“Zev,” I whisper, glancing nervously at the steeds. “I don’t know how to ride. We don’t have horses in Tundrayn.”
Zev eyes me for a beat, something unreadable flickering in his gaze. “You can—”
“She can ride with me,” Sulon cuts in, his dark eyes practically caressing my face.
I flinch, my gaze snapping to the broad, muscled man. His stare crawls over me, heavy with a promise I don’t dare name—what he’d do if he caught me alone.
“No,” Zev says gruffly. “She’ll ride with me.”
“But, sire—”
“Are you questioning my orders?” His voice is tight with anger. A distant rumble of thunder sounds overhead.
“No, no,” Sulon stammers. “It’s just … you’ve been burdened with her for weeks. I only thought—”
“Don’t think.”
Sulon’s mouth tightens with displeasure, and I don’t miss the gleam of pure hatred in his eyes as he rakes his gaze over me.
Neither does Zev.
Like lightning, he clamps Sulon’s face in a punishing grip. “Something you’d like to say to your future queen?” he snarls.
“No, sire,” Sulon sputters, his face turning a splotchy red. The other soldiers watch closely, whispering amongst themselves.
“Bow to her.”
Sulon hesitates, eyes widening in shock.
The soldiers have gone silent.
Zev’s voice booms like thunder. “Now!”
With a loud thud, Sulon drops to his knees. He bows his head before me, muscles twitching. Zev watches him for what feels like ages, but Sulon doesn’t dare rise, not without Zev’s permission.
It never comes.
When he brushes past Sulon, the air around him crackles.
This is the Dark Commander.
And he’s terrifying.
I cast a glance at the soldiers. Their eyes are colder than the tundra.
Zev mounts his horse, then extends a hand, helping me up behind him. His smoke-and-pine scent surrounds me, and I resist the urge to melt into him.
He glares at Sulon, still on the floor. “Remain kneeling until we’re out of sight.”
Zev digs his heels into the horse’s flank, and the stallion lurches forward. I jerk back with a gasp, my grip tightening around Zev’s waist.
We set off.
My fate awaits me.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Mythighsache.We’vebeen riding for hours at a breakneck pace. I’ve tried to maintain an appropriate distance between my chest and Zev’s back, especially with his soldiers surrounding us, but I gave up forty minutes ago when my fatigue outweighed propriety.
