In spite of my fear that they were annoying him, Pharis always indulged them, running around with them the way our father couldn’t, telling a tale or two before sending them off to get some sleep.
They were going to miss him when we eventually parted ways.
When my sisters and father went to bed, I usually stayed up for a bit, tallying our foraged food and our remaining supplies and doing my best to clean our traveling clothes.
Today, Pharis, who was stretched out by the fire, watched me hanging laundry from a line and buzzing about the camp.
“Do you ever stop?” he asked.
“Not when there’s work to be done,” I said in a sensible tone.
He looked bemused. “There’s more to life than work, you know.”
I shot him a droll look. “Says the Fae prince who grew up being waited on hand and foot by servants.”
“Point taken,” he said with good humor. “But the world isn’t going to suddenly stop if you let yourself relax. Come sit with me by the fire.”
No thank you.Letting myself relax with Pharis was something I fought on a daily basis.
Getting too relaxed with him had led to the unnervingI can be gentleconversation.
Even now, my skin broke out in goosebumps when I thought of the way he’d said it. The deep, seductive purr had sent vibrations throughout my body, lingering in places he’d never even seen—and would never see.
“I’ll relax tonight when we’re riding,” I said.
Pharis simply smirked and shook his head.
Since I’d learned to ride, we’d been switching up horses and riders.
Tonight my father was riding Cimmerian with Pharis. We’d agreed it was getting dangerous to let Papa ride with the girls.
I had begun to fear the possibility of him passing out and falling off one night.
From my vantage point riding beside them, I looked over and took in Papa’s slumped body and grimacing face. He was obviously in horrible pain.
I threw a significant glance at Pharis. He nodded, understanding my unspoken message.
Though it was still about an hour before sunrise, he said, “Alright, crew. Let’s pull into this little glen here and call it a night.”
“Yay,” Tindra cheered in front of me. “I’msotired of riding horses.”
She leaned forward and patted Ruby’s neck. “No offense to you, Ruby girl. It’s just, I don’t want to do itallnighteverynight. Sometimes I want to walk on my own feet.”
“Me too,” Turi whined. “And I wish we could sleep in a real bed again. I miss our cottage.”
“So do I. I miss Daisy and all our friends,” Tindra said, adding to the pity party.
“Girls, let’s not complain,” I said. “We’re very lucky to be safe and all together—and to have these lovely horses to ride.”
Halting Ruby, I dismounted and helped the girls get down.
“Things could be much worse,” I told them. “And when we get to Sundaris, we’ll find a nice little cottage somewhere, and you’ll have brand new beds,” I said, though I really didn’t know what to expect when we eventually made it to our destination.
Or how long it would be before we got there. The journey was going much more slowly than Pharis had predicted, thanks to my father’s declining health.
Clearly the healing spell was wearing off. I worried about how much worse it would get.
Watching Pharis help my father down from the saddle, my heart ached at the agonized look on Papa’s face.
