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Nymphs watched us as we passed, many of them watching Dace and not me. I doubted they knew he was a king now. If anything, they probably stared because he looked like a pauper.
“I’m sorry,” he said again after we were alone.
My frustration with him wasn’t gone, nor had it done anything but sit and simmer, but we were both hurting. It wasn’t just me, even if that was hard to remember at times. Just because he was a king didn’t mean he didn’t also have his own wounds that needed healing.
Carefully, I caught his hand from where it swung at his side. My fingers interlaced with his and the feeling of his skin brought me some semblance of peace.
“I’m sorry about your parents.”
“Me, too.” He squeezed my hand tightly. I had the feeling he wasn’t going to let it go for quite some time.
Chapter11
Ryker
Every step the horse took as we galloped over the pavement sent my body bouncing against the saddle. With my legs on either side, the warmth of the horse and soft brush of its coat had begun to irritate my calves from the constant rubbing. The movement and the flow of the horse's muscles beneath us made my body roll against Dace’s. It wasn’t the worst thing to experience.
The white of the Twinity Court had long since surrounded us. I could see the tip of Dace’s castle. It glittered with the peak of the sun, giving it the appearance that much like the surrounding woods, it too was frosted over.
Silence had followed us since we left the town. Neither of us knew what to say, or likely even had a desire to say it even if we did. Listening to the sounds around us, the steady beat of the horse’s hooves, and Dace’s breath as it plumed in the air, had dissolved my anger. My eyelids drooped with every sway of the horse. Though, there was nowhere safe to lay my head. Not at this speed, not unless I wanted to repeatedly bounce my head off Dace’s shoulder.
The night had come and gone twice with little rest. I imagined the horse couldn’t be pushed for much longer, and neither could I. My eyes had only closed for sleep on the few occasions Dace had stopped to let the horse rest and eat. Every time, Dace would rattle me awake and help me back up on the horse after only an hour.
“Will you send a letter to King Windre to inquire about the safety of the Nymph army?” I spoke over his shoulder. Dace straightened at the sound of my voice, turning his head to look behind him quickly. I snuggled closer and continued, “They should be there by now.”
“Yes.” His tone was scratchy. He tugged at the reins of the horse and gave it his command to slow. Businesses and Fae folk filled my vision as we entered Caratona. Dace guided the horse behind a large wagon, his chin tucked down. Without his crown, and looking like he had rolled in a pigpen, I doubted the commoners would recognize him. Just a Fae and a Nymph.
Shop owners pulled the curtains in their windows open to give pedestrians a view of what they sold inside, many also flipping their signs to open. A woman with indigo hair in a tall updo was already bustling from store to store. Behind her, a Nymph whose chains tangled between his legs struggled to carry bags.
“Have you not freed your slaves yet?” I said shrilly, directly into Dace’s ear.
He looked up to follow my gaze. “I haven't quite gotten around to it. I’ll do it today. I’ll send out a decree to release them, I swear, but that won't help with the fact that they don't have powers.”
“I don’t... I don’t understand that,” I muttered.
“Don’t understand what?” I could already feel the misinterpretation of my words in his voice, and the offense that I didn’t mean. I didn’t mean it this time, at least.
“I don’t understand what King Ganglin did to strip an entire race of their powers. They come back with the tonic Jerydin made, but unless we get that into everybody's hands, some of them may never have their powers back. Do you know anything about how he did it?”
“No, I didn’t even attend the meetings they held regarding it. I was busy.”
The bounce of our bodies had slowed to a gentle rock as we tried to travel unnoticed through the town. I kept watching, looking on with sorrow, for Nymphs that hadn’t had a taste of freedom yet.
Their freedom would come soon, tomorrow soon.
“What exactly were you busy with five years ago? Drinking? Sleeping around?” I chuckled. It was the most light hearted thing either of us had said for two days.
“Actually, yes.” Dace perked up at the change in my attitude, sending me a flirty smirk over his shoulder.
If Dace and I had met organically, and he hadn’t had obsessive dreams about me, would we still be attracted to each other the same? I hadn’t had a lot of experience, but I didn’t think drunken slutty men were really my type. My thoughts instantly traveled to Graceson. So would I have been attracted to a drunk Dace? I think not.
Why do I always find myself living in the land of what-ifs? Fantasies of worlds I don’t live in always pique my interest, no matter how unrealistic they are. Am I fucked up?
“We’re all fucked up in some way,” Dace sighed.
I froze, my eyes refocusing from the haze of the world I had zoned out in.Had I said that out loud? How much had I said?
“I’m sorry, did I say something?” I waited for him to hit me with some news of his mind reading abilities that had, until now, gone untold.
