“Are you a tenant of Luana?”
Her chest heaved, and her hand wrapped tighter around his dagger. She shook her head.
“A subject of Godwin?”
“Godwin?” Her muscles stiffened as Theo sat up. “Don’t come any closer.”
“What’s your name?”
“What’s my name? You’re fucking crazy.”
“I’m not the one covered in a lord’s blood and holding a weapon against a soldier.” Theo had enough of her stammering and swept her legs out from under her. His dagger slipped from her fingers, and he caught it, brandishing it across her neck as he straddled her. “If you’re not from Godwin, where are you from? I hear your accent. Do you reside under the Deavonian Accords?”
Tears leaked from her eyes. “I’m from Gainesville. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
An uneasiness fell over him at the sight of the tears rolling down the sides of her face and the strange town name she’d uttered. What if she truly wasn’t from Godwin or Deavopan or even Bazrath? What if she was running from a slaver?
“Who were you running from?”
She sucked in a gulp of air, but before she could speak, Alan came jogging down the steep slope with Gris in tow behind him.
“Did you catch her?”
The woman’s gaze shifted to Gris and Alan. “This isn’t real,” she muttered.
Theo lifted himself off her and grabbed her by the arm, hauling her to her feet. Her muscles were rigid, but she didn’t meet his gaze. In fact, he couldn’t see where her eyes focused. He tugged her onward, and it was as if a trance had fallen over her as her feet fell in line beside him. He waited for the second she’d snap out of it and pull some stunt to rip her arm free, but she stared forward and didn’t utter a single word until he got her to Gris’s horse.
Theo removed the hold on her arm and slid his hands to her waist to assist her up, but she froze and clutched his hands.
“Don’t touch me!” she shouted, and Theo released her instantly.
Gris flashed expansive eyes between him and the strange woman who wrapped her arms around herself.
“I can get on by myself.”
Theo allowed her to seat herself in the saddle. As Gris pulled her reins, kicking her horse to get them moving, he watched as the woman’s hand hovered over the small cut along her cheek.
“What do you think?” Bennet’s voice startled Theo and had him whirling around to meet his menacing scowl.
Theo didn’t know what he thought. Only moments ago, he was bent on capturing her and hauling her to the dungeons beneath Fastrada Manor, but now, as he watched her and Gris disappear down the trail, a question filled his head.What if she’s innocent?
“Something doesn’t feel right about this,” he said.
“We’ll see if she’s willing to confess to your father. Stay back with Gris and keep an eye on her.”
Bennet mounted his horse and trotted to lead their party. Theo found his hand trailing to his swollen lip where her fist had collided. She had a strong punch.
“Daydreaming?” Esaias mused behind him. He had the misfortune of carrying Lord Freville’s body wrapped in a blanket.
Theo could already begin to smell the rotting reek of decay. “Only thinking.” He mounted Bear and rubbed his horse’s mane. Thankfully, they had a long enough journey that he could begin deciphering the chaotic situation and maybe get the mysterious woman to explain herself before they reached Luana Bay.
Esaias pulled ahead and found a spot beside Alan, most likely to pester him with the wretched smell. Theo pulled behind Gris, keeping one hand on the reins and the other wrapped around his dagger as his eyes trailed through the shadows under the trees.
The first few hours of their journey were silent, but as the sun began poking over the trees to their backs, it was like a new breath had been released with the morning breeze.
“What’s your name?” Gris’s voice finally cut through the silence, but only the three of them were around to hear it as they trotted down the river path. The others had gained distance and pulled ahead, leaving them alone with the rush of the river beside them.
The woman blinked as if woken from her stupor. “Who are you people?”
