He looked away, his head ducked as he held the door open for her and Sonah.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Terena had refused riding with Daris Antonius or any of his men, insisting on taking Nyx instead. She rode with Sonah sitting behind her, her thin arms wrapped tight around Terena’s waist. The commander rode at her side, his men flanking them.
He had tried several times to engage her in conversation but she’d ignored him. She could feel his frustration by the way he sat stiffly on his stallion, his jaw tight and his brow furrowed as he gazed straight ahead.
Long hours of drinking and then fighting that witch and her men with little sleep left Terena agitated and twitchy. A fierce headache throbbed behind her eyes. She cursed Daris Antonius as she cast death looks at his back.
Why hadn’t he approached her last night? Or even at the tavern when she and Rydon were having dinner?
It was as if he’d calculated the moment she was most vulnerable to come for her.
They wound their way up steep streets toward Arestia Castle, and Terena looked up, marveling again at the spires piercing the sky and blending seamlessly, matching the jagged stone of the mountain it was built into. A waterfall fell on the left, creating aveil of mist to hide all but the outline of the left side of the castle. On the far right, closer to the bottom, was a stunning glass and gold-framed structure that, at that time of morning, reflected light refracting in the mist from the falls.
It looked to Terena like a castle the gods themselves might live in.
If she hadn’t an asshole of a hangover, she’d have enjoyed the view more.
As they neared a large arched gate leading up to the castle, the commander called a halt and he and his men dismounted. Frowning, Terena watched them a moment before Daris Antonius held out his hand to her.
“What?”
“We walk from here,” he said, his face placid.
Terena balked, once more looking up at the castle. “You’re serious?”
He did not respond. With a grunt of frustration, Terena sprang down from her horse. She reached up to help Sonah, but the girl dismounted clumsily on her own, with only a hand at her back from Terena to steady her.
Terena eyed the commander warily as she once more took hold of Sonah’s hand, watching as one of his men came and took Nyx’s reins. Daris Antonius motioned for her to follow.
The gates opened to reveal wide steps branching off; one led away from the castle and into a cave where some of the Liodari led the horses.
“We’re walking?” Terena scoffed and lifted a hand. “All the way up there?”
The commander didn’t stop walking as he turned to glance at her over his shoulder. “Aye.”
Terena smothered a curse. Narrowing her eyes at the commander’s back, she fumed. “And this could not wait until later in the day?”
No response. Terena stopped walking and folded her arms. Sonah stopped by her side as well but looked over at her with apprehension.
“Terena, perhaps?—”
“You did this on purpose,” Terena spat at thecommander’s back.
He stopped. A few seconds later he turned to face her, his back stiff.
“We are on the king’s schedule,” the commander said. “And that is why you are here now.”
“He is not my king,” Terena said quietly.
The other Liodari had stopped as well, regarding the two of them in this standoff. At her words, they put their hands on the hilts of their swords and waited.
Terena smiled.
The look the commander gave her was somewhere between exasperation and anger. She quite enjoyed it.
“You are in Sparta now,” the commander said as he walked toward her. “He is your king now as much as mine.”
