Swallowing hard, I stared into his eyes. Danger flashed in his irises. He was the enemy. He’d captured me. And I hated him for it. I couldn’t wait to get away from him as soon as I got the chance. I’d throw another skull at his head if I could find one. His lips curved into a smile as he held me flat against his chest, my feet hovering off the ground.
“Put me down,” I said, my voice coming out far more hoarse than I’d intended. He’d just caught me off guard was all.
“If I put you down, you’ll try to run,” he murmured.
“You have me tied up.”
“Tell me, Aradia.” He drawled out my name, giving a lyrical sound to it. “How long have you been on the run from your prince?”
“He’s notmyprince,” I said.
He arched a brow. “Isn’t he?”
I squirmed against his chest and barely moved. Damn, this dragonlord was strong. “Not really. It’s a long story.”
“Luckily, we’ll have time for you to tell it.” His smile widened. “I want to know all about Aradia Galatas and what makes her tick.”
He lowered me to the ground and stepped back, but he kept a tight hold on the end of the rope. I wasn’t going anywhere. Not yet.
“Why?” I asked, narrowing my eyes. “Is this some sort of game to you?”
“Because the more I know,” he said easily, “the better I’ll understand how long it will take the portal to let you back through.”
“Right. It all goes back to that again,” I muttered. “I’m never going through it, Yuto.”
“We’ll see.”
He sounded so sure and smug that I wanted to smack the smile right off his face. Instead, all I could do was stand there with my wrists bound together, watching as he unpacked supplies from his leather satchel. He pulled a small hunting knife out and strapped it to his side, and then munched on a few nuts without offering me a damn thing. My stomach growled.
“How far is your home from here?” I asked after too many moments spent in silence.
“It’s not my home.”
I rolled my eyes. Right. Because he was some sort of magical prisoner, trapped here just like I was. “Okay. Then, how far is the place you’re taking me? Your…prison? Your cell?”
“It’s not a cell. And I’d rather not say.”
With a sigh, I tried to cross my arms over my chest, having already forgotten that he’d bound my wrists together. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re incredibly infuriating?”
His lips twitched. “Not recently, no.”
“Ah, so someone must have a long time ago,” I said, edging closer. “Is that how you ended up here?”
He sighed and glanced up from his pack. “Aradia, you—”
“Ask far too many questions,” I finished for him. “So you’ve said.”
“And it appears you enjoy interrupting others as well.” He strode away from his horse, yanking me along with him. My feet almost tripped over a tiny log left behind by previous travellers. Yuto knelt beside a charred circle in the center of the clearing, wiped his fingers across the cold coals, and then sniffed.
“At the risk of asking yet another question, why are you sniffing the ground?”
“My sense of smell is better than yours,” he murmured, his eyes cast on the horizon as if he were deep in thought. “This gives me an indication of who was here and how long ago.”
“And that matters?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“Oh yes.” He twisted to glance up at me. His eyes were dark and full of dread. “It matters very much.”
I shivered. I couldn’t help myself. Even though I knew exactly what he was doing, that didn’t mean it wouldn’t work on me. He wanted to scare me. If I was scared, I wouldn’t run off. Maybe if I were someone else, that is. He’d never met a Galatas before. We didn’t scare easily.
