Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 103333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
He drew the stallion to a slow halt beneath a low sweep of branches. The wind shifted, carrying the damp scent of coming rain, and he let it hit his face, cold and sobering. His fingers flexed once against the reins before he forced them still.
I serve the king.
The words he’d spoken to Elara—sharp, final—returned like a blade turned inward.
He had meant them. Duty had to come first.
And yet… the look in her eyes when he said it lingered like a pain he could not shake.
He closed his eyes briefly, only long enough for her face to rise before him again, hurt, disbelieving, betrayed. It tightened something low in his chest, something he had thought long buried beneath years of training, discipline, and command. Her voice echoed as sharply as any order his father had ever given him.
Hunters were stoic. They had to be to hunt and to surrender their prey. There was no room for pity or sorrow, to feel at all, and yet… he felt something for Elara. Something deep and binding. Something he could not quite explain or understand.
He dragged a breath into his lungs and let the cold air steady him. Weaknesses had no place now. The road ahead demanded clarity. Caerith demanded obedience. King Dravic demanded results.
Muir approached, and Dar straightened without a trace of what he felt.
Muir pulled up beside him. “The tracker says the path is clear ahead.”
Dar acknowledged the news with a nod, then cast a brief glance at the blood-soaked cloth wound around Muir’s arm. “Have the old healer look at that wound when we stop.” His tone held no warmth, only command. “Infection spreads quickly. I’ll not have you fall behind.”
Muir arched a brow, amused. “Didn’t know you cared that much for me.”
“I don’t,” Dar said. “But I need you whole until we reach King Dravic.” He fixed him with a thin look. “After that, you can lose the arm for all I care.”
Muir barked a laugh and nudged his horse away, rejoining the line.
Dar watched him go, then turned his gaze toward the back of the column. The cart carrying the women followed at a distance, the wheels creaking over rutted earth. He couldn’t see Elara clearly from here, only the faint glint of her silver hair when the wind shifted, but the sight struck him with unwelcome force.
He tore his gaze away and set his jaw tight. Whatever storm brewed beneath his ribs would have to wait. The road stretched long before them, and he would tolerate no delays.
By the time the Hunters made camp, the sky had settled into a deep violet dusk, the last traces of light smudged behind distant hills. They halted beside a stretch of forest where the trees grew tall and close, their branches twisting together like fingers intent on holding secrets. Fires were lit in narrow pits, flames kept low, barely more than a glow beneath the simmering dark.
The women were led from the cart, stiff from the long day’s ride. Elara helped Adira down, the lass clinging to her hand, wide-eyed with exhaustion. Then she and Adira helped Feena, her aching limbs giving her trouble climbing out of the cart.
Muir approached them, his dark eyes as stern as his voice. “You’ll be allowed a few minutes in the woods to see to your needs. Do not wander far or think to flee. Hunters see well in the dark, and I do not advise testing our patience.”
His gaze lingered on Elara longer than the others. Not threatening. Not kind. Simply assessing.
She gave a curt nod and guided Feena and Adira toward the trees. As she stepped beneath the branches, she glanced back—only once—and found Dar watching her from where he stood with two men. The firelight caught the line of his jaw, the glint of steel at his hip, and an empty look in his eyes. She turned away, her heart aching.
They walked until they found a sheltered patch between two ancient oaks. Feena stayed close to Adira, reassuring her with gentle touches to her shoulder and arm as they disappeared around a tree.
Elara knelt beside a thin stream to splash cold water across her face and hands. The night air felt sharper here, the weight of the forest curling around her like a friend and she wished she could linger in the gentleness.
But linger wasn’t what she needed to do. She glanced across the stream. If she could make it across, she could lose herself in the forest. The Hunters would not find her; the forest would help her hide.
She cast a glance behind her. No one was there. Now was the time, for she might not get another chance. She stood and went to step forward when she felt a flutter by her cheek and caught a quick glance of a faint blue light close to her face. Then it suddenly rushed off. Elara watched it disappear amongst the trees across the stream, stopping only long enough to cast enough light on a Hunter.