“Unnecessary,” the king said with a slight chuckle, as if a magic wielder's pain was somehow amusing. “She’ll help either way.”
Resisting the urge to wince at the painful throb attacking the back of my skull, I peered at him from under my lashes. “I will never help you,” I said through gritted teeth.
A small smile spread across his despicable face, as if he had nothing to fear, and admired my willingness to resist. “That’s where you’re wrong, dear. Unless you would like me to send my forces to slaughter your entire camp, starting with this lovely maiden, hm?” He gestured to Alba, who stood beside me, separated by a soldier between us. She still had a gag over her mouth, but it didn’t dull her whimper. I cursed myself for letting her come at all.
I wanted to vomit, but a glimmer of hope remained when I fought the nausea enough to dissect his words. He was threatening the safety of the camp, meaning he hadn’t sent his soldiers across the river yet. “I’ll return the relic,” I snapped, hoping he wouldn’t sense the lie on my tongue. I had pawned it the first moment I could and passed along the earnings to those in need.
Taja chuckled to himself. “Oh, I don’t care about that.”
I furrowed my brow, having no clue what else he thought I had to offer him.
“No, what I need your help with requires no object. Well, perhaps your bow might come in handy. Nevertheless, it is yourskillsI require.”
“My skills?” I repeated back to him, still receiving no clarity.
“While I may not care about an unused set of rock utensils, I was quite impressed with your ability to sneak around this heavily guarded palace undetected. At first, I was quite angry, I’ll admit. A simple, lower-class girl, possessing a simple kind of magic, able to walk these halls freely? Let alone sneak into the constantly guarded treasure room and blatantly steal from a king, then walk out the front doors, never to be seen again? Yes, many felt my wrath. But, as I’ve contemplated your brazen disrespect, I have come to find an appreciation for your level of stealth.” His face lowered from something fond and reminiscent to serious and solemn. “That is what I need.”
The pit in my stomach grew. The last thing I would ever want to do in this life was help the monster responsible for countless deaths and the displacement of innocent people.
My mind snagged on a vision of Tio, of Rav, of the children laughing around the fire. People I cared about, people who had become my family. I couldn’t bear the thought of their slaughter being on my hands. My eyes burned, vision blurring as the resigning words spilled from my mouth. I snarled and asked, “For what?”
He took a deep breath, pride filling his chest—I could tell by the triumphant gleam in his eye. “I’m sending you north.”
15
Mira
My body felt weak. In such a short amount of time, my ability to travel long distances essentially evaporated. I’d been exhausted leading the evacuees through the forest, and wondered if it was my constant need for breaks that led to us getting caught by the ogres.
Dante practically forbade me from entertaining that thought, so I tried my best to push it aside. The caravan had been going for barely a few hours since we’d departed from Rahana, and I desperately wanted to curl up and nap. A thin sheen already coated my forehead, and I swiped at it with my sleeve.
“Are you alright?” Dante asked. For a moment, the sound of my love’s voice wiped away the poor state of my body. In only a few short months, I’d watched him take on an enormous amount of responsibility. Before, he’d hunted and only dispersed the bounty to several families. Now, he raced all over Argora Vale to keep tabs on the spreading dark magic, the affected farm lands, and all the citizens in the path of danger.
He’d become the kingdom’s representative, and dare I say, leader. Though I’d only lived with him for a short time in Jasper’s manor, I could never have imagined how much would change, and so quickly. I already missed our home terribly, and the fresh surge of hormones didn’t help me during this already tumultuous transition.
Returning to Highcrest was in truth the last place I wanted to be. This land had marked me as something I wasn’t, and though my magic was gone, the stain of this place would never truly wash off. The girl I’d taught myself to be for so many years didn’t exist anymore. But at least being in Argora Vale had been a fresh start, a place where I didn’t have to live up to anyone’s expectations.
But I didn’t want to worry Dante. My love had enough on his plate, and there was nothing he nor I could do about the situation except make the best of it. His golden brown hair glistened in the rays that slipped through the leaves, the shadows only highlighting the tired bags under his eyes. I raised my hand to cup his cheek.
“Yes. Are you?” I forced a smile, but even that wobbled.
“Liar.”
In the time it took me to blink twice, Dante had morphed into his beast form, and his massive paws scooped me into his arms. I shrieked and laughed, but furrowed my brow. “You’re too exhausted for this. You need to save your strength.”
“You know you’re not going to win this argument, green eyes,” he said, his gravelly voice wrapped in a teasing tenor.
Beyond my control, my eyes teared up, and my lip quivered. “I love you. Thank you for loving me.” Hormones made everything more sentimental.
“You are the world, Mirabelle. And that babe in your belly. There will never be anything more important than taking care ofyou and our child.” His auburn and gold glimmering fur softly kissed my skin as I nuzzled into his chest.
“I’m sorry, I’m just so tired.” I wanted to weep. I couldn’t help anyone in this state, and now I prevented him from helping anyone else.
“Sleep, my love. I’ll wake you when we stop to eat.”
I must have been more tired than I thought because within a matter of seconds, the world went dark against his cradling warmth.
Calista rubbed my back as I bent over some bushes on the outskirts of the camp we’d strewn together and hurled my guts up.
