Page 96 of Obsidian Throne
Sincerely, though, I appreciate what you tried to do, even if your methods leave much to be desired. Stay safe.
And don’t come after me.
I didn’t sign the note, conscious that someone else might see it. Placing it on my pillow, I eased my way out of the room and stepped over the guard who was in a drugged sleep against the wall near my door.
That had been the trickiest part of my plan, making sure the other two didn’t discover him, but I had guessed correctly that they would try to get all the rest they could for their own shifts.
I put up the hood of my black, fur-lined cloak to make my way downstairs and out to the stables. It was the same stableboy on duty as earlier.
I gave him my most innocent smile, my heart racing a thousand miles each second.
“My lord asked me to take the clydesdale out,” I said softly, handing him a coin.
The boy looked from it to me as if considering what he should do. I pulled one more coin out of my purse and slid it in front of him to sweeten the deal. If he didn’t cooperate, that would be a problem, one I really couldn’t afford at the moment.
When his ice-blue eyes took in the copper and the silver piece in front of him, he nodded eagerly. Quickly pocketing the coins, he ran to fetch the horse without stopping to question why I needed it at midnight.
Fortunately, he saddled the large mare quickly, so I quickly hitched on my pack and then led her around to the side of the inn. I waited several stilting heartbeats before mounting her, making sure that the boy hadn’t decided to come back or send out a cry of alarm.
When it was safe, I urged the horse forward into the icy night air, a churning mix of emotions propelling me forward.
I would be damned if Evander had chosen to go to his death in this battle and leave me behind.
The thought made me spur the horse to go even faster, back in the direction we had come from and toward the band of Unclanned I had seen earlier.
Energy coursed through my veins, filling me with a stone-cold determination.
No matter how I had tried to avoid or deny it, there was no escaping what Evander and I had.
The kind of love you go to war for.
And that’s exactly what I intended to do.
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
EVANDER
Taras rushed out to meet me as soon as I rode up to the estate. I had sent a bird ahead about the attack, but not about…
“Where is your wife?” Panic crept into his tone.
I steeled my expression, shutting down the swell of guilt and the stabbing sense of loss that threatened to overtake me.
“I sent her back to Lochlann.”
His mouth dropped open, a rare display of emotion for him. “You what? And she just...went?”
I blinked, climbing down from my horse and walking him into the stables. “Not exactly.”
He ran a hand over his face and wariness crept into his gaze. “What happened?”
“I did what I had to do,” I said simply, handing the horse off to the stableboy before heading toward the castle. “Tell me about the preparations here,” I ordered before he could question me further.
My cousin nodded hesitantly, keeping pace with me. “We’re as prepared as we can be, but the forces just aren’t here.”
I thought back to the battle map and how woefully underprepared we were for this sort of betrayal.
“I know,” I admitted, running a hand through my hair. “But it should buy us a couple weeks.”