Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 103333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Dar moved closer, his strong hands landing on her waist and with one swift lift swung her up and onto the saddle. Then he quickly mounted to settle behind her.
He leaned forward to take hold of the reins, his lips a whisper away from her cheek. “You are my wife until I say you are not.”
His warm breath skimmed her cheek, sending a shiver through her. Or it could have been his words, sounding like a declaration that he didn’t intend to let her go. A frightening thought or a sober one, since she had no doubt Dar was a man who would protect his wife with his life.
The stallion shifted beneath them, and the line of Hunters began to move.
The stallion moved with an easy, rolling stride, its warmth rising through the saddle. Elara kept her back straight, refusing to lean against the hard breadth of Dar’s chest, though the temptation was stronger than she wished to admit. His arm brushed her side each time he shifted the reins, and every brush sent a whisper of heat spiraling through her, a familiar and comforting heat she didn’t want to welcome, but she did.
Finally, she found her breath, though only one word slipped from her lips. “Why?”
A long moment passed before he answered, his voice low behind her ear. “Word reached us that a healer with silver hair and amethyst eyes, a rare combination, could be found in Birkfell.”
Elara stiffened. “So, you specifically came searching for me?”
His arm slipped around her waist, and he tucked her against him, keeping his voice for her ears alone. “Aye, I was to find you and determine if you were the one King Dravic seeks.”
Her pulse stumbled. “Why not just take me captive like the other healers?”
“Hunters hunt their way and gathering endless prey to find the one we search for is not our way. I was sent to hunt as only Hunters can and deliver what the king wants.”
“But I am not what the king wants. I have no remarkable healing powers—” she gasped. “My visions. You bring me to the king because of my visions.”
His body grew as taut as his silence.
“Dar,” she said, turning her head enough to catch the edge of his jaw, the rough stubble along it grazing her soft cheek. “Tell me that you will not betray me further.”
He stared at her in silence, his manner stoic, his gray eyes cold, and his arm tightened around her as if he never intended to let her go. And why she felt a moment of relief she could not say but she clung to it with hope.
“When we stand before King Dravic, you will follow my lead,” he ordered.
Disappointed with his reply, she sighed. “That is not an answer.”
“It is the only one I can give you just now.”
Elara kept her eyes on his, as if they would tell her more than he would say. “You expect me to trust you after everything you’ve done?”
“I have kept you safe, Elara, and I will continue to do so.”
She was about to tell him that it was his duty to keep her safe until she was delivered to the king, but something stopped her. Why would he tell her that he would continue to keep her safe when it would no longer be his duty to do so?
“You will always be safe with me,” he whispered close to her ear.
A shiver ran through her. “I want to believe that.”
“Then do,” he said, sounding as if he ordered her to do so.
Silence followed, heavy and weighted.
Finally, his voice brushed her ear again. “The king is not a man you refuse.”
She clenched the saddle blanket, torn between fear and the sharp pull she felt toward the man holding her. She shouldn’t trust him and yet… the closeness of him, the steady strength of his arms, his warm breath against her cheek, and a kiss that said so much more than was spoken cautioned her to pay heed and not condemn him… just yet.
Ahead, the trees thinned, the road winding toward the king’s land and her fate.
Whatever awaited them in Caerith, she knew one truth clearly, her greatest danger might not be King Dravic. It might be the Hunter she feared she had lost her heart to whether she wanted to believe it or not.
Chapter Thirteen
Caerith
Home of the King
* * *
They crested a rise just before dusk, time enough for Elara to see clearly what lay ahead.
Caerith.
The king’s stronghold.
The heart of Scotara.
The place where fate waited with open jaws.
She drew in a breath and held it, stunned.
The land before them unfurled in sweeping ridges and deep, rolling valleys, the forests thinning into a vast emerald expanse. Mist curled along the ground like drifting spirits, caught in the hollows where lochs glimmered faintly beneath the cloudy sky.