his arms, but distant voices reminded him they had no time for what he wanted.
“Later,” he said firmly. “You are going to tell me everything you can about when this started.”
Adira nodded.
“And everything you’ve heard.”
Her smile faded slightly.
Dravic’s eyes narrowed. “That much?”
She gave him an innocent look that fooled him not at all.
“Bloody hell.”
Adira nearly smiled again.
Dravic caught her hand. “Come. We need to put more distance between us and the village.”
They had barely started forward when Fiora darted through the trees.
“They know you’re gone.”
“How many are following?”
“Enough.”
Fiora flew ahead as Dravic and Adira continued through the forest.
They moved quickly, though Dravic no longer had to divide his attention between watching for danger and making certain Adira understood every command. He could simply speak to her.
“Stay close.”
She did.
“Watch the ground.”
She stepped around a fallen limb.
“Stop.”
Adira stopped instantly when he heard something ahead.
He raised his hand, signaling Fiora to remain where she was, then listened. Nothing followed. After another moment, he started forward again.
Adira suddenly tightened her grip on his hand.
“What is it?” he asked, and listened, thinking he missed a sound.
She pointed toward a tree several feet away.
Dravic followed her gesture.
A symbol had been carved deeply into its trunk. One of the same markings Seger’s men had begun noticing days ago… markings of the Morvane Clan.
He went to it. The carving was old, the edges weathered and darkened with age. Another symbol marked a tree farther ahead, and beyond that he could make out yet another. There were more here than he had seen anywhere along their journey.
Dravic recalled the message from the High Council warning that Morvane carvings were appearing farther into Driochmor. But these markings were old, not freshly made, and that could mean only one thing.
“We are well inside the land these symbols mark.”
Adira continued staring at the nearest one. Something about it troubled her. Then her eyes widened. She released Dravic’s hand and reached into the pocket of her skirt.
He watched her pull out a small pouch, open it, and remove something wrapped inside.
A necklace.
She held it out to him.
His attention went first to her face and then to the object resting on her palm. The necklace Feena had managed to briefly mention that Adira had shown her just before her abduction. He had forgotten all about it.
Adira pointed toward the carving on the tree and back at the necklace.
Dravic took a closer look at the necklace. The same symbol was etched into it. He took the necklace carefully from her and examined it more closely.
“You’ve had this all along?”
Adira nodded.
Fiora flew nearer. “Let me see.”
Dravic held it where she could.
Fiora’s expression had turned unusually serious. “What is Adira doing with a Morvane necklace?”