I shuddered. “Are there a lot of these kinds of monuments?”
“Many. Far too many.”
My heart sank. “That’s terrible. How could anyone still live in this area knowing that could happen again?”
“Because life is hope, and so long as one remains, the other will spring eternal.”
I snorted. “I didn’t know you were a poet.”
Cassian grinned down at me. “Would you like me to recite my philosophies, as well?”
“I think I’ll skip that class.”
He sighed. “Such is the life of a philosopher. No one wishes to listen to him.”
I patted his hand. “I’m sure there’s a king out there who will support your wise sayings.”
His Majesty threw back his head and laughed. “My wife shows such wit!”
My face drooped. “Are you still going to call me that?”
“We may have to for one more night. We’re out of money, after all, and will have to share a room again. Besides-” He leaned toward me with his twinkling, mischievous eyes. “Is the idea not starting to grow on you?”
Both my eyebrows shot up. “What idea?”
Cassian drew away from me with a sly smile on his lips. “Perhaps we shall see after tonight.”
Little did we know that we’d have an eventful day ahead of us first.
Chapter 25
The sun crossed the sky to land above our heads, and my stomach took that as the time to start grumbling. I glared down at it. “Hush, you. We don’t have much food.”
Cassian reached behind himself and patted the bags back there. “On the contrary, the lovely Mrs. Arvina restocked our supplies, at least enough for us to reach the inn, and perhaps even the capital.”
I snorted. “That sounds just like her.” My heart grew heavy as I thought about that household, and I bowed my head. Poor Vesta.
Cassian set a hand on my arm. “Whatever choice she makes, I’m sure she won’t remain in that situation for long.”
I forced myself to smile at him and nodded. “Yeah. She just needed a bit of encouragement, didn’t she?”
Cassian studied me with a soft look. “You have a good heart.”
I waved away his compliment as my stomach growled again. “Maybe, but my needy stomach makes up for it.”
“We might make our lunch along the road,” Cassian suggested as he nodded at the many patches of grass that lined the thoroughfare.
“That sounds like a-” I paused and squinted at the deepest shadows of the woods. My heart skipped a beat as something seemed off about them.
Cassian tensed behind me and tightened his grip on the reins. “What is it?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m just seeing-” Nope!
The shadow I had watched leaped out of the dark side of the trees and formed itself into a multi-colored, gelatinous blob. A puddle of its own body oozed around it for two feet, making the main portion of its form like an island. I would have admired the rainbow-hide, but two long, tendril-like arms protruded from its body. Their tips ended in sharp claws that glistened in the bright sun.
Niveus jerked to a stop and threw his head back. I clutched onto the horn as Cassian looped an arm around my waist.
I whipped my head around to catch his sharp eye. “What the hell is that? Some kind of nethral?”
