Chapter Nineteen
Raven rode down the dirt roadbeside Landyn. Open fields of swaying grass lined their path. She still couldn’t believe Landyn loved her. She had never imagined being in love. She had prioritized the steel of a blade, the skill of fighting. Love wasn’t something that had been important to her. Now, she wondered how that could ever have been.
She glanced at Landyn. His chin was lifted, and his eyes scanned the horizon. Just gazing at him set her heart pounding. She turned back to the road, adjusting her grip on the reins.
It was hard to fathom that such an amazing man, so decent and confident, could have fallen in love with a woman like her. He belonged with a lady of startling beauty who lived in a castle and wore rich garments. She shifted to ask him if he was certain he was in love with her.
His stare was focused on her, and he regarded her with such an intense, adoring expression that she blushed. And she knew. He did indeed love her. “I suppose I lied,” she admitted, recalling her earlier promise to him.
“Lied?” he repeated in confusion.
“Ididfall in love with you after all.”
He inhaled deeply and returned his attention to the road. “I should have warned you.”
“Warned me about what?”
“That it would be difficultnotto fall in love with me.” A teasing smile stretched across his lips.
She matched his grin with one of her own.
“Tell me again where we are headed,” Landyn said.
Raven nodded. “To Sybil’s farm.” She was grateful their father had the wisdom to plan a place to meet if they got separated. “We’ll pass by Les Labadous and head to le Carla. I know a farmer there who will stock our supplies so we can continue south to Sybil’s.”
Landyn’s eyebrows rose. “You certainly have everything figured out.”
“You and I agreed to this path before we left the inn,” she explained.
He lowered his chin and gazed at her with a heated look. “I like a woman who takes charge.”
Her lower stomach flipped at his sultry stare, but she tried to console him. “We are partners. We worked this out together.”
“It was a compliment,” he asserted softly.
“Oh,” she said, bowing her head in embarrassment. “I’m not used to them.”
“You should start to get used to them. I plan to heap compliments on you every day,” he said confidently. “You deserve them.”
She lifted her chin proudly. She cast him a sideways glance of admiration.
They traveled the entire day, stopping once to rest the horses and make love beneath a canopied forest.
When they came to the outskirts of Les Labadous, darkness had descended, and the moon was rising.
Raven was about to dismount when she noticed a trail of gray smoke curving against the black sky. She pointed it out to Landyn. “Something’s burning,” she observed uneasily. It looked too big to be a campfire.
“Someone might need help,” Landyn said, his horse dancing nervously beneath him.
She nodded. Given the direction, it looked as if a building were burning in Les Labadous. The blaze was not under control, and the owners likely needed aid fighting it. She spurred her steed into a trot, following the clouds. They charged across harvested farmers’ fields, mud kicking up in their wake.
As they moved closer, the fire reached toward the night sky like fingers, trying to grasp at the stars. A barn at the edge of the farmers’ fields burned, the flames snapping and crackling with tongues of heat.
A forest lined the fields. Raven dismounted close to the trees, so the animals didn’t get frightened by the fire. She and Landyn tethered them to a tree branch and hurried toward the barn.
No one was attempting to extinguish the fire; no one had even come to watch. Confused, she slowed to a walk.
“It looks abandoned,” Landyn observed.
