Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 105132 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105132 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
He had seen it in the forest. In the way she touched the trees and plants without the caution the rest of them showed. And now the silvren had come willingly into her hand.
Then there was the Wolfin.
Dravic frowned.
He had assumed the magnificent white creature had been looking at him when she approached and bowed. Why wouldn’t he? He was king, but Adira had been seated in front of him on the horse.
Had the Wolfin actually been looking at him? Or had the large wolf’s golden eyes been fixed on Adira?
His frown deepened. First the Wolfin and now the silvren. Both had shown an unusual interest in her.
And tonight?
His gaze narrowed slightly as he looked at her resting against him.
There had been something different about her tonight as well. An excitement he had felt in her every touch, a fascination that seemed to go beyond their lovemaking.
“What is happening to you, Adira?” he murmured.
Her heart jumped. She heard every word, and she kept her eyes closed and her breathing even, pretending sleep had already claimed her.
Dravic continued to watch her. He knew her too well to believe nothing had changed.
He simply did not know what it was.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
A World Awakens
When the Forest Stills
Morning brought a pale sky and a bitter cold that had hardened the previous day’s snow beneath their boots.
The king’s men were already mounted when Dravic and Adira stepped from the cottage. Horses stamped impatiently, their breath forming white clouds in the frigid air, while Seger moved among the warriors making certain all was ready to leave.
Dravic rested his hand briefly at Adira’s back as they approached his horse.
She heard the sounds before she understood them.
So many sounds.
The scrape of boots against hardened snow. The restless movement of horses. Leather creaking as men settled themselves in saddles. Voices drifting back and forth around her, some clear enough that she caught a word, others blending together until they were impossible to separate.
The world seemed determined to make up for all the years it had denied her sound.
She wanted to stop and listen to everything. Instead, she behaved as she always had… she watched.
She smiled when someone smiled at her. She followed gestures rather than voices. She made certain her eyes never turned toward a sound unless there was another reason for them to do so. It was proving far more difficult than she had imagined.
“Ready?”
Dravic’s voice reached her clearly.
Adira’s heart gave the same little leap it seemed determined to give whenever she heard him speak. She looked at him only because he stood directly before her and smiled.
He studied her for a moment longer than necessary.
Adira’s smile faltered slightly, worried he may have noticed a change in her. She was going to have to be careful.
Merek approached before Dravic could linger over whatever thought occupied him.
“You should reach the crossing well before midday,” he said. “Ernach knows the way from there.”
Dravic nodded. “And after that?”
“The land grows rougher the deeper you travel. You won’t find another village before nightfall.”
“We’ll make camp.”
Merek glanced toward the warriors. “Keep them close.”
Dravic’s brow rose. “Something I should know?”
Merek gave the faintest hint of a smile. “You’re in Driochmor. There’s always something you should know.”
Dravic shook his head. “I am beginning to believe none of you is capable of giving a straight answer.”
“You’re learning.”
That almost drew a smile from him.
Merek held out his arm.
Dravic looked at it briefly before clasping it. It was not a bow. He preferred it.
“I meant what I said yesterday,” Dravic told him.
Merek waited.
“I am not my grandda.”
“Nay. You’re not.”
The quick agreement surprised Dravic.
“But whether that proves better or worse remains to be seen.”
There was no insult in Merek’s words. Only truth.
Dravic released his arm. “I want all of Scotara to live in peace as one kingdom. Driochmor included. I have no intention of asking its people to forget what happened to them, but neither will I allow what happened in the past to decide Scotara’s future.”
Merek studied him. “And if Driochmor wants no part of the future you decide for it?”
“Then I listen to what Driochmor wants before I decide anything.”
Merek’s expression changed slightly.
Dravic caught it. “You did not expect that answer.”
“Nay.”
“Neither would my grandda have given it.”
“Nay,” Merek said again. “He would not have.”
Dravic glanced around the village. A handful of people had gathered to watch them leave. There were no cheers or warm farewells, but neither did he see the same hostility that had greeted them the previous afternoon.
It was little enough and for now… he would take it.
“Tharne will come for all of Scotara if he crosses the Sea of Shadows,” Dravic said. “He will not care whether a man possesses magic or fears it. He will not care what grievances exist between us. He will see land to conquer and people to rule.”
Merek’s face hardened at the warlord’s name.