She hoped she had not made a grave error speaking to Grudin as she had, and the longer the wait went on, the more she feared that she had.
At long last, Sedrak appeared in the doorway. She rose, her eyes questioning. From his face, she could not discern how the conversation had ended. Her heart felt as though it had been flung into the air and was now falling, falling… and only Sedrak could catch it.
Sedrak beckoned her to come with him, and she did so, in silence, as he seemed to not wish to speak.
They left the castle, and she dared not tell him that she was hungry and in need of relieving herself, nor ask him what had transpired, not even as they mounted the great beast. She barely dared to look at his face, lest she read something in his eyes that foretold of the future she could not imagine: without him.
It was growing dark, and she shivered in the cold, leaning back against his strong chest, the heat of his body and the firm strength of him burning through her clothing, through her skin, igniting her heart and the center of her.
He wrapped a fur around her and pulled her close.
“Leola,” he said, at last, his breath warm on her ear. She closed her eyes. “You have fallen strangely silent.”
“I dare not ask,” she whispered, her heart feeling as though it was being crushed beneath a great weight. She barely managed to take in the air needed to make this statement.
She felt the movement of his lips, the smile that was forming against her neck and earlobe, before he laughed quietly. Relief began to pour into her veins. She tried to turn to see him, but he pulled her close to his chest and urged the great beast into a trot.
“We must reach a place I know, good for resting in the darkness, before the sun falls, my Leola.”
Leola gripped his arm. “Master,” she said.
“Sedrak,” he corrected. “Master is for a different time.”
“I must stop,” she said loudly. Sedrak brought the great beast to a halt. “What is wrong, my love?” he asked with urgency, as she wriggled off the horse.
Leola ran into the trees without answering.
“Leola!” he cried, and she heard his great weight dropping to the ground.
She ducked behind a tree and hiked up her skirt, crouching to relieve herself. Trees and branches snapped as Sedrak, after tying the great horse to a tree, moved through the undergrowth.
When he saw her he laughed. She looked up at him, a blush on her cheeks. “I had to relieve myself,” she explained uselessly.
Sedrak leaned against a tree and wiped a tear from his eye as he laughed heartily.
She stood up and adjusted her skirts. “You needn’t laugh,” she said, indignant. “I was left there for hours.”
Sedrak pulled her to him and held her close. He pressed his lips to her forehead, and they were warm and dry. His touch traveled through her body, sending shivers everywhere. “I thought you were trying to escape me again, my Leola,” he said. “But you shall not leave me again.”
She looked up at him. “Do you mean…?” she asked. It was too great to be true, and her heart soared, even as her stomach turned with a nervousness, a feeling that her fortune could not have shifted so greatly in just a day.
“Grudin is a reasonable man, and I made him see sense.” Sedrak smiled. “In truth, my love, he saw that you possess the… how did he say it?… stiff spine needed, to bend men to your will.”
Leola shook her head in disbelief. “I?” she said in wonderment.
Sedrak smiled and kissed her lips. “I believe you underestimate your courage and your wit, Leola Grace. I, myself, do not. Nor your charms. But,” he turned her and pushed her gently toward the enormous and impatient horse, “we have many miles to travel before we reach a suitable camp, and then we shall rest only while it is dark, and continue as quickly as the wind and my beast allow, so that we may follow on the heels of the messenger sent to my army.”
He helped her onto the horse, and sat behind her, one strong arm around her. “You may sleep if you wish,” he said.
“Why must we go to your army?” she asked, because she knew, she knew it was good news, but she wanted to hear it, and feel it, andknowthat it was true.
“Patience, my pet,” he said with a laugh. This ‘pet’ was an endearing term, not the same as he had used the word before. “I have broken many rules, and oaths, and codes of conduct these days and weeks past. I have vowed to Grudin to do all things with honor and propriety from now on.”
“What does that mean?” Leola wondered aloud.
He spoke softly in her ear. “You shall see, Leola Grace.”
* * *
