AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’ll be back before it snows in Efra,” I promised. “Before you’ve even realized I’m gone.”
Griffin shook his head. “Not possible. I miss you already.”
2
Three days passed in a blur. Three days was not enough time to prepare for a long-term trip to a different pack, in a different climate. My wardrobe was mostly linen dresses and skirts with a few long jackets for the rainy season. But Efra was much colder, and my father had the tailors work overtime. He insisted that I needed an all-new wardrobe for the weather there and to show my status as a Lady of Daybreak.
Now, I stood at the front gate of the manor. Three trunks were stacked up behind me and a fine brand-new, fur-lined coat hung over my arm. I was dressed simply in a linen skirt and blouse for the travel, but I had a fine silk gown to wear for when I made my entrance at Efra.
Over the past three days, I felt like I’d barely had a chance to breathe. I’d had my hair done, my nails groomed, my skin exfoliated, undergone a brush-up on my etiquette, and a crash course in the history of all five packs. No one knew exactly what to expect from the King’s Choice, especially one held by Nightfall after a hundred years. The best I could do was to be prepared in, well, everything.
“You think you brought enough?” Barion asked, eyeballing the three trunks stacked up behind me. He had a simple canvas bag swung over his shoulder and was dressed in his usual workwear of linen pants and boots.
“I wasn’t the one who packed them,” I huffed as I crossed my arms over my chest. If it was me, I’d be traveling much lighter and covering as much distance as possible. I’d even map the journey along the way.
Barion grinned. “Figured.”
The coach, a fine, sturdy wood structure pulled by two draft horses, approached the manor. Barion gestured, and three servants hopped off the outside of the coach and hurried to load the trunks onto the cargo hold on the back. Barion swung his canvas bag on top of the trunks and fastened the straps of the hold down. Then he glanced over his shoulder at me. “You ready for this, little wolf?”
I huffed at the nickname. He hadn’t called me that since I was a girl, barely tall enough to hold a sword on my own. “I’d better be, after all the prep I just went through.”
Barion boomed his big laugh, then walked around to check the horses, just in case the stable boys weren’t up to his standards.
I glanced at the front door of the manor. My father was nowhere to be seen, and I didn’t expect him to come see me off. But part of me still ached that he hadn’t. I was his only child. There was a chance I might never return from this journey. And he couldn’t even come upstairs to say goodbye. Likely he didn’t even want to.
He was just glad to be rid of me.
“Lady Reyna!” a familiar voice called. “Reyna!”
“Oh, here we go,” Barion muttered. He shook his head and turned his attention to triple-checking the horses’ yokes.
Griffin hurried up the path to the manor, cheeks flushed with exertion. “I was afraid I’d be too late,” he said.
Affection swelled in my chest as he hurried closer. I reached for him. He took my hand in his, then smoothed his thumb over my knuckles. I tried to memorize his face: the freckles on his nose, the curve of his lips, his thoughtful green eyes. How long would it be before I saw him again? I could be eliminated after the first trial—or I could be in Efra until the bitter end.
As long as I made it back here, to Daybreak, Griffin and I could start a life far away. That would make it all worth it.
“I brought you something,” Griffin said.
I blinked. “What? Griffin, you didn’t have to—”
“I know,” he said. “I wanted to.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box, then pressed it into my hand.
Inside the velvet-lined box was a pendant. It was big, really big, nearly the size of a chestnut. It was set in fine, delicate silver and surrounded by what looked like diamonds. My eyes widened.
“It’s a promise,” Griffin said. “A promise from me to you, that if something goes wrong, I’ll come for you. I won’t lose you to Nightfall.”
I nodded. The pendant was a little ostentatious for my taste—much larger than anything I’d gotten for myself—and part of me itched at the idea that Griffin thought he might have to come rescue me. I wasn’t a damsel in distress getting dragged blindly into the king’s bedroom. I was a noble and a diplomat. I was going to handle this my way, so I could build the life I wanted. Part of me thought Griffin seemed a little too sure that he’d need to rush in sword drawn, but I knew he was just as worried as I was. We both didn’t know what exactly the Choice was going to be like, and we were handling it in different ways.
“Thank you,” I said. “I love it.”
I turned around and let Griffin sweep my plait to the side to fasten the delicate chain around my neck. The pendant rested right at my sternum and caught the sunlight beautifully. It’d look much more in place with a fine gown than the plain linen I wore to travel.
I turned back around and wrapped my arms around his neck. “Take care of yourself,” I said. “Don’t have too much fun while I’m gone.”
“I should be saying that to you,” Griffin murmured. He kissed me gently on the cheek, and that felt like more of a promise than the pendant did.
