I nearly laugh. “Depends. Are you going to be an ass?” I hurl my wet bundled clothes at his feet. He rolls his eyes.
“What do we do now, oh great commander?” I snap.
He looks unimpressed. “All my men are dead. The rebels knew exactly where we were and how many soldiers I had.”
I narrow my eyes. “You don’t still thinkIhad something to do with that, do you?”
A beat.
“No. I believe you.”
“Finally. Some progress.” It’s my turn to roll my eyes. “We’re not too far from the palace. We can make it back within a day, regroup, get supplies—”
“We’re not going back to the palace.”
I blink. “Excuse me?”
“You expect me to walk into the Tundrayni capital with no soldiers? They’ll impale me with ice spears before I reach the gate.”
“You keep forgetting—there’s a ceasefire in place. That only—”
“—Ihave broken,” he interjects. A muscle feathers in his jaw. “So you’ve reminded me.Several times. The ceasefire is shaky enough as it is. The moment I show up alone, it’ll be forgotten.”
“Fine. Do what you want. I’ll go back myself.”
“And if the rebels catch you?”
“That’s not your problem.”
“You’re betrothed to my brother. Youaremy problem.”
“Oh,nowyou remember?” I shoot back, crossing my arms. “You seemed to forget that little fact when you tied me up and manhandled me.”
He flinches—just barely—but his gaze drops to my raw wrists.
“Look,” he says quietly. “It’s dangerous out there. I can’t let you go alone. Believe it or not, I don’t actually want you harmed.” I scoff. He presses on, “And if anything happens to you, your father could blame me and attack Arbinj.”
Ah, there it is. At least he’s honest about his real concern. Retaliation.
Frustration curls hot beneath my skin. “What do you propose, then? You won’t go with me. You won’t let me go alone. Should we just pitch a tent and freeze to death?”
“We travel to Arbinj together. Where you’ll marry my brother. As planned.”
I gape at him. He can’t be serious. “That’ll take weeks on foot! Over a month, even. We don’t have the supplies.” I can barely stand to be around him, and I’ve only known him for a few short hours—and I was unconscious through most of it.
“Definitely over a month,” he says. “You’ll slow us down.”
I want to argue with him. No, actually, I want to throttle him. Him and his stupid chiseled face.
“This is madness,” I grit out. “You’ll be safe in Tundrayn. You’re under my protection.”
The insufferable asshole smirks, as if it’s amusing that he’d ever needmyprotection. “I appreciate that, Mayah.” I flinch. “Truly. But the answer is no.”
By the Tides. When I awoke this morning for my betrothal ceremony, never in ten thousand years would I have guessed I’d be bickering with the infamous Dark Commander in the middle of the tidescursed forest.
I glance sideways at the dense, snow-covered trees.
“Don’t even think about it,” Zevayr rumbles. Two large strides erase the distance between us. “I’ll catch you in seconds and drag you back. We’ll have wasted even more precious time.”
