She shivers slightly. “And Kraken? Do they reside in woodland rivers and streams?”
Does she truly believe such a large creature could inhabit such a small space? “Kraken tend to prefer oceans,” I manage, with great effort, to keep my voice even as I hold back a laugh.
“Oh, good,” she says dryly. “Then we only have to worry about Kelpies, Shadowbeasts, and whatever else you’ve conveniently neglected to inform me about.”
I hum thoughtfully. “There’s also Night Pixies, but they are not quite as terrible as they’re made out to be.”
She twists in the saddle just enough to glare at me over her shoulder. “You are enjoying this, aren’t you?”
Immensely.“Vivienne,” I say mildly. “I had no idea how much your education was… lacking in this regard.”
“I had a very thorough education, thank you very much.” She scoffs. “I’m sure my tutors simply considered it irrelevant to teach me about such creatures because they never imagined I’d be traipsing through the woods on the back of a wolf, no less,” she says indignantly, “and so far removed from civilization that I’d be forced to sleep in the forest like an Orc barbarian.”
While her misdirected anger is amusing, she is right. I need to rectify this right away. “We’ll find you a tutor when we reach my kingdom. Someone who can assess what information may have been”—I start to say lacking but instead choose—“incomplete in your formal education regarding various creatures that inhabit the realm.”
“A tutor?” She turns back to look at me. “You’re a soldier, Auren. We cannot be spending coin on something I can easily learn in a library.” She arches a condescending brow. “Or do Dark Elves not have those in their underground caves?”
“You know, Vivienne.” I sigh heavily. “I believe you’re going to be pleasantly surprised when you see our ‘underground caves’for the first time. Not to be prideful,” I say, even though I am when it comes to my home, “but poems and songs have been written about the beauty of the Valethryn.”
“Well,” she says haughtily, as she spins back to face forward again, “I suppose we shall see.”
A snort escapes me before I can stop myself.Gods, I enjoy her spark.
She lifts her chin. “And I’d like to point out again, that had I known the river housed murderous water spirits, I might have declined to bathe. Do notthink,”she says primly, “that your concern for my well-being excuses the fact that you looked when you’d distinctly said you wouldn’t.”
“I thought you were drowning,” I stress again. Closing my eyes, I can still see the flash of red beneath the surface, the current pulling at her hair, the split second where I thought I had lost her.
I tighten my arms around her without meaning to.
“You thought I was being dragged under by a Kelpie.”
“That too.”
She huffs. “Well, now that I know Kelpies are real, I find it difficult to believe you thought it wise for us to sleep in the middle of a forest.”
“There was no inn.”
“We could have traveled until we found one.”
“In the dark?”
“Yes.”
I lean forward slightly, lowering my voice near her ear. “And risk encountering Shadowbeasts or something else equally as dangerous?”
She makes an indignant sound and crosses her arms again.
I watch the way the sunlight catches in her hair. A loose strand brushes my knuckles where my hands rest at her waist, and I have to fight the urge to wrap it around my fingers.
She truly is the most lovely female I’ve ever seen, stubborn pride and all. And I would let her scold me until the end of my days if it meant she remained within reach.
She mutters something under her breath about “reckless Elves” and “poor communication regarding aquatic threats,” and I find myself smiling.
Gods help me, I adore her.
The way she snipes to hide embarrassment, how she lifts her chin even when flustered, the way her temper burns hot and bright when she’s riled… and how she leaned against me this morning without realizing she had.
I shift a bit closer, feeling the warmth of her back against my chest, pleased when she doesn’t move away.
