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I turned my eyes forward again but said nothing.
“Windhelm’s Princess, surrounded by yes-men and those who wish to curry favor with her in the selfish hopes of elevating their own station.”
“Don’t talk as if you know who I am.”
“When was the last time someone told you how it is?”
“How what is?”
“Anything.”
“What does it matter to you?”
“Never, then. Got it.”
I wanted to scream at him. Not only because he was frustrating beyond belief, but because he was right. All my life I had been surrounded by people with agendas that involved getting into my good graces. I never really had friends—they were all the sons and daughters of Lords and Ladies looking to make inroads with my family. Every teacher I’d ever had, every butler, waiter, and maid; all anyone wanted was to use me as a steppingstone to help them rise to prominence.
I could count on one hand how many people I thought truly cared about me, and that included my immediate family.
Tallin and Tellren were the other two.
And still none of them would tell me why I had needed to marry Cyr so urgently.
“I didn’t mean to upset you,” said Valerian, after a short pause.
“I would hate to be on the receiving end of your deliberate attempts at upsetting me.”
Another pause. “What was that?” he asked, a hint of laughter in his voice.
“What was what?” I asked, cheeks reddening again.
“It’s like you just became a whole other person. Is that how they teach you to speak in Princess school?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You do it when you’re angry, don’t you? You turn into a diplomat, a politician. Your tone goes cold, and you use formal, flowery words. I think I’m starting to understand you.”
“Again, you don’t know the first thing about me, and I would appreciate it if you didn’t pretend to.”
Colbolt’s pace suddenly slowed. Eventually, he came to a stop. I looked across my shoulder at Valerian. “Why did you stop us?” I asked.
“I didn’t,” he said.
Turning my head again, I scanned the woods around us. Colbolt was scared. I could hear it in his snorts, I could feel it in the way he padded the ground, anxiously, refusing to go any further. I patted the back of his neck and looked around, concentrating on what I could see and hear, pushing the very limits of my senses.
Colbolt’s fearful breaths were the most prominent sound. His frantic heartbeat was the other. These two combined all but drowned out Valerian’s own heartbeat and breathing. Still, the rest of the forest was quiet, except…except.
There, at the edge of my hearing, I thought I caught a sound. Distant. Faint. A whisper among the trees. At first, I thought I was hearing the rustling of leaves up in the trees, the falling of snow. I was hearing those too, but this other sound stood apart from the others.
Reeling myself back in, I turned my face to the side again to give Valerian a sidelong glance. “I think we’re not alone,” I said.
“Wolves?” he asked.
“I’m not sure. We should keep moving.”
“Colbolt,” Valerian said, patting the Maukibou on its shoulder. “Come on boy, it’s alright.”
But the beast wasn’t interested in following the path toward the edge of the forest. In fact, I knew it would be dark soon, but I figured we still had a bit of light left. So, how had it gotten so dark all of a sudden? I felt my own heartrate start to rise, now, as fear wormed its way into my stomach.
