Will you even be able to kill him?My mind whispered quietly to me, causing doubts to swirl and a rock to settle in my stomach.
I wasn’t an assassin any more than I was a seductress. But it didn’t matter what I was or wasn’t, so I hardened myself and deadened my heart.
I had a job to do, and one way or another when all was said and done, I would hold Stryker’s heart in my hands, or die trying. Lives depended on it.
The carriage came to a sudden stop and I jolted forward, face planting into Stryker’s broad chest. Embarrassed, I mumbled an apology as I tried to right myself, only to somehow get my hand tangled in the fabric of his coat and fall more fully into him. I was practically sitting on his lap now, and I felt my cheeks heat as I remembered how adamant he was in the carriage the day before about not wanting to touch me.
As I tried to clumsily extract myself he set his hands on my biceps and gently, but firmly, moved me off him and back to my own seat. His hands lingered on me a moment longer than necessary, but then he cleared his throat and removed them. Now I was the one who couldn’t bring myself to look at him.
“Are you hurt?” he asked, and I was surprised that he cared, let alone asked.
“No. I just wasn’t prepared for the stop,” I said by way of explanation.
When I finally looked up it was to see him staring back at me for the first time that day. I thought I saw a touch of vulnerability on his face before he shuttered his features. Breaking our stare he leaned to the side and yelled out the window, asking the driver what had happened.
“I’m sorry, m’lord,” the driver responded. “There are some beggars in the road. I’ll get the whip and clear them out.”
“No!” I shouted.
A whip! How barbaric.
Before I even realized what I was doing, I’d gotten up and reached for the carriage door to stop the driver. The problem was I’d forgotten I was shackled to Stryker and so I only made it to the first step before my leg pulled out from under me.My momentum kept my body moving forward and I shrieked as I tumbled head first out of the carriage.
I squeezed my eyes shut, putting out my hands, bracing myself for the pain of the fall, but rather than connecting with the packed dirt below something wrapped around my middle and halted me mid-fall.
When I cracked my eyes open it was to find I was hovering in the air, my body horizontal to the ground. It took me a moment to realize that Stryker’s rope-like shadows were wrapped around my waist and chest, keeping me suspended in the air.
Craning my neck, I peered over my shoulder to see Stryker exit the carriage behind me, his hand lifted to control his shadows. With a flick of his wrist my body shifted vertically, and as Stryker descended the steps my feet also touched down on the ground beside him. I was about to thank him for saving me from the fall when the crack of a whip rent the air.
The beggars!
Before I could take off again, Stryker reached down and scooped me up with an arm under my knees and another behind my back as he tucked me into his chest. There was just enough slack between our shackles that he could carry me in his arms comfortably.
With purposeful steps he strode forward, barking at his driver to stand down. Once we rounded the horses, Stryker set me back down and snatched the whip from the driver’s hand.
The fae beggars were huddled together in the middle of the road with their heads together and backs facing us. They were green-skinned unseelie with delicate transparent wings. They looked like a family:a father and mother with two small children, and with horror I realized the driver had already struck one of them. The one I assumed was their father had a rent in the back of his shirt, right between his wings, that was turning red with welling blood.
The children were crying hysterically and the man and woman apologized to them, trying to steer them off the road and out of danger. Without thinking of the repercussions, I sent my magic out, blanketing the whole family with calm, trying to make them feel safe and less frightened. The children stopped their hysterics almost immediately.
Stryker’s accusatory gaze swung to me, but I refused to feel guilty for helping them. The poor fae were traumatized so I just raised one eyebrow as if challenging Stryker to tell me not to use my magic.
“It’s okay. We won’t hurt you again,” I said in a soothing voice as I stepped toward the family.
Stryker moved with me so that I could comfort them better, but even with my calming magic on them, the family shrunk away from me, keeping their faces hidden.
I looked at Stryker with a troubled gaze. The fae that was whipped needed help. As a royal I healed quickly, but not all fae did.
Thousands of times as a child I wished that my royal healing would extend to my heart, but my heart was not an injury that could be healed. It was a defect I was born with. And these fae were vulnerable, some could die from infection before a wound healed.
“Do we have a physician with us, or a healer?” I asked. The latter was rare but some of the Ethereum lords were known to employ them,according to Master Duncan.
Stryker pressed his lips into a hard line. I couldn’t read his expression, but then he turned his head and barked an order, calling for bandages and healing ointment. That must mean there wasn’t a physician or healer with us, so it was up to me.
Bending over, Stryker opened the shackles at our ankles, separating us. He gave me a look that I interpreted to mean that he wasn’t letting me out of his sight, but that was fine because I was just grateful to be able to move freely.
One of Stryker’s men came running with the bundle of supplies he’d asked for. The family had moved off to the side of the road, and when Stryker and I approached, they tried to shuffle away from us.
“We’re so sorry, m’lord,” the father said with his face still turned away. His body shook, probably from the pain of his wound. “We didn’t realize it was you. We came down from the Northern Kingdom to stay with family but were robbed while we slept last night. We just wanted to ask for some coin to get to my brother who lives a few towns over. Please grant us mercy to leave you in peace.”
