Page 40 of Destiny of a King

A quick smile surfaced but was replaced just as quickly with a silent wince.

He saw that the red mark on her cheek was beginning to bruise and anger rumbled through him. It had taken a hard blow to leave such a mark behind, and he was going to make sure that whoever dared to touch her suffered greatly for it.

The wind began to strengthen along with the snow. It swept through the trees in thick waves, quickly erasing the tracks left by those riding ahead of them.

Dravic wrapped his cloak more securely around himself and Adira, then tightened his arm at her waist.

She glanced up at him, he pointed ahead, and she followed his gesture. The warriors who had been riding only a short distance in front of them were barely visible.

Dravic urged his horse faster. The animal resisted briefly before obeying his command.

The snow continued to thicken until the riders ahead became nothing more than dark shapes that quickly disappeared.

Dravic reined in the horse and yelled out to his men to respond, but the wind carried his shout away.

Adira felt his shout. It rode up in his chest with force, and she hurried to look at him, knowing something was wrong.

Dravic shouted again but again no answer came. He looked behind them. Snow filled the forest in every direction, falling so heavily that even the trees several yards away were difficult to see. He had been caught in such a fast and heavy snowfall when he was young. He had survived it and he would make sure he and Adira survived this one.

Adira watched his face, worry settling over her. She touched his arm.

Dravic looked down at her.

She pointed around them and lifted her brow.

He understood. “We are alone.”

Adira could not hear him, but his expression told her enough.

Dravic looked into the storm. He could attempt to find the others, but without seeing their tracks he risked going deeper into the forest and farther from Caerith.

The horse shifted uneasily beneath them.

Dravic wasted no more time weighing options. They needed shelter.

He wrapped his arm more firmly around Adira, then he urged the horse into the storm.

Snow lashed at them from every direction, the wind driving it between the trees with such force that Dravic was forced to lower his head against it.

The horse labored through the deepening drifts, each step slower than the last.

Adira clutched at the king’s tunic, feeling the strain in his body as he guided the horse. She looked up at him.

His jaw was set tight and his eyes searched through the swirling white.

She followed his gaze but saw little beyond the curtain of snow.

A sudden gust struck them broadside.

The horse lurched, its front hoof slipping beneath it before it caught itself. Adira grabbed hold of the king, and his arm tightened instinctively around her.

He steadied the horse with a quiet command before looking once again into the storm.

Nothing. No warriors. No prisoners. Not even the tiny flash of gold that had followed them through the forest.

“Fiora,” he muttered.

Even the fairy had vanished into the storm and the realization settled heavily on him. If he could not see one of his own warriors only yards away, he had no hope of finding them now.