“Why is she—” The fog quickly thickened, and rising panic seized my breath.
A moment later, the haze returned to its previous state, but not before Harthon rested his hand on my waist as if reminding me he was there.
Clearing my throat, I tried again. “Why is she indebted to you?”
“She was held against her will by someone, and I released her,” he revealed.
I waited for him to continue, but it was in vain. For someone who so badly wished for me to support his cause, he was rather unwilling to provide reasons to trust him.
“That’s all you’ll tell me?”
“You asked why she’s indebted to me. That’s why.”
It was an intentionally ignorant response. I twisted in the saddle to face him. “I can’t trust you or support your crusade into Centralis when you hide your past. You were a mercenary. I’m not stupid. You probably did distasteful things. What is there to hide?”
At my challenge, the lines of his chiseled face grew harsh. His stubbornness only inflamed my frustration. I had yet to push him on the topic, and I was done being polite.
We were completely alone, he was stuck on a horse with me, and hewouldanswer my questions, dammit.
“Your childhood was full of violence and bad people, just like that looter boy’s,” I stated.
His attention remained on the path ahead, even as his fingers stiffened against my waist.
“Right or wrong?” I pressed.
“That’s correct.”
“Those bad people probably made you do bad things. Right or wrong?”
“Right.” This time, his voice was like gravel. It was a warning I couldn’t heed, not when I was finally getting the answers I’d wondered about.
“But you were a blameless child when you did those things, and then you became a mercenary, and you hunted and killed people who deserved it. You plotted your takeover. Now, you’re Princeps. Right or wrong?”
Stormy eyes met mine for a moment. “It’s not that simple, Etarla.”
“Thenenlightenme,” I urged, wishing I could throttle him but needing my hands for balance in my awkward position.
A muscle flexed in his jaw, but he said nothing.
I hurled the last piece of information I knew at him. “Callen wanted to kill you for some reason, but then he united with you. What were you doing that made him want to kill you? I don’tunderstand—”
The horse whinnied, the noise like a scream, and launched us high into the air. Twisted as I was, there was no chance for me to grip the seat before my thighs left the saddle and I was thrown. Harthon crushed me into his bulk, and I registered the two arms wrapped around me just before we crashed onto the brutally hard ground. He landed beneath me and rolled, shifting a hand behind my head until we stopped with him above me.
Confusion sank in just as he leapt to his feet and drew two blades, a low, animalistic growl emanating from the fog before him. The horse bolted with a squeal, and I rushed to my feet, disbelief clearing my lungs as I took in the four brownwolves, saliva dripping from the tips of their canines, deadly single-minded intent in their amber eyes.
How can such big animals still be alive in this world?I wondered in shock, and then Harthon threw his daggers.
High-pitched wines indicated they met their targets as two wolves rushed Harthon, sleek bodies bounding over the ground with an arrow’s speed and determination. Harthon unsheathed his sword and a dagger, and my heart seized as the blurs of fur flew through the air.
There was nothing I could do.
With a roar that was all human, Harthon slashed his sword into the belly of one, jabbing at the other with his knife. And then he went down, barely visible beneath the beasts. One of them jerked and collapsed, and then the other’s open jaw was inches from Harthon’s face, held back only by his grip on the snout and chin.
There were no weapons in his hands.
I charged, hurling myself at the wolf in blind desperation. I crashed into furry flesh that flew into the ground with me. It rolled with inhuman speed and bunched its legs, ready to leap into me. Only it didn’t. The animal cocked its head, as if considering me.
A dagger landed in its side, and it hesitated as my hand found arock. Thrusting myself at the animal, I slammed the rock into its skull, bashing until its fur turned crimson and it collapsed in a heap.
