The thought made me lightheaded. I’d run for my life before, but the threat had always been a little existential. I’d fully expected to be imprisoned and tortured and have a chance to escape before anyone actually killed me. But Eris had drawn blood—
I reached my hand up to feel how deep the cut was. Instead of a bleeding wound, my fingertips buzzed as strong magic brushed against them. Bylur. He’d healed me while I’d leaned against his head. “Thank you,” I whispered.
A deep purring growl rumbled up from his belly. It was soft and sweet, and I wanted to relax into it, but Dearan cleared his throat.
“You called this bear your pet, Lady Auria?” he clarified.
“Yes.” I buried my hand in Bylur’s fur and faced Dearan. “Yes, he’s my pet, and he just saved my life, and I don’t really want to leave him right now.”
Dearan’s brows knit together, but Ivodar stepped forward. “My lady, what would you like us to do with Lady Eris?”
“What would you normally do with a lady who tried to kill someone but failed?” I asked the soldier.
But Dearan smoothed his expression and stood taller. “Put her body in one of the barns and alert hercousin. If he wants to send her home, he can. Otherwise, incinerate it with the rest of the trash.”
Ivodar bowed his head but then paused. “If Lord Ephaltes asks how she died, what shall we tell him?”
Everyone turned to me. Ah, yes. I hadn’t told them that. “Eris was about to confess who had sent her to kill me,” I answered, “when someone perched on the wall shot her.”
Ivodar nodded and half the soldiers left with her body.
Dearan sent two soldiers to check for evidence of the shooter before facing me again. “I know you said you don’t want to leave the bear, but surely a calm bath and warm air would be good for you?”
I shook my head. “No. I’m safer with the bear than anywhere else. And his fur is plenty warm.”
The corner of Dearan’s mouth tipped into a smirking grin. “Thisbearwill let you curl up in its fur to get warm?”
My heartrate doubled. Dearan must have heard it start pounding. Becausehe knew! He knew this was Bylur! His best friend. The fae who could be king! Posing as my pet. My face flushed as the idea of curling into him in his fae form flashed through my mind. Would he prefer I go into the castle?
Bylur plopped his huge body down onto the ground and wrapped an arm around me, pulling me so close to him that I lost my balance and toppled into his shoulder. Relief flooded over me, and I turned around so I could see Dearan again. “Yes. He will.”
Dearan’s jaw fell open so wide I could have stuffed a rat into it.
Ivodar stepped closer to Dearan. “She’s clearly comfortable with him. He seems to be… a very affectionate bear.” Bylur snarled at Dearan and Ivodar. Ivodar jumped and started marching backward. “Well, very affectionate with Lady Auria. Clearly not with us. I’ll stand guard outside the hedge. If you need me, just call. And—”
He paused before his last step out of the hedge. “Lady Auria, please don’t sneak away from me again. I feel awful that you were attacked during my shift. If I hadn’t been looking for you, I would have helped.”
Another snarl from Bylur, and the soldier darted outside the hedge. I leaned into Bylur, my heart finally calming against his warm fur. Being close to him was good for my nerves.
Dearan gave Bylur a reproving look. “Ivodar makes a valid point.” He dropped his voice to a whisper and faced me. “If Eris hadn’t chosen Bylur’s hiding place to attack, you would have been on your own.”
Those terrible words echoed around my head. I couldn’t respond to them. The reasons for slipping away from Ivodar had made sense this morning, but now they seemed ridiculous in the face of death. I buried my head in Bylur’s fur and breathed in a scent that was coming to mean safety to me. He didn’t smell like a giant bear. He smelled like a crisp forest after a snowstorm mixed with a little ink. The combination was fresh and calming. And then he growled.
I pulled my face out of his fur to see what was going on. Dearan smirked at Bylur. “Fine, fine. I won’t say anything else. I’m just trying to be helpful. I’ll come back in a few hours to see if Auria wants an escort back to the castle. Or you can just shadow her inside.”
And then he was gone too.
I burrowed myself deeper into Bylur’s fur, and he wrapped a warm arm over me like a blanket.
“So this is where you’ve been hiding out during the day?” I asked, leaning my head against his side.
“Yes,” he breathed. “And you snuck away from your guards?”
I bopped the back of my head against his side. “Yes.” A silent chuckle reverberated through his side. “And before you think I was doing anything illegal, it was because I wanted to talk to Kusan without anyone else knowing I stole bread from my own kitchen.”
Another silent chuckle and then Bylur’s breathy whisper. “But how did you escape them? They are trained in observation and tracking.”
I shrugged. “And I’m trained in escaping. It wasn’t hard.”
