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Gods, she’s as stubborn as they come.
“Fine. Stay up on that high horse,” I shrug off, conceding to her whim.
“As if I needed your approval.” She scoffs.
“Oh, Kat. You might not have my approval, but you will suffer my company.”
And before she has time to ask what I mean by that, I step onto the horse’s stirrup and swing my leg over to the side, sitting right behind her, my arm flinging around her waist and pulling her back toward me.
My men begin to chuckle at the sight while hers seem at a loss as to what to do.
“What exactly do you think you’re doing?” she mumbles under her breath so no one can hear her reprimand.
“If you insist on being a petulant child, then I will treat you as one.”
“Get off,” she grunts, elbowing me in the gut, thinking that will release my hold on her.
“Not a chance. I need you to reach Arkøya alive, and like hell will I let you steal my victory by getting yourself killed.”
“I can ride just fine without you.”
“I’m not taking that chance. Now we can either ride on horseback together, where you don’t have to look at my face, or we can ride in your carriage, where you will be forced to. Your choice, Your Highness.”
I feel her body tense, her rigid form telling me that spending time with me in such close quarters is the last thing she wants.
“Fine,” she huffs out. “Let’s get on with this, shall we? The faster I get east, the quicker I’ll be able to leave it too.”
“So eager to be done with me already?” I smirk behind her.
She glances over her shoulder, those piercing gray eyes taking my very breath away.
“You were done with me long before I had a chance to be done with you.”
My brow creases at her words, but I don’t have time to decipher their meaning since it’s at this moment that she raises her hand in the air for all to see and orders the train to ride. My men don’t even question the order and do as she commands, the horses and carriages steadily strutting down the snow-covered road. She’s only been in their presence a day and already, subconsciously, they have just legitimized her reign by following such a simple order.
Holding her a bit too tightly, I lean down to the side of her face until my lips are at her ear.
“Clever, clever, Kat.”
The way she tries to subdue her smile tells me she knows exactly what she just did.
There is a small part of me that is in awe of how strategically calculating she is. But while this is her first battle, it’s far from being mine.
She might have just started this war.
But I’m the one who intends to finish it.
Chapter 8
Katrina
It’s been five hours since we left camp and already, my body is breaking down, showing signs of fatigue. I wasn’t lying when I told Levi that I was capable of riding on my own, but even I must admit that no matter how good an equestrian I am, nothing could have prepared me for this arduous journey. Every limb in my body aches, screaming for some relief.
You did this to yourself.
I hear Levi’s voice taunt me in my head.
But what was the alternative? Me riding comfortably in my carriage, whilst trailing behind him? Not a chance. That would suggest that I’m weak. Although I’m not sure what it says about me to be riding with Levi at my back either.
