Dawn began braiding her hair, eyes rolling in mock exasperation. ‘Oh, I think it accomplishes quite a lot, commander. I know how much it irks you.’
Kai shrugged and gave a short whistle. The shadow horse dissolved beneath the fading light, vanishing into nothing as if it had never been. He’d always wondered where shadows went when they slipped beyond mortal lands.
‘You think too highly of yourself,’ he said, turning away to gather wood for the fire. His attention drifted towards the horizon, to the place where the forest thinned and the land stretched beyond. ‘In a few days, we’ll reach the border.’
Dawn hummed softly, continuing to braid her long white hair with the casual elegance of someone entirely unbothered.
‘Are you going to help?’ Kai asked, frowning as he paused in his task.
‘Why would I want to spoil such fine craftsmanship?’ she replied, her smile curling into that wicked little thing he despised and, in some unfathomable way, enjoyed.
But her smirk quickly gave way to a sliver of irritation.
‘We really need to find somewhere I can wash.’
‘Why?’ Kai said, lips twitching. ‘You look rather charming covered in filth.’
He saw it coming, the handful of dirt in her palm, and moved before she could act, appearing at her side with the swiftness of instinct. His hand closed around her wrist.
‘Don’t you dare,’ he warned, voice low. ‘Drop it.’
Her smile widened, inch by delicious inch, as she unfurled her fingers in slow, deliberate defiance. The dirt crumbled between them, falling like dry rain to the earth, but Kai didn’t release her.
His grip lingered, tight but steady, his gaze locked onto hers.
Those purple eyes. Eyes that should have meant nothing.
But in his world, they meanteverything.
They were the eyes of the enemy, the ones who had torn his sister, Haven Blackburn, from his life. The eyes of those who had razed the Kingdom of Fire, who had slaughtered its princess, Alina Acheron.
But they were also Mal’s eyes. The little sister he’d grown up with. The one he'd sworn to protect, no matter the cruelty of the world.
‘Are you imagining me naked right now, commander?’ Dawn asked sweetly, cutting through the stillness.
Kai let go as though scalded, the hiss slipping from between his teeth. He turned at once, bending to gather more kindling, silently cursing both her and himself. He made a point of not looking at her, though he could feel the witch watching him as if she had all the time in the world.
He still couldn’t decipher her. Not entirely. But whatever game she was playing, he would follow her. He would follow her south towards the dragons.
When the fire was finally built and burning steadily, Kai drifted away from its glow, settling against the trunk of a nearby tree. The heat of the land was more than enough for him. He had no desire to sit too close to the flames and their cloying warmth. Dawn, however, seemed to relish it. She settled beside the fire, drawing her knees to her chest and hugging them tightly, her stare fixed unblinking on the dancing embers.
‘What was it like for you, growing up?’ she asked suddenly, her voice low, eyes still trained on the flickering blaze.
Kai rubbed the back of his neck. ‘Normal.’
She turned to glare at him, irritation smouldering behind her purple eyes. ‘Then tell me something aboutit.’
‘Why?’
‘Because I’m bored.’
‘Well, I’m not here to entertain you, witch. Find something else to do.’
She gave a soft snort and returned her attention to the fire, resting her chin atop her folded arms. There was something in her expression, a quiet sadness, a weariness she didn’t bother to hide that stirred uneasily in Kai’s chest. Something he wasn’t ready to feel.
‘I spent most of my life training,’ he said at last, his voice quieter than before. The surprise that crossed her face was fleeting, but he saw it. ‘In my land, secondborns are raised to become the protectors of kings and queens. From childhood, we’re trained, body and mind, to be the strongest, the fiercest warriors in the realm.’
‘So your father has a protector?’ she asked, frowning slightly.
