“I need to gather a few things and go grab my family. I’ll meet you at the dock,” Tristan said before nodding downwards. “Now go before our window of opportunity evades us.”
Dock? Questions filled my head, but I put them to the side. I could ask questions once we were out of here.
“Just hang on tight to your shit and jump, Kyella.”
My gaze darted down to the dark void below me, and the world spun a bit. I felt like I was going to pass out.
A hard shove had me falling out of the window. That bastard hadpushedme!
I couldn’t even scream, a breathless gasp catching in my throat. Tightening my hold on my things against my chest, my body dropped like a heavy sack of potatoes, my hair flying around wildly. I closed my eyes tight and gritted my teeth, fully expecting to splat on the ground, almost craving an instant death because I didn’t want to die bleeding out on the stone pavement outside of my prison—
Warm, muscled arms caught me, my breath whooshing out on impact.
Instant relief filled me as a whimper escaped my lips, so fucking glad to not have hit the ground. I grabbed onto the muscular chest holding me, keeping my eyes squeezed shut as I tried to reorient myself. Something that was difficult, considering the man holding me had the most alluring cedar scent in the world. My heart began to beat double-time, and when I tilted my head back, slowly opening my eyes, everything in my world stilled as hazel eyes, so unique in color, held mine.
A manic laugh filled me as I realized I’d just fallen from a fucking window and lived to tell the tale. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t giving Tristan shit later for pushing me. The fucker.
Those beautiful eyes pinched together in worry, probably at my hysterical laughter, causing me to quiet down and fully take him in now that the adrenaline was fading.
Oh wow. He was so much more handsome up close than from a distance.
“I’ve got you, Kyella.”
My name on his lips stunned me for a moment, unable to escape just how beautiful it sounded. My name had been said with malice or faux niceness the past few years, the call of it always reminding me of how I had to answer to them or else be punished. But when he said it? It sent pleasurable chills over my skin.
This was the first man I’d laid eyes on in the throne room, and I couldn’t help but melt into him, feeling that connection surge through me once more.
It hadn’t been imagined. No, this was a very real feeling, one that radiated through me to my very soul.
The Lord seemed stunned as well, staring down at me with a gentle smile that was partially covered by his dark, scruffy beard. A sense of safety infiltrated me, completely sheltered in his arms, in his protection. Nothing else around us seemed important—
“We need to leave, Kolvar.”
“Kolvar?” I inquired before I realized I’d even opened my mouth. “Is that your name?”
“Yes,” he rumbled in response.
“Kolvar,” the other man demanded.
“I know, Elijah,” Kolvar snapped. “Are you ready to go, darling?”
Honestly, I was a bit stunned to be asked something. He’d just called me darling, and I was certain my heart had melted into a puddle in my chest.
I couldn’t remember the last time someone had asked for my opinion or if I was okay with our plans. I finally looked away from him, my gaze trailing to the owner of the hard, commanding voice. It belonged to the man with emerald eyes, the one who had nearly drank from me before I pleaded with him not to, his eyes fixated on my face. He held my gaze for a minute before speaking in a quieter, yet equally as serious tone.
It made me wonder if he had a softer side or if this was his normal.
“Do you have everything you need?”
“Yes.” I wiggled out of Kolvar’s arms. He grunted but placed me down, a bit begrudgingly, which I liked. I looked around, the nearest gate into the castle grounds lit up in the distance with guards. They had never expected me to jump out of the window, so luckily no one was walking in this areaoutsideof the grounds, but who knew how long that would last.
“We can leave.” I swallowed as the man named Elijah turned and led the way from the castle. The cold wind of the night brushed against my face, and I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to keep as quiet as possible while walking next to them.
I had a million questions ringing through my head, and my pulse was heightened as I continued to try to look at them discreetly from beneath my lashes and out of the corner of my eye. There was so much I wanted to ask, but as we entered the dark streets of the town, the silence felt heavy, strangling my voice.
It felt like the people were taking the night to rest while the Lords celebrated, taking the singular moment to have a break from the constant oppression. What would it be like to return to that sort of life? Having a home to escape to every night, a place where you weren’t constantly at the beck and call of a tyrant?
I knew I was trying to distract myself with these thoughts because of how nervous I was right now. Not only from being around these men, but because I’d made it out this far… I hadn’t been out of the castle walls since arriving. I came to a full stop at that thought.
