My coals burn bright at the challenge, leaving Argus to perk his ears at the sudden fire my bonded has elicited. “I promised them thatwewould bring them to Terra!”
I want to stamp my feet at my aggravation, but that won’t get my point across. It will only make me look like a petulant child, and I am not a child anymore. I have strength inside me for the first time in a long time, and unfortunately for the fae male in front of me, he is one of the reasons I feel that strength. He gives me the freedom to fight without persecution, and I take that feeling, grasping it tightly with both hands.
“But if that dyre wolf catches us, and he’s been instructed to kill you, you aredead.” The last word rings through the air between us, and a shot of pain radiates throughout my body, leaving both Rivern and me gripping our chests.
“I don’t know what to do. I promised them,” I admit, the flames giving way to melancholy.
Taking a step towards me, Rivern tentatively grasps my hand in his golden-lined fingertips and places them on his chest. “This.” He thumps our hands down. “This bond between us guarantees I understand every little feeling you are experiencing, Little Dove, but you know what? It also guarantees—” I shake my head, looking into his deep violet eyes. “It means that it assures you that I have your best interests at heart. And those people over there—you won’t be any good to them if a dyre wolf rips through their camp and takes you away, leaving them for dead.”
The stubbornness within me starts to give way, and I squint up at his beautiful face. “Can you promise me they will make it to Terra without me? Because that’s the only way I’m leaving them.”
With a swift jerk of his head, Rivern pulls us towards the villagers.
As we make our way to the front of the line, wisps surround us until we find Lucas.
“Where to next?” he asks as he passes a small waterskin to his partner.
“That’s what we need to talk to you about,” I start. “We need to make a new plan.” It eats at me to deliver the next words, but I push them out anyway. “I can’t go with you.”
I promised them.The knowledge devours me. I was the one who was meant to deliver his family and the rest of the villagers to safety.
His sun-weathered face looks downcast at the news. “What’s going on?”
Feeling a tingle down the burn on my neck, I rub at it, disappointment lacing my next statement. “We have reason to believe a dyre wolf is after me.”
“Andwebelieve the safest way to move forward would be forusto separate,” Rivern quickly adds after me.
I drop his hand, giving him a scathing look.He wants to protect me, but I want to be the one to tell these people. I don’t need him talking for me. No one will speak for me anymore. My voice is back in full force, and I intend to use it.
Stepping in front of him, I address Lucas and his now-concerned partner. “Whatweare trying to say is that I will have to separate from the group here, but Rivern will still guide you towards his home.”
With that, a burn flickers through the bonded fae prince behind me.
“We did not discuss that!” he hisses in my ear.
I ignore him, continuing to give him my back.
His blood boils as I disregard him. “Rivern and the wisps will continue with you, and I will take an alternate path to keep the dyre wolf away from the group.”
Finally making himself known, Rivern comes between Lucas and myself, turning his back to Lucas and towering over me.
“You will do no such thing. I will accompany you to Terra, and the wisps can show the way for the villagers.”
I trace the sharp lines of his high cheekbones and cutting jawline with my eyes, remarking in a hushed tone, “You have to go with them. How can the wisps show the villagers the way?”
“The wisps are pure magic, from what I was told and you’ve read. They have the ability to take orders, right?” he questions me.
I cross my arms, agreeing with him. “Right.”
“Well, if we—you, the song giver—give them an order, they will follow it. It’s how Haven got built. All those tall buildings and bridged walkways were not built by the fae.”
He has me intrigued, but I still don’t like that one of us—mainly him—won’t be with the villagers to guide them. “But how will the wisps discern where to go?”
“Trust.”
That’s all he says.Trust.
“Trust what?” I counter.
