AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I just needed some fresh air,” I offered, watching as they approached. They were the same guards from earlier this morning.
“We must return you to your chambers at once,” the young voice replied. It came from the smaller guard, which made sense—he probably wasn’t even fully grown yet.
The fact that this young guard was working here struck me as odd. It was common knowledge that the king only kept highly trained guards at Clearwell Castle. He shipped the new recruits and younger ones to the Cursed Lands. So why was this young man here? Either his family had some sort of connection to the king, or those highly trained guards were somewhere else. The last thought didn’t sit well with me.
“Come, milady, we will take you back,” the young guard chirped, his head swiveling to the massive guard standing beside him in a silent plea for help.
But his comrade didn’t say a single word. He merely crossed his arms, his stance surprisingly casual, like he had all the time in the world—a feat in itself considering the stiff armor he wore.I didn’t know if he did it on purpose, but I offered him a small, thankful smile anyway—my gaze widening when I saw what stood behind him, slightly to his left.
“Please, milady, we have to return,” the young guard pleaded with me.
“In a moment,” I said mindlessly, walking forward.
“Milady, where are you going?” he half barked, half squeaked.
I slipped off my gloves.
“Mila—”
His voice became lost to me. All I could hear was the beat of my heart, strumming in my ears as I reached out. My fingertips fell into the deep fissures as I lowered my forehead against the rough, thick, cool bark. I took a slow, deep breath, inhaling the earthy, woody scent—the smell of home. Not even winter’s approach could conceal the smell of it.
I don’t know how long I stood there, under the watchful gaze of that towering, ancient oak, but at last, I had found where I was running to.
Sage
Footsteps, barely audible, approached me. I didn’t need to look to know who it was. There were only two people I knew that could walk that quietly. One of them was locked in an eternal slumber and the other—
“Walk with me?” he asked.
I turned my head, pressing my cheek against the bark as I looked at the offered hand, at the telltale band wrapped around his ring finger.
Slowly, my gaze lifted, meeting his—meeting those incredible pools of molten gold.
Ishouldbe furious with him for last night, for causing me to feel pain so immense, the thought of it curdled my blood, and yet . . .
Something strange was happening inside of me. In particular, my heart.
As if it were a lute, it began to strum, faster and faster. It recognizedthathand—thoseeyes. My mind was just having a hard time catching up between what happened the other night and a lifetime of forgotten memories.
And the combination of the two left me drowning in the middle—confused and unsure of what to do, of how to proceed forward without plunging myself back into the mind-shattering panic I had felt moments ago.
“Alright,” I whispered softly, pulling away from the comforts of the oak and taking my first step into a world of unknowns.
I didn’t take his hand, and if it made him feel some sort of way, he didn’t show it. Instead, he gestured towards a winding path made of slabs of flagstone. Gravel surrounded the pale, flat stones, filling the small gaps between them. Neatly trimmed shrubs, their barren branches painted white with frost, bordered the path, allowing us just enough room to walk side by side.
“I apologize for how I treated you,” he said as we walked, breaking the silence between us. Even though he was considerably taller than me, our paces matched rather well. “When I learned that Arkyn had brought you here, I planned to give you space, to give you time to adjust, but when I saw you last night and you didn’t recognize me, I became overcome with emotions. And when you bit my lip, I reacted in the way of the gods but failed to remember that you do not recall those customs because you have spent this life living as a mortal.” His broad chest expanded as he inhaled a deep breath. “I should have handled things more carefully, but instead, I let my emotions rule over me, and I acted like a brute. For that, I am sorry.”
I wasn’t sure what to do with his apology.
On the surface of what happened last night, I was attacked, but when I allowed myself to sink into the confusing, murky waters, I realized there was more depth to it than just that.
An eye for an eye.Those were the words he had said to me after I bit him, just before his teeth sliced into my neck. And although, yes, the act was barbaric, I knew enough about the saying to know that it had, in fact, originated from the gods. That was their way—their law. And he had acted according to it. Did that make it right or fair to me? No. It didn’t. But asmallpart of me could understand why he reacted that way.
And then there was the catalyst—that kiss.
At the time, I believed a stranger was kissing me and so I acted in self-defense. But to him? The man wearing the golden ring? He wasn’t kissing a stranger, he was kissing his—
I tripped up over that part—thatword—acknowledging that it could complicate things a whole lot more. As I was fresh out of a panic attack, I had no desire to have another one, so I decided to leave that one alone for the time being.
