Page 133 of Her Ivory Flame

“Just returning the favor.” She shrugged and tried to give him a teasing smile.

For the first time, she saw a hint of a smile on his face and knew right then they would be friends.

“So this masked man, any idea who he is?” Boone asked behind her.

“My guess is Silas,” Xander growled.

“You think he would be so bold?” Boone asked.

“That doesn’t make sense though.” Titus started. “If he wanted her so badly, why would he want her sold off to Oak in the first place?”

“He said Oak failed him right before he cut off his head. Maybe instead of trying to get rid of her, he was trying to make sure she stayed there.” Xander's voice was getting darker.

“Ok so let me get this straight.” she sighed. “Silas orchestrates a plan for me to go to Bromel to be essentially sold to Oak in order to make sure he could find me, while also hiring people to kidnap me on the road? What was the point of the bandits if he was already planning on Oak taking me??”

“He didn’t count on me being with you.” Kaden snarled. “He had already planned on Oak detaining you but when you chose me to go instead, he needed a backup plan.”

Color drained from her face and she stepped backwards to sit on one of the chairs along the table.

“He knew if we made it to Bromel, his plan with Oak might fail and tried to hire bandits to kill you and bring me straight to him,” she breathed quietly.

Silence stayed between them, all of the men around her staring at her with mixed expressions.

The crack in her chest Silas left chipped away a little more, the pain of betrayal slamming into her once again. She tried to fight it, but a tear slipped down her cheek, Xander instantly kneeling in front of her.

“Don’t let that pain tear you down,” he whispered, his expression hinting he was familiar with her current feelings. “Use that pain to fight back Alyra, we all know you are the strongest of us.”

He lifted his hand and she felt his calloused finger gently wipe away the tear that had fallen down her face. His eyes stared at hers and she realized it was the first time had really looked at him this closely.

That feeling of familiarity tugged at her and a sudden memory slammed into her, her breathing hitching viciously sending her reeling backwards from him against the chair.

“You.” Her mouth gaping open.

She could feel a familiarity between them since the day she met, but he had kept himself closed off in the beginning and she didn’t think about it again.

“Finally remember me?” His voice was soft and everyone around her looked confused.

“You’re Victor’s grandson.” she breathed. “That summer, you came by to visit while I was still healing him.”

He just nodded and she felt the tension around the group melt away.

“Did you know who I was?” she mumbled.

“Not at the time.”

“Is that why you refused to talk to me when we saw each other again?”

“I was mad at myself for not realizing who you were back then and knew if I had, things would be much different now.”

She looked at Kaden, his face showing no emotions but she knew he was trying to figure out what was happening.

“In my village, there is a meat vendor named Victor and I saved him in a storm decades ago.” Her eyes went back to Xander. “You were so different back then.”

“A lot of things can change in a short amount of time.”

Her heart sank at the realization Victor might be dead, his home being in Helen and the attack that happened. Her eyes widened towards him and he raised his hand calmly towards her.

“It’s alright, we will worry about that when the time comes. I love my grandfather but this is more important.”