Ashared and Lannahi regarded each other. She knew what she was thinking about. She was vulnerable. At his mercy…
The man took his hand from her forehead and leaned back into a sitting position, careful not to dislodge the blanket off of her. “Two of your guards are outside,” he said. “When I sent a message to them, it was already too dark to fly, and it wasn’t safe carrying you back to the palace in your condition. No one at the palace knows you are here except for your friends and three of the shapeshifters that accompanied me. Souhi said that unless there is an imminent danger to your well-being, it would be best to act discreetly for now.”
Lannahi felt overwhelmed with the information.
She had almost died. Ashared had saved her. He had sent a message to her friends about her condition and whereabouts.
He was close. He was naked. She was too.
He was a shapeshifter. He was used to public nudity.
She had an ugly bump on her head.
She had almost died.
Ashared had helped her.
That he was looking down at her when she was laying below him made her feel self-conscious. She clutched the blanket so that it covered her breasts and slowly rose to a sitting position. The cool air enfolded her exposed shoulders and back, causing goosebumps to rise on her skin. She sat up too quickly and was suddenly dizzy.
“Easy,” Ashared murmured, placing a hand on her back and holding her steady.
Feeling his large warm palm on her skin, Lannahi straightened away reflexively and then blushed under his watchful gaze. She wasn’t used to familiar gestures, but he’d already seen everything anyway. He touched her because he wanted to help her.
But why was he helping her?
Lannahi suppressed the impulse to smooth her hair and looked away. She scanned their surroundings, trying to gather her thoughts. They were inside a small cave. Since the only source of light was the flames of the campfire casting wobbly shadows against the walls, she couldn’t see the exit. She realized they were in one of the hunting shelters that landshapers hollowed out in the giant rocks scattered around the forest.
Ashared must have decided that she was better now and removed his hand from her back. She immediately missed his touch. When he reached for a folded blanket lying next to the mat they were sitting on and threw it around her shoulders, she was unable to hide her embarrassment. Ashared ignored her pained expression and reached for a cloak to cover himself with it. She realized that he was still sitting so close to her only for practical reasons, and her embarrassment grew. There were no clothes in their small space other than her discarded ones and the cloak he draped over himself. He must have found her when he was in wolf form and borrowed the coat and boots from elsewhere.
“What—” She cleared her throat. “What are you doing here? How did you find me?”
She should thank him, but she couldn’t overcome her doubts.
“I was speaking with the guards in the courtyard when I saw a sleigh in the air. I thought you were practicing, but when you flew off into the forest and didn’t return after several minutes, I realized that you had left the palace.” Ashared surveyed her face. “What I didn’t understand was why you didn’t take at least one guard with you.”
Lannahi looked away. Taking comfort in the fact that he couldn’t see her blush well in the dim firelight, she said, “You said you didn’t want to be a guardsman. Why did you follow me?”
“If something happened to you, your family would blame Lizaar. I’ve heard enough stories about your father to know that he would demand vengeance.”
Lannahi tightened her fingers on the folds of the blanket. She felt like a coward hiding behind her father’s reputation, but she didn’t decide to explain her parents’ point of view. She didn’t have many weapons in her arsenal. She couldn’t afford to lose one just because it seemed honorable to be honest with someone who had saved her life. Besides, she had no guarantee that Ashared wouldn’t use his new knowledge against her.
Would Ashared have saved her if it wasn’t for fear of Sarkal?
“Why didn’t you notify Lizaar or Baddur?” she asked, staring into the fire. “Why are you here and not Kalahadd?”
A moment passed before he answered.
“I wasn’t sure how they would react,” he admitted. “You left the palace voluntarily and didn’t leave orders. They could have misunderstood it as an escape… and decided that the oath they took didn’t oblige them to search for you.”
She felt a knot in her chest. She hadn’t thought of that possibility. How could she have made such a foolish mistake?
“You said there are three guards here with you,” she noted. Her hoarse voice sounded weak and miserable even to her own ears. “They didn’t think I ran away?”
“I managed to convince them otherwise.”
Lannahi tore her gaze away from the fire. “Why didtheylisten to you?”
Ashared hesitated. “They are my friends,” he said with reluctance as if he wasn’t sure whether his sincerity would be turned against him. “We grew up in the same village. They know me and trust my judgment.”
