Drysk shrugs. “Same as ever. Pyrrh is safe enough for armed parties like ours. Khyrrus is more challenging. With the Zhagarn forces marching steadily westward, supplies are limited. Profiteering runs wild, but when the Khyrran army catches anybody at it, they execute them on the spot.”
“Quite a deterrent,” Kaelen drawls. “And for merchants traveling with our goods? Are we in danger?”
She eyes him with the contempt a fighter holds for someone she considers a useless lordling. “I’m sure you’ll be fine with a Sharnon warrior and a Sylvan at your side. Plus, you have a top-notch expert in poisons.”
Her eyes warm when she looks at me this time. Evidently, a murderous poisoner ranks higher in her mind than arm candy. “If you ever want a new post, leave word at any inn along this route to Khyrrus. I’m sure I pay better than this lot.”
She eyes Kaelen with dismissal. “At least I’ll give you your own horse.”
I’m so startled by the job offer I take a beat, but then I reach back and caress the side of the prince’s face. “Oh, I don’t know,” I say, trying on the seductive purr I’ve heard some of the library kitchen maids use with the stable hands. “This seat has its benefits.”
She laughs and shakes her head. “At any rate, the offer stands.”
Then she waves a hand in the air, and her group kicks their horses into motion. We do the same and pass each other amicably enough, except for Grigos, who glares at me the entire time.
We stay silent for several miles while my mind spins in circles, fixated on what just happened between us. Suddenly mortified, I try to lean forward in the saddle, away from Kaelen, but his arm around my waist is a solid bar locking me in place, and the hand holding the reins convulsively tightens until his knuckles whiten.
“Kaelen?” I speak quietly and cautiously, remembering his berserker mode with the Zhagarn and Fell. Maybe the encounter with the mercenaries put him into battle readiness? I wish I knew more about Valourian warriors.
“I don’t understand this,” he says, his voice a mere thread of sound. “I can’t—What is happening to me? Did you poison me?”
“What?”I try to look over my shoulder at him, but he lifts his hand from my waist to my chin, holding my head in place. “Did I—”
“I don’tfeelthings like this,” he says savagely. “I don’twant.I don’tneed.I’m always the one in control.”
I hold still, barely breathing. I don’t understand this, either.
“Why? Why you? Why now?”
“Um. The body’s reaction to danger and adrenaline—”
His harsh laugh interrupts me. “Yes, I know about that. Trust me. But I’ve been in plenty of dangerous situations without wanting to drag someone down off a horse afterward, strip them bare, and lick every inch of their body.”
Oh. Dear. Goddess.
We ride in silence for several more minutes, and I realize I’m not the only one trembling. His body is actually shuddering, and he’s inhaling huge gulps of air. Finally, minute by minute, both of us calm down, and the trembling stops.
“Well,” I finally offer in a small voice. “It was alotof danger.”
This time, his laughter actually carries amusement. “Yes, Soli. It definitely was.”
A few moments later, Chitai and Andras ride up next to us. Andras raises an eyebrow at me, but Chitai is grinning so much I feel myself turning red. I wait for Kaelen to say something, but he remains frustratingly silent.
When I can’t take it anymore, I speak up in a bright voice. “That went well. The prince and I put on quite an act for them.”
Chitai gives me a side-eyed look and grins. “That’s one way to put it. I’ll range out front.”
Andras leans forward, and a slow smile spreads across his face. “I’ll be happy to volunteer to put on the act with you the next time we encounter any mercenaries, Soli.”
I gape at him, speechless.
“I don’t think so,” Kaelen grits out, but the Sylvan laughs and spurs his horse to follow Chitai.
“Soli,” Kaelen begins, but then we hear Neville’s horse trotting up next to us.
The sergeant frowns at Kaelen. “Not sure all of that was necessary, but one good thing came out of it.”
Onegood thing? Oh, I think more than that.
