Luc and the three men who sat on the council ride in front of Gabriel. Their men cheer as they ride past. Without their war paint, they appear normal, but I know what they’re capable of. My homeland bears the scars.
Leah rides behind them, collecting her fair share of stares. She cuts a daunting figure, wearing their combination of leather and mail. She may be small compared to them, but she looks just as fierce with her eyes pinned a head and her shoulders straight.
Kassandra guides her mare to where I stand. An older lady rides behind Kassandra. She clutches at the younger woman’s waist and stares distantly, as if she has lost the ability to see. Like Kassandra, a red circle marks her surcoat.
“You don’t know,” Kassandra says.
My brow rises, and my pulse thrashes against my throat. Know what? That they’re going to leave me here?
“What don’t I know?”
A sheepish smile grips her mouth. “I forgot to tell you earlier. I’m sorry.” She points her chin toward Gabriel. “Every married couple rides together on the first day.”
I’d rather bathe in a sea full of scorpions.
“Oh, I see.” I manage a smile. “How delightful.”
“Estrid.” The old lady nods as she repeats the name. “Estrid.”
“Grandmother, I told you. Estrid isn’t here.” Patience and warmth linger in Kassandra’s words.
“No.” Her grandmother dances her left hand through the air. “Estrid.”
“I know.” Kassandra reaches out, touching her grandmother’s arm. “You loved Estrid very much.”
Tears brighten the old woman’s eyes and trail down her ashen cheeks. “I want to go home.”
“We are going home, grandmother.”
The old lady mumbles beneath her breath and fumbles for the pendant hanging around her neck. Like Alf, it contains an empty socket—one that probably once cradled a bloodstone.
Kassandra returns her gaze to me. “Go to Gabriel.”
With a quick nod, I move through the line of soldiers until I reach the man I’d love nothing more than to shove from his perch. His horse kicks at the sand as Gabriel watches the Bloodstone warriors riding past.
“Gabriel,” I say loud enough to carry above the hum of soldiers. “Kassandra says I’m to ride with you.”
Sunlight shimmers in his silver-blue eyes as he lowers them to me. He doesn’t speak, nor does he offer me a welcoming glance. Warmth burns my ears as soldiers turn to watch us.
The sky above!
If Gabriel makes me walk, I’ll stab him in hissleep.
Beneath the heat of their stares, my pride stings. I imagine what they might think, how internally they’re probably laughing at Gabriel’s obvious disdain for me.
Gabriel blinks and offers a smile that seems more forced than genuine and dismounts his gelding. He nods toward the horse, as if he expects me to know what he wants. Every single part of me screams with the need to snub him.
I cannot. I set my course the moment I left Kyanite land, and this stubborn, tight-lipped, inhospitable man will not make me tremble.
“Will you help me?” The words scorch my lips, as does the sting of him believing I need his aid. I was five when Father first placed me on a horse. I need this man’s help like I need a toothache.
“Put your right foot in the stirrup,” Gabriel says in a flat voice.
I obey, placing my foot in the stirrup and reaching for the saddle. His hands find my backside, and he pushes me upward until I’m sitting on the horse. Warmth scours the area he touched as I try to look anywhere but at the men still watching us.
Gabriel speaks in that same flat voice. “Move forward.”
Again, I obey without question. He mounts the gelding behind me and reaches for the reins. I stiffen at the contact, the feel of his firm body pressing against me.
