A silence falls as Thessa and Stide exchange glances.
Stide finally nods, teeth gritted. ‘Fine. Any more tricks and we will leave you here, on your own, to suffer the wrath of the Gods.’
‘Any trickery from you and you’ll be dead before you draw your next breath,’ Kyor says. It’s the evenness of his tone that makes the threat so deadly. He won’t hesitate to kill them both if they misstep.
‘Then it is agreed,’ Thessa murmurs, soundingannoyingly triumphant, leaving me feeling like we’ve somehow misstepped. ‘We will guide you through the forest.’
‘All the way to the Hirathean Pass,’ Ruben interrupts. He’s right. Whatever these Rotting things are, there’s a good chance they’re not limited to this area.
‘Up to the Hirathean Pass,’ I repeat, only to feel that pressure at the base of my spine. The ring doesn’t want to be forgotten, but there are only so many times I can risk our lives, and I now have hundreds of other heirlooms back in Wrohelm.
Yet something tells me this ring is different. It’s important.
But so is staying alive.
Thessa and Stide share one more look before eventually dipping their heads in agreement.
‘Fine,’ Thessa says. ‘But we need to leave. Now!’
We don’t need her urgency to spur us into packing in haste. Nor do we need Loch’s hearing to note that the shrieks are coming ever closer.
Chapter 31
There are too many of us for the horses, forcing us all to double up. I sidle up to Caz. ‘Can you ride with Thessa?’ I ask her.
‘What? Why?’
I keep my voice low. ‘You’re the perfect person to question her. You know more about the Sannings than any of us, and you’ll know if she’s actually telling us the truth or not. See what you can find out.’
She agrees, and Loch doubles with Benny, leaving Stide with either Kyor or Ruben, and the way she’s looking at Kyor and Elska makes me bristle. I push it down because it’s ridiculous, but nonetheless …
‘Stide, you go with Ruben.’
Her gaze flickers between the two men, as if she’s genuinely weighing up whether she’s going to agree with me or not, but then she offers a small shrug and walks over to Ruben’s horse.
Ruben hands her the reins and comes over to me, clearing his throat awkwardly. ‘I thought you should know … Kyor didn’t leave your side, Rose. The whole time you were out, he was taking care of you, watching over you. I don’t know the ins and outs of your fallout, but …’ He grimaces. ‘He does love you. Even I can see that.’
‘Why are you telling me this?’
He offers me a lopsided grin. ‘I’m out of the running, right?’
Iwince but nod.
It’s harsh, but he was never truly in the running, not in my eyes. Ruben is my past. Kyor is my present. The future? That remains to be seen. ‘May as well see you with a prince then. At least that way I know you’ll be taken care of.’
I glare. ‘I can take care of myself.’
‘True,’ he agrees equably, ‘but Kyor would treat you like a princess. Literally. And if I can’t have you …’ He trails off with a shrug. ‘It would be great to have a buddy who’s queen. I’m just thinking of advantages, you know.’ He winks cheekily before turning back around to mount up.
As I watch him go, I see the friendly smile on his face as he greets Stide, trying to set her at ease with sharing a horse with a man she barely knows.
My heart aches at his goodness, and I wish it could be different, wish it could be Ruben I dream of.
But it isn’t.
I turn to Kyor, my stomach fluttering. He watched over me while I was injured. I’d be lying if I said the thought didn’t warm me.
‘Elska reckons we can make up some good time this morning,’ he says as I mount the wolf and wrap my arms around him, telling myself it’s for safety on the ride and nothing else. At least this way, sitting behind him, I’m spared the torture of him pressing up against me again. It gives me a modicum of control. Or at least the pretence of it.
