She rubbed her temples. “And does your plan include a way to get us there without being stopped by the king?”
His lips formed an thin line, and he grimaced. “Well, calling it a plan is generous. But it’s a… loose configuration of ideas that should work.”
Should.
The word bounced around in Vivienne’s skull, giving her a pounding headache. This man would undoubtedly be the cause of her demise.
Pinching the bridge of her nose, she sighed. “Alright. Just tell me.”
Marius spent the remainder of the ride detailing what they were going to do.
By the time Felix pulled to a stop in front of a small, abandoned cottage that looked like a strong wind could blow it over, Vivienne decided that agreeing to guard the prince was officially the worst decision she’d ever made in her entire life.
They would definitely perish on this trip.
Silver Planes, Inconsolable Grief, and Headaches
Marius’s new bodyguard wasn’t much of a conversationalist.
Five days had passed since they first started their journey, and Vivienne had barely spoken to him. Sometimes, he caught her muttering under her breath about this “ridiculous situation that would get them killed,” but she never said that to his face.
Right now, the vampire was sitting with her back against the opposite wall, one hand on her sword as she silently studied him.
He rested his head against the carriage, his eyes hooded as he listened to the clopping hoofbeats outside.
He was growing weary of this carriage, and each day seemed longer than the last.
On the second day, Marius had attempted to leave the carriage and sit with Felix, but that was where his bodyguard had drawn the line. She insisted on keeping an eye on him at all times, even while he was sleeping.
Since she couldn’t go in the sun, they sat silently and stared at each other.
The quiet didn’t bother Marius. After living with his studious sister for years, he was used to people getting lost in their heads.
Besides, he had enough on his plate without adding conversation to the mix. Between planning for their eventual arrival at Hoarfrost Hollow and hoping that Luna would forgive him for what he’d realized was essentially running away, he was constantly thinking.
Now that the initial buzz of freedom had worn off, Marius was slightly worried that he’d underestimated the devastation his sudden departure would cause.
Luna’s scream and Sebastian’s roars had just been soloud, and they’d been tinged with so much anger and anguish. Marius had borne witness to the king’s anger in the past. For Kydona’s sake, he’d been present in the hours before Sebastian and Luna had gone to fight the evil queen.
He’d never heard the king roar like that, though. It was a good reminder that his brother-in-law was a predator, first and foremost.
And he’d angered him.
Worse, Marius had hurt his sister. The memory of Luna’s scream had his stomach twisting, even now.
The sooner they reached Hoarfrost Hollow, the better.
The Tether was the only reason they’d gotten this far. Marius had never really appreciated the magic tying his sister to her husband until he realized it meant she couldn’t follow him during the day. There was no question in his mind; the vampires would be searching for him from dusk until dawn.
As soon as the sun set, they found shelter in abandoned buildings or caves. They kept to themselves since they couldn’t risk interacting with people who might report their presence to the vampires. Twice, they stopped to wash in streams that got colder as they journeyed north.
Yesterday, they crossed Needle Pass into the Northern Kingdom. Thethin trail cut through the Koln Mountains, and the crossing had taken most of the day.
Today, Marius could taste the snow in the air. They were close. He couldn’t wait to see the looks on Luna and Sebastian’s faces when he told them there had been a threat, but he’d contained it.
Finally, they would have to understand that he could care for himself. They would be forced to loosen their hold on him when he proved that he was a help, not a hindrance, to the kingdom.
Marius exhaled and scrubbed a hand over his face. This had to work because he wasn’t sure what he would do if it didn’t.
