Page 4 of Ashborne: Defiance

Thank God I’d worn my boots.

Vane walked so confidently, I was certain he was either running to friends, or a dragon.

I should have turned back hours ago. But a strange thing occurred as the morning passed into afternoon, and now toward evening. Going back felt like giving up. I had so little time left here—a mere handful of days until life would overtake me, and I would be caged.

My parents had signed a marriage contract with a lord who was a peer of my father’s. I’d always known noble life meant I was intended to marry, run an estate, and bear children. But the older I grew, and the more I saw of the world, the harder it became to breathe at that thought.

In their mercy, my parents had delayed the wedding to my betrothed, and allowed me to come to the castle for the last two weeks, to celebrate the Festival of Lights. But I was required to return in just a few days, and would then marry Lord Breckon.

My parents encouraged me to welcome the match because we both loved to ride horses, and he traded with my father’s estate, which meant I could see them and visit often. Yet, under their smiles and hope, I saw the haggard lines deepening on their faces, and their shadowed glances at each other.

This marriage was needed to replenish wealth to our coffers. Without it, my parents’ estate would be destitute within a year.

I wanted to help them. I wanted to do what was right. But the thought of being closed into a dusty manor, waiting for my husband’s attention…

I shuddered.

I may not be able to fight, or fly dragons, as Bren could. But I could follow men without their knowledge. Gather information on those who sought to harm me, or my parents. And while I did so, my mind was so occupied it emptied of any pressure of expectation or bloodline.

I could breathe.

And afterward, I could sleep.

But those days would soon be over. When I married the man my father had selected, not only would my responsibilities grow so that I couldn’t disappear for hours on end without being noticed, but I would be forced to slip from the bed of a man who saw me as a prize—and jealously protected my virtue until I’d given him an heir. I’d been trapped in estate rooms before, when traveling with my parents, because guards were set at the doors, or I’d been unable to locate secret passages or servants’ hidden stairways.

It was terrifying how quickly a home became a prison when all you needed was to move without eyes on you.

A surge of nerves rose in my chest and threatened to choke me. The thought of being trapped within a home, always watched by servants loyal to him, and serviced like a broodmare until I’d successfully produced at least one boy…

If I wasn’t currently creeping through a dimming forest, I would have sighed heavily.

Instead, I turned my mind back to the problem I could actually address: Finding Vane, and hopefully my new friend, to ensure she hadn’t been caged against her will.

I took a moment to scan the woods one final time. Here we were, in the middle of nowhere, where the foothills began their sweep toward the sky, and the sun said its goodnight. Yet, the fascinating man I’d followed all the way out here, the one I’d kept in my sights for hours, was suddenly nowhere to be seen. If I didn’t discover where he’d gone soon, this adventure might turn into a very real danger.

I hadn’t brought food, and though I wore a cloak, I had no supplies or weapons. I hadn’t expected to leave the city, and there’d been no time to buy anything when I realized Vane was leaving the city.

I could use the city lights to lead me back and eventually find the castle, but it would have made this entire day a failure—I was about to miss the dinner meal, at which point my absence would be noticed, if it hadn’t already. The court was aware of my impending wedding. Rumors would be rife. Once I returned and the scandal was soothed, I would be watched closely to ensure I didn’t flee.

I couldn’t give up my freedom for no gain!

The undergrowth was thicker here, which made progress slower—but also offered more clues to his route.

A scuff in the dirt here. Flattened grass at the side. A spot where a smatter of autumn leaves had fallen from a shrub, because it had been brushed by a swinging arm.

He hadn’t been hiding his passage because he thought he was alone out here.

Had I given away my presence and alerted him? Or had he entered a hiding place while he was out of my sight?

I chewed my lip and slipped forward into the deepening shadows, brushing slowly through branches in the line I hoped he’d continued to take because the ground here was firm and didn’t reveal footprints.

I sank into the shadow of a large oak, still stepping carefully and scanning for movement, when the darkness to my left lurched, and something clamped around my neck—the buttoned cloak tightening on my throat. I was yanked bodily off my feet and the world tilted. I sucked in a breath to scream, but a thick, calloused hand clapped over my mouth and hot breath rushed against my cheek.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” His tone was chilling. Deadly.

Alarm shrieked in my head. I opened my mouth, but his palm only pressed harder against my lips and muffled any possibility of communication.

‘Fear not.’