AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My gaze cuts to Levi, wishing I could slice him up into tiny pieces just as easily. My anger only grows when the other men in his rescue party begin to chuckle under their breaths, understanding the insinuation loud and clear.
“Stop. This. Horse,” I seethe through gritted teeth.
Petrified that I might hurt him, Sten reins his horse in, stopping smack in the middle of camp. Since I’m riding sideways on the saddle due to wearing a dress and not my usual riding gear, I don’t wait for him to help me down, and jump off, my feet hitting the ground with a loud thud.
Still furious that, after all that had transpired between Levi and I back in the woods, he should treat me so callously, I storm off in the direction of my tent.
“Good night, my queen. Sweet dreams,” Levi shouts, laughing with his men.
I’m so upset that the devil himself must take over my body, because I raise my hand and flip him off with my middle finger.
Now it’s the whole camp that chuckles at my ridicule, Levi’s laughter ringing the loudest. I hurry my steps, needing to get to my tent or risk going back to Levi just so I can give him a good piece of my mind. However, when I finally get within a few feet of my tent, Anya pops her head out of its flaps and starts running toward me at rapid speed. So much so that when she reaches me, she’s unable to stop fast enough for her chest not to hit mine, making me almost tumble over. Thankfully, her hug keeps me from making a fool of myself twice in one night.
“I was so worried! You were gone for hours. We didn’t know what to do,” she explains, the trace of the panic she must have felt still lingering in her voice.
“I’m fine, Anya.” I smile, thankful to have such a friend who worries over me so.
“Anya!” Inessa calls out in reprimand, a man with wild red hair and hazel eyes at her heel. “Anya, remember yourself, girl,” Inessa berates, pulling Anya’s arms off of me.
“It’s quite alright, Inessa. Actually, it comforts me that at least there is one person in this camp who is glad to see me.”
I can tell by Inessa’s cold stare that, although relieved to have me back, she’s more disgruntled that I went on a walk all by myself to begin with.
“I am glad that you have returned to us safe and sound,” she says, bowing her head at me.
“Why do I feel there is a but in that remark?” I smile.
“If it’s all the same to you, my queen, I would rather I give you my opinion on the matter when we are in more intimate surroundings.”
It’s here when she glances over at the man standing tall beside her that he grabs my attention.
“And you are?”
“This is Brick, my queen,” Anya cheerfully responds in his stead. “King Levi asked that the general here keep us company until your safe return.” Anya winks suggestively at an annoyed Inessa.
“Did he now?” I scrutinize the general from the tip of his unpolished boots to his auburn hair. Unlike most of the men here, his hair is parted into two sides, his left wild and free, while his right constrained into three long braids. It’s the way he wears his hair that reminds me how we met.
“Your face is familiar to me. You’re the one that greeted us on the road up north instead of your king. Isn’t that correct?”
“It is,” he replies, and I don’t miss how he refused to call me by my royal title.
Thankfully, Inessa doesn’t let that slide.
“It is,Your Highness,” she corrects him. “Queen Katrina of Bratsk is the ruler of the kingdom of Aikyam, therefore it is your honor to be in her presence. Show some decorum as well as the respect that is entitled to her by birth.”
Brick’s cheeks turn almost as red as his hair, as if her reprimand gained human form and slapped him across the face.
I thin my lips, praying that I don’t burst out laughing, while I pretend to wait for Brick to follow Inessa’s not-so-subtle demand.
“It is,Your Highness,” he repeats, looking like he just took a bite out of a sour lemon.
It’s too funny a scene not to lift my spirits.
“Thank you, Brick, for taking such good care of my handmaidens. Both are near and dear to me.”
Inessa’s arctic gaze softens at that, while Brick hears the warning in my words.
Hurt Inessa in any way, and I’ll cut out your heart and feed it to the dogs myself.
