Theo raised an inquisitive brow.
“I asked you first,” Gris threw at her.
“Amaris,” she said with a small sigh.
“Griselda, but you can call me Gris.”
Amaris pinned her gaze to Theo, narrowing her eyes. “Alright, Gris andCaptain Theodoric Fastrada—”
“Theodoric is fine,” he grumbled, his blood heating from her mocking tone.
Amaris straightened up. “Who are you people, and why are you kidnapping me? I’m not buying into the kingdom, soldiers, and arresting crap. Are you some kind of cult, or are you planning to ransom me?”
Theo gaped in confusion. It was as if she were plucked from a small island in the sea and thrown into their path. She had to be acting. No one was this oblivious of the realm.
“Excuse me?” Gris snapped.
“Theodoric here claims to be a soldier in this mighty king’s army. I call bullshit. You’re the ones who attacked, chased, and kidnapped me.”
“We’re not the ones who killed a man.”
“I’m a paramedic. I save lives, not take them.”
What in the realm is a paramedic?Theo questioned.She saves lives?
“Look, I stumbled on that body a few moments before you all did,” Amaris said. “I hid because I thought you were an animal or something.”
“Why are you covered in his blood?” Gris asked.
Amaris had the audacity to roll her eyes. “I fell on top of him. Besides, I couldn’t have killed him. He was dead long before I found him.” Gone was the frightened demeanor, replaced by a sharp tongue that sent Theo’s blood curdling. It was going to be a long ride. “Did you not see the maggots?”
Theo sharpened his gaze.Maggots?
“If you’re not some cult or group looking for money, then what are you playing at? Are you overly dramatic role-players? Or a traveling reenactment group getting off on kidnapping people?”
Theo’s cheeks reddened to her offensive language. Amaris continued her tirade at a faster cadence than a trotting horse, but he questioned everything. She was either playing them and was deadly or she was the key to understanding what was happening in Luana.
“If you didn’t kill him, then why were you in the woods?” Theo asked. “There isn’t a town for miles, and we found nothing to suggest you had provisions or a camp.”
“I…I was…”
What was she hiding?Theo narrowed his gaze on her, but Bear jerked under him.
“Easy, Bear!”
His eyes darted around them. Maybe a silverling had spooked him. Bear whinnied and stood on his hind legs. Theo’s thighs squeezed, keeping him in the saddle. He pulled at the reins, the leather digging into his fingers. Bear slammed his hooves into the dirt, and a jaded gecko skittered back into the brush, its navy scales reflecting the sun.
“Theo, are you—”
“I’m fine, Gris,” Theo said through gritted teeth, keeping from shouting to further spook him, but Bear continued to buck. Theo’s right foot slipped from the stirrup, and he braced harder to keep his seat. Theo’s left foot slipped. He gripped lower on the reins, but Bear edged toward the river. The roaring current no longer had a calming effect as it loomed closer.
Bear screamed and bucked. Theo couldn’t hold on any longer and flipped over his head. He landed against the steep edge of the riverbank, smacking his forehead as he rolled off into the stream.
Chapter 8
Amaris
All thoughts ofquestioning whether her reality was real or not evaporated from Amaris’s mind as Gris leapt from the horse. She didn’t even bother with Amaris as she rushed toward the steep river’s edge.
