Chapter 54
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
ROSAMUND
Lord Eorl’s manor is surrounded by a wall that has to be enclosing gardens and various outhouses.
To enter, we first have to go through a gate.
It stands wide open as a carriage rolls out and onto the road we’re standing on.
We step to the side as the heavy wooden wheels splash through mud.
The curtains are drawn. The coachman doesn’t pay us any attention as he cracks his whip and the horses accelerate.
I clasp my cold, raw hands together. Valen starts toward the manor once more, and I hurry after him. It feels… strange to be back in civilized lands again. Populated lands. Among humans. My kind.
We splash through more mud as we enter through the open gate and cross the manor grounds.
As I’d thought, I see vegetable patches and fruit trees on one side, stables and storehouses on the other.
The stone-paved path leading to the manor door is busy with people coming and going, some of them carrying parcels and tools.
We both slow down, and I duck my head as many eyes turn on us, a suspicious glint in them. Nobody stops us, though, and we reach the manor door. More people are visible inside, in the great hall. We step over the threshold and into a hive of activity.
People move to-and-fro, carrying boxes, crates and bundles. Servants walk around, carrying trays and pots. I wonder how far into the manor we can get before someone stops us… and on cue, a butler steps in our path.
“You two. The service door is at the back. Get out of here.”
“What did you say?” Valen snarls, and the man stumbles backward, eyes widening. “Say it again to my face.”
Yep. We’re back to angry, barbarian Valen.
“I’m here to see Lord Eorl,” I say and lift my locket, opening it. “He sent me his picture. I’m his betrothed.”
“You?” The butler has recovered his composure and gives an airy laugh. “Betrothed?”
“Yes. I’m Lady Rosamund Briar. Lord Eorl has been waiting for me. I’ve been… delayed.”
The butler rolls his eyes. “Maybe you’re the new jesters we’ve been expecting?”
Valen roars. “I’ll rip your throat out.”
I pull him back. Cold sweat beads on my brow. To come all this way and be kicked out before even seeing Lord Eorl in person? That’s a nightmare, and I haven’t had many of those lately.
It’s as if Valen’s presence is a weapon, a draught against nightmares… I push the thought aside.
“I tell you,” I repeat, “he has been waiting for me. Go inform him of my arrival.”
“Do you expect me to believe you’re a lady?” the butler snaps. “And not only that, but my master’s betrothed? I mean, look at your clothes! Your hair. Your hands.”
Letting go of Valen’s arm, I look down at my hands, and it’s as if I see them for the first time. They have blisters and sores, the skin cracked and bloody on my knuckles.
“Now move along,” the butler says sharply. “Get out before any of our noble guests sees you.”
I glance up. “I can’t go, not before seeing Lord Eorl. Don’t—”
“I said, move!” The butler shoves me backward—and the next thing I know, he’s thrown to the floor by a snarling werewolf.
That was a bad move, butler.
“Valen,” I whisper. “Wait…”
“Don’t fucking touch her! Don’t ever lay your filthy paws on her,” he growls, crouched over the supine form of the butler, lips peeling back to reveal long, sharp canines. His tail whips at the back of his thighs. “Not ever again.”
“Don’t hurt him!” I cry out.
“He pushed you,” Valen says, his voice still a growl, without turning around. “I’ll rip his hands off.”
The butler produces a shrill sound of terror. The stench of urine fills the air, and I realize he pissed himself.
A perfectly normal reaction upon suddenly finding a snarling half-shifted werewolf bent over you, all sharp teeth and claws.
The only reason I’m not cowering is because…
it’s Valen. My body reacts to the danger he represents, my heartbeat racing, my muscles locking up – but heat gathers in my core as desire grips me.
Desire that I have to kill.
“Valen,” I say again. “Come, let’s go find the lord of this place before someone else stops us.”
“I’d like to see them try,” he snarls, but rises with fluid grace to his feet. He finally turns toward me, and yeah, his handsome face is distorted, the jaw slightly too long, the eyes burning like lamps. “Before we move, he has to apologize.”
I glance at the butler who is struggling to sit up, muttering under his breath. A prayer, probably. He’s as white as a ghost.
“I don’t look like a lady anymore,” I whisper. “It’s not his fault.”
“You always look like a lady.” Valen’s clawed hands clench. “If they can’t see that, they’re fucking blind. As if clothes and jewelry are what matters.”
He’s right, and yet… and yet, I’m not sure I’ve ever been a proper lady at all. If I were, how could a few days in the woods undo my entire upbringing?
We hurry into the heart of the manor, looking for the stairs. Lord Eorl won’t be found in the kitchens and pantries. If he’s not in the great hall, then he has to be in one of the drawing and smoking rooms upstairs.
Spotting the grand staircase leading up, we grin at each other like conspirators and start climbing. More servants pass us by, casting us curious looks.
Keeping my head down, I force myself to climb faster. My legs are tired and heavy, my feet ache from all the endless walking. Valen is ahead of me, but stops and glances back, waiting for me to catch up.
Together we reach the second floor and walk down a great hallway, looking into every room.
We startle a number of people—a lady lounging in an armchair by a fire with a glass of wine, a lord perusing a book by a window, a maid dusting a table, a couple kissing passionately. The lady screams when she notices us.
We flee to the next floor, like two children caught in a prank. He grabs my hand and helps me up to the top of the stairs, his smile bright. I laugh breathlessly. I feel… happy. Exhausted, afraid, unsure, but being with him makes me smile.
We move along yet another great hallway, checking every room, surprising a few more people.
I’m starting to think Lord Eorl isn’t here. With my luck, he probably went out hunting today, or is journeying to the capital to see the Queen. I have no way of knowing his plans. I only know I was supposed to be arriving right about this time, and he was supposed to expect me.
Of course, there is a fallacy in my thinking. He would have been notified by my family about my journey… only I have no way of knowing what my family has sent notice about, if they sent anything at all.
Valen grabs my wrist, and we stop in the middle of the hallway. “He isn’t here.”
“I know.”
“Maybe it’s a sign from the Gods.”
“A sign?” I repeat.
“To forget about him and come with me. Come with me, little mouse.”
“What? No, Valen…” I gaze up at his familiar, beautiful face, the silver hair and that white strand falling in his golden eyes, and I want… I want to say yes, but that would be madness. “I can’t.”
The light in his eyes gutters out. “Just—”
A maid appears in front of us, cutting the moment short. “What’s going on?” she demands, hands on her hips. “What are you doing? Who are you?”
“We’re looking for Lord Eorl,” I say, wiping my mouth on the back of my hand, like Valen often does, and instantly realizing it’s not a proper gesture when her eyes narrow. “We have a… a message for him.”
She looks at me for long moments, a question in her dark eyes, but for some reason, she nods and says, “Follow me.”