Page 140 of Destiny of a King

The room surprised Dravic.

A fire burned in the hearth. A bed occupied one wall, while a table and two chairs stood near another. It was comfortable enough, but the heavy shutters over the window and the bolt sliding into place on the other side of the door left no doubt as to its purpose.

They were prisoners.

Dravic waited until the footsteps faded before turning to Adira and taking her in his arms. “Are you alright? You’re not harmed, are you?”

Adira shook her head.

Dravic ran his hands over her arms, assuring himself that the men had left no injury behind before pulling her against him. He held her there for a moment, the anger that had consumed him when they tried to take her still lingering.

He had stopped running, knowing they would be captured, but he had little choice left to him. But then he had not entered Driochmor without a plan and that plan was what had given him the confidence to let them be captured. What he hadn’t expected was the attempt to separate them.

That troubled him more than he cared to admit.

He eased her away from him. “Show me the necklace.”

Adira reached into the pocket of her skirt, removed the pouch and handed him the necklace.

Dravic carried it closer to the fire and studied it. There could be no mistaking the Morvane mark etched into it.

He looked at Adira. “Your mother gave this to you?”

She nodded, though she did not recall such a memory. It simply had been with her as long as she could remember.

Dravic handed it back to her and she slipped it back into the pouch and tucked it safely into her pocket.

He lingered in thought, his gaze on the hearth. Perhaps her mother had been Morvane. Perhaps she had fled the clan and taken Adira with her. There could have been countless reasons for doing so, particularly with a clan whose use of dark magic had made even the people of Driochmor fear them.

But one question continued to trouble him. If Adira had been born Morvane, why had she been unable to hear or speak? Surely those born to a clan steeped in magic would have possessed the means to help her.

Unless they had refused, or perhaps her mother had taken her away before they could. There were too many possibilities and not enough facts.

Dravic turned to her. “What I don’t understand is what you have to do with all of this. Why, whoever brought us here, has any interest in you?”

Her uneasiness showed.

With ease born of habit, Dravic slipped his arm around her waist and eased her close.

Adira moved closer, her body brushing against his, her hand resting on his arm.

“If we should be separated⁠—”

Adira immediately pressed her finger to his lips and shook her head firmly.

He caught her hand and moved it away. “Nay. I want you to hear this.”

Adira stilled.

Dravic kept hold of her hand. “I’ve told you I love you when I believed you couldn’t hear the words. Now that I know you can…”

Her eyes glistened, sensing what he was about to say and wishing she had a voice so that he could hear the same from her.

“I love you, Adira.”

She lifted their closed hands to his face.

“And if by chance they separate us, if you cannot see me or know where I am, you remember that.”