“Then why wed me? Why pretend like you took my innocence?” I move away from his blood and yank my nightdress down.
“I created an illusion for the council to observe.” With his jaw set, he reaches for his surcoat and pulls it on. “As for my reason for wedding you, I am following my path, the same path that will discover every secret you’re so keen on keeping.”
“What happens after you discover I have no nefarious plans?” The words snap out of me before I think of containing them.
He pulls his weapon belt back on and talks over his shoulder. “Good night.”
With long, even strides, he exits the tent. The moment I’m alone, I exhale as relief floods through me.
Gabriel didn’t bed me. He will never bed me.
Thank Olah. I married a man who has vowed to never touch me.
As quickly as my joy soars, it crumbles into a heap of nothingness. Gabriel doesn’t trust me. He thinks I am hiding secrets.
I sigh and roll to my side. I’ll never flourish here if he prods at all my secrets.
If succeeding means getting him to bed me, he will.
He just doesn’t know it yet.
ChapterFifteen
As I step outside the tent the following morning, a gentle wind welcomes me, as does the bustle of at least three hundred Bloodstone warriors. They move about the camp, breaking down the linen tents and loading all their possessions into wagons.
I look over the encampment, but I don’t see the man I’m wed to. Relief surges over me until I remember the way he rejected me. He may dislike me enough to leave me here.
Sunlight winks between thick clouds as I reach for my useless kyanite stone and frown. Gabriel cannot do that to me.
The wind picks up, tugging at the edges of Kassandra’s surcoat as she steps from a nearby tent and waves at me. “Good morning.”
“What’s happening?” I sweep my hand in an arc toward the soldiers.
A broad smile brightens her face. “It’s time to go north to the mountains.”
“Truly?” My pulse quickens as anticipation pours over me. I may meet the rest of the Bloodstone tribe, and they may lead to Roland.
“Yes. We have finished here. Now, we can travel home.”
Home? What does home look like for them?
Before I came here, I read every book I could find about the Bloodstone. None of them mentioned more than the general area of where their homes are.
Everyone knows the Bloodstone live in the north, near the mountains. The Kyanites live in the south, near the sea. The specific locations of the Bloodstone villages and cities are much harder to find.
It probably didn’t help that Kyanite people don’t care about the Bloodstone people. They most definitely don’t write about them. The few books I had read were from an old peddler I met after I left Kyanite land.
Ask Kassandra questions.
Find out more about them.
I knit my hands together and smile. “What did you finish?”
Her gaze whips to the warriors, settling on them for several breaths before she finds her voice. “We left for a greater purpose.”
What does that mean?
“What kind of purpose?” I ask, still needing more information.
