Guiltily, I retreated into my mind and peered through the dense hedge I’d created to shield my innermost thoughts. I felt for that glimmering golden thread that represented our bond, but all I found was the dull, lifeless thing I’d held before.
Not a sliver of recognition flared down our mental pathway. No love. No longing. Just . . . emptiness.
Had Fleshtalker somehow broken the bond between us? Was that the reason Kaden had looked at me with such hatred back in his cell?
Without the mating bond, perhaps he no longer felt any connection to me. I was just the huntress for whom he’d suffered to protect.
Pushing those dreary thoughts aside, I clambered up therocky incline after Adriel and Sorsha, who had magicked away their wings. Neither the princess nor the royal guard spoke, though I could feel Sorsha seething from Adriel’s abandonment at the palace.
My thighs burned as we ascended the rugged switchbacks that led up the side of the mountain. There was little in the way of vegetation, either because it was too cold or because of the unforgiving wind that thrashed at the cliffs.
We cut a path through the towering white boulders, and after nearly an hour, a few scraggly pine trees appeared. The terrain leveled out, and a grouping of strange-looking structures jutted out from between the cream-colored stones.
The sharp, angular rooflines of the homes seemed to mirror the peaks of the Oranthan Mountains. Thatched roofs contrasted with outer walls blackened with pine tar to guard against moisture and decay. Fragrant smoke puffed from narrow chimneys, and relief seeped into my bones.
The back of my neck prickled with the feeling of being watched, but none of the others seemed concerned.
We reached a set of rickety wooden steps, and Kaden ascended without so much as a glance around the village. His movements were even stiffer than before, and I could tell that he was in pain.
We followed him up to a small landing that led to a cottage with the same odd roofline. The house looked as though it were bowing against the unrelenting wind, and suddenly I understood the reason for the design of the homes.
Kaden flattened a hand over the center of the door, and a glimmer of golden runes seemed to wink in answer.
He stepped aside to allow his royal guard to clear thehouse before entering, and Sorsha paused on the edge of the platform to summon a ball of faelight. Opening the hatch of a red-tinted glass lantern mounted on the outer post, she turned to me with a grim smile. “A signal that the prince has arrived.”
I was too weary to ask who she was signaling or why. When Kaden and I had visited Klodäsch, he hadn’t wanted anyone to know who he was, but perhaps things were different there.
Inside the house was small but comfortable. Woven rugs covered the squeaky floorboards, and more weavings made of seagrass and shells decorated the walls. The windows were fashioned from some wavy stained glass with intricate designs near the top depicting winged creatures crossing the sea.
A wooden table with four chairs stood beside a stone hearth, with a padded bench along the wall.
Adriel knelt before the fireplace and began arranging a few thin logs in the grate as Kaden started up a narrow staircase.
I made to follow, but Sorsha stopped me with a gentle hand on my arm.
“Someone must tend to his wounds,” I snapped.
“Perhaps now isn’t the best time.”
“When would be a good time?” I retorted, jerking away and storming up the staircase after him.
The wooden steps groaned under my weight, but the little house seemed sturdy. There was a doorway off the landing that led to a cozy bedchamber, but Kaden kept going up a rickety ladder to a third-story alcove.
Heart in my throat, I went after him, my head popping through the narrow opening. This room was even smallerthan the broom closet the two of us had shared at the inn in Klodäsch.
Kaden was slumped on a thin pallet with his back to me, wings splayed on the blankets behind him. He stiffened as I pulled myself through the hole but didn’t turn to look at me.
“I should see to your wounds,” I said, feeling suddenly awkward and foolish. Everything inside me ached to be near him, but he clearly wanted nothing to do with me.
“Don’t bother,” he replied, his tone flat and emotionless.
“T-there could be splinters,” I stammered. “They’ll get infected if they’re not —”
“I said I’m fine.”
I opened my mouth to argue but quickly snapped it shut. I wanted to tell him he was being an idiot, but it occurred to me that he might need some time alone to process his imprisonment.
Swallowing my protests, I backed down onto the ladder and descended the stairs. Adriel was coaxing a fire to life in the hearth, and Sorsha was rummaging through the cupboard in search of food.
