His lips felt soft upon hers, his gentle touch on her neck a comfort. Then he was gone.
Panic stole the air from her lungs, restricting all thoughts, feelings, senses. With nothing more to overwhelm her emotions, she dropped to her knees, Lulu going with her, holding tight.
The sound of water trickling nearby, washed through each ear as Scarlen closed her eyes, writhing as her body realised it was free, but her mind was somewhere high in the sky, floating on fluffy clouds in a gentle breeze that kissed her cheeks and bid her goodnight.
32
Bear was training outside in the snow, his naked chest lined with rivulets of sweat as he punched into a leather bag filled with grain. It swung sideways from a bough as he threw all frustration into each strike, his muscles flexing, his heart hammering, his head still aching from the day before when Scarlen announced she was Princess Adoria, of all fucking people. He still couldn’t get his head around it, not that he wanted to think about it at all.
He was glad he hadn’t seen her yesterday, as he would have only yelled some more, which part of him felt guilty about, as there was a time and a place, and Scarlen finding out her little sister was alive wasn’t the time for the shit he wanted to toss her way.
He sighed up at the early morning sun streaking golden hues into the sky. At least there wasn’t any more snow on the way anytime soon, and the air was a touch milder than usual, or perhaps he couldn’t feel the cold because he was too fired up with rage from all the lies.
Why would you have sex with me?
It stirred and stirred, swiftly followed by what those intimate moments had felt like, and that wasn’t doing him any favours. The feel of her on his skin, her mystery scent that he embraced with both arms, losing himself to each pulse inside of her. An erection was not what he needed while training to blow off steam. Steam caused by the person who had cut his heart.
‘Argh!’ He launched himself at the punching bag, grabbing it hard while slamming his head into its solid weight.
His mother wouldn’t be proud of his lack of control.‘Focus, my sweet boy. You see clearly when you’re focused,’she would say.
Bear slumped to the cold ground, his elbows resting on his bent knees. Some deep breaths were needed, then he could bring his questions into line, ready for a talk with Scarlen. No shouting, no looking at her and seeing the king, just a simple chat and some much-needed answers.
The sound of something cracking close by brought on the vision of the whip slashing across his mother’s back, her screams shaking his insides, her life fading before him. The king had stood tall, looking bored by the tenth strike. Someone even brought him a drink and a chair at one point.
Bear wondered where Scarlen had been that day. Cowering in her room, thinking Rebels were after her? Perhaps not cowering. He knew Scarlen held fear, as everyone did, but she would show some form of resilience even if she felt none. Now that he thought about it, she showed courage in prison. It must have been tough knowing someone might expose her at any time. Discover who she was, spread the word, have her pay for her father’s crimes.
A twitch hit his lips as he remembered her sitting in a tree in the Zone, dagger in hand, ready to kill if need be. The fact her father, the fucking king, had allowed such horror to be inflicted upon his child was mind-blowing to say the least. It had Bearquestioning what else the man had done to Scarlen. Northerners knew the king to be unstable, wicked, selfish, but how bad was he to his daughter?
He pushed Lancen off a cliff. A fucking cliff!
Rising to his feet, he felt it best to shower away his anger, then speak to Scarlen sooner rather than later. He would ask for a moment after breakfast. Whatever happened then, he would assure her safety, of that much he knew.
Lancen was heading into the hallway as Bear met the pathway. He wanted to ask how Scarlen slept, assuming she had stayed with her sister, as she didn’t come to his chamber, and he’d waited up till the small hours in case she snuck in thinking him asleep.
‘Good morning,’ was all he said instead, taking long strides to the crescent moon stairs.
‘So you are speaking to me?’ Lancen questioned, brow raised.
Bear kept his sigh quiet as he turned. ‘I can’t help the hate I have for your father, and I won’t lie and pretend everything is fine between us now I know who you are and that you and my mother lied to me and our family, but I won’t ignore you.’
‘But you will ignore my sister?’
‘It’s different with us.’
‘She doesn’t deserve any more pain, Bear. If she made a connection with you, then she cares for you. My sister doesn’t trust many. Our father made it hard for us to have friendships in our lives, but Ria always craved such affection, wishing she could have a love bond. She used to say there was someone out there who belonged to her soul. She knew. She could feel him.’ Lancen smiled softly. ‘Perhaps it is you she has been sensing all this time.’
Well, if anyone else wanted to kick him in the gut, now was the time.
Raven entered the hallway from the dining room and stopped short, his gaze flitted between Lancen and Bear, and Bear could tell at once Raven was nervous about something. He knew his friend well, but Raven was always so quick to change his expression, the lies came easy as always.
‘What is it?’ snapped Bear.
‘What’s what?’ replied Raven casually, about to turn.
It was too late for the master of deadpan, because Bear had spotted the nerves in the split second they had been revealed. ‘Don’t test me, Rav.’
Lancen said what Raven would never have. ‘He thought I told you about yesterday.’
