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We made it to town just as night descended and with it, the increase of wind and chill. The trees had swayed so much that it frightened the horses, and I don’t think we would have traveled at all if it wasn’t for the deep forest blocking out a little of the wind on each side.
“Are you sure you don’t wish to get a room as well, Sahlyn?” Ativan asked.
My eyes swept both of them. I was torn between wishing he would remain in our company longer, and wanting him gone so I could get whatever I would feel at his leaving over with. So I could move on.
Sahlyn’s eyes held mine for a long moment before he said, “I wish I could, but I have something I must attend to this night.”
Ativan lifted a brow, but his voice was friendly as he said, “Safe travels to you then, Sahlyn.”
“And to you,” Sahlyn tipped his head as he met Ativan’s eyes in a respectful gesture.
Ativan smiled and moved his horse into town ahead of us. Giving privacy as I had done for him and Leisa. It surprised me and made his trust and respect for Sahlyn clear. The man had tried to kill me, yet Ativan trusted him. What had they spoken of when they’d been in Ativan’s room alone?
I rarely saw Ativan take to anyone so quickly, so genuinely. Ativan liked Sahlyn as a person and a peer. I could tell Ativan saw him as an equal of sorts, and that made me very curious.
I watched Ativan for a moment, collecting myself, then my eyes drifted to Sahlyn, who gazed at me pensively.
“Safe travels, Autumn Snow,” he said after a moment of us just staring at each other.
I sucked in a breath. “And to you, Sahlyn Asher.” I tried to memorize his face, the stubble that still didn’t hide the tantalizing scar on his chin, the tousled tawny hair, and those alluring blue-gray eyes. They were like thunderclouds, and the clearest sky melded into the perfect marriage of color. Something shimmered in them I hadn’t seen before. Fondness, maybe. I couldn’t quite decipher it.
“I’ll never see you again,” I added. To remind me of that probability, to make sure my heart heard it loud and clear and accepted it.
“If we get that lucky,” he whispered, and the meaning was not lost on me. For if I saw him again, it would mean he had failed in whatever ploy he had planned to go against the queen. It would probably mean he had come to finish what he had started in the Winterwood.
“Don't forget how much more there is to you thanher. You deserve so much more.” I exhaled through my nose as his expression changed from thoughtful to soft. His attention rapt on me, to my words. “Don't let what others make you do, andtheiractions define you, Sahlyn.”
Without awaiting his reply or retort, I turned Tavere away before I did something regrettable. Tavere got several feet before I could no longer fight the urge. I glanced over my shoulder at the huntsman. Taking in one last long look at him I know didn’t hide the discontent I felt at us parting ways like this. He stared at me with something on his face that seemed a bright contrast to how he'd appeared the first day I’d met him.
Line Drawn
If I were an intelligent man, I would have killed Autumn when I’d had the chance. I wouldn't have made a deal with her. I wouldn’t have been in this mess in the first place, I suppose, if I was an intelligent man. Intelligence comes with age, experiences, and with humbling consequences. All of which I hadn’t gone through before coming into the queen's employ.
The words Autumn spoke to me as she rode away will haunt me for the rest of my days, but it also solidified that I made the right decision by saving her from a cruel fate she did not deserve. But that look she had given me was of sorrow she had tried to hide. Disappointment of the sliver of trust and possible friendship that she and I could have shared if things were different. Fate was a cruel mistress, and I played a dangerous game with her. Far more than anything I had done in the past. By this end, I would likely be a dead man, but I prayed Autumn would be spared.
I decided, if nothing else, I would ensure that the light she had—that fiery goodness in her soul, was never extinguished. Not even to save my skin.
In all of this, I had found my line, which was far different than I had ever anticipated.
“My Huntsman! You have returned!”
I had drawn out my time away and spent a month alone in the woods with my thoughts. Then, I sent a few hounds back to the underworld, taking out my revenge for the scars I now sported on my neck.
“Yes, my Queen.”
She eyed the wooden box I held in my arms. At the beginning of our contract, she had told me that it didn’t matter how long it took me to get back to the palace; the box would keep the organ fresh. So I reliedon that and drew out my time getting back.
“You were successful then?”
I swallowed. “Yes, my Queen.”
“You will be rewarded highly, Huntsman.”
Every step my horse had taken toward Savine had ruined me. Fear had coursed through me, and I had barely controlled the tremble of my limbs as I’d walked through familiar halls to her throne room. The secret I carried with me was a terrifying one thatwouldcatch up to me, I was sure. I just hoped I had a plan when that came.
“My Queen, there was a bit of a snag.”
Her golden eyebrows lifted in annoyance. “Is there a heart in that box?”
