So I Married a Sorcerer (The Embraced #2)(108)

They ate and drank as they walked the horses through the woods. Luckily, the wind seemed to have died down. They fed two more apples to the horses.

“How is Fallyn doing?” Stefan asked.

“Very well,” Brigitta replied. “Do you think Rupert will actually kill a dragon?”

Stefan shook his head. “I don’t know. It’s not like him to kill for no good reason. I’m sure he couldn’t care less about avenging your brother.”

She thought back to how Gunther had referred to his need for revenge. Had that inflamed Rupert’s own yearning for revenge? “Rupert caused the storm, didn’t he?”

Stefan nodded. “If he gets upset, his emotions can create some powerful winds. But I believe today’s storm was intentional, so he could escape without being ambushed.”

“So there have been times when it wasn’t intentional?”

Stefan winced. “One time, the Tourinian navy sneaked up on us in the fog during the night. We could have lost all our men and ships. Rupert was so frantic to save their lives that he unleashed too much power. The naval ships ended up blasting each other, and some men died.”

This must have been the incident Lieutenant Helgar had talked about, Brigitta thought. The Tourinian naval officer had ended up scarred for life.

“We tried to save as many as we could,” Stefan continued. “Some of them joined us, but the officers demanded to be put ashore.” He shrugged. “And then there was the time in Danport when…”

“What happened?”

Stefan snorted. “When Rupert found out about Gunther’s competition, he nearly caused a tornado inside a room.”

Her mouth twitched. “Really?”

Stefan chuckled. “After that, Ansel and I kept hounding him to admit that he cared about you. But he wouldn’t.”

Her smile faded. He’d never confessed to her, either, even though she’d told him that she loved him. “I suppose it’s hard for him to admit.”

Stefan nodded. “He’s lost everyone he loved. And then for years, I kept telling him the same thing—don’t trust anyone. So it’s not easy for him to trust.”

“Especially when my father killed his father,” she muttered.

Stefan gave her a wry look. “There’s that, but I don’t think he ever blamed you for it.”

No, he just wanted to kill Gunther. After he killed a dragon. She groaned inwardly. There had to be a better way.

Every now and then, they checked on Mador’s and Tarvis’s progress. The two horsemen weren’t too far ahead. They’d been forced to slow down when the path in the valley began meandering between piles of white ash and bubbling cauldrons of mud. Every now and then, a breeze would bring the stench of rotten eggs to Brigitta, but for the most part the forest smelled of fresh pine and rich earth.

After a while, a small grassy clearing opened up on the hillside. A small waterfall trickled down the mountain, snowmelt from the white-covered peak.

“Oh, how lovely.” Brigitta sauntered onto the meadow, dotted with wildflowers. This was heaven compared with the hellish scene of hot cauldrons and geysers in the valley.

Without a canopy of leaves overhead, she could see the sky. An eagle flew overhead, and she waved in case it was Brody.

It was! He landed by the edge of the meadow where Stefan was standing by the horses. Stefan pulled some clothes from a saddlebag.

“Oh.” Brigitta backed away. “I’ll leave you alone for a moment.” She hurried across the clearing so she could relieve herself behind some bushes.

After she was done and she could hear two male voices, she ventured back into the meadow.

Brody waved at her, then finished buttoning his shirt.

A screech sounded overhead, drawing her attention. The dragon was circling. It screeched again. Was it trying to communicate? She gave it a big smile and wave.

“Did you find Rupert?” she asked Brody as she leaned over the stream to wash her hands.

“Yes,” Brody replied. “He’s close to the canyon at—”

A huge roar sounded behind Brigitta, and she straightened with a jerk.

Stefan held up a hand. “Don’t move.”

Her heart lurched. What was behind her?

Stefan quickly nocked an arrow in his bow, and Brody palmed a spear. She slowly turned her head.

A bear! With a huge jaw and enormous claws. It stood on its hind legs and growled.

Panic slithered ice-cold down her veins.

“Don’t run,” Stefan ordered. “Hold steady.”

Tears filled her eyes. Was she going to die?

Suddenly a burst of fire shot down from the sky, hitting the ground hard enough that it trembled beneath Brigitta’s feet. With a gasp, she fell to her knees.

A wall of fire rose up between her and the bear. Close enough to the bear that she could barely make out his form through the flames. With an angry roar, the bear turned and charged up the mountain.

Stefan and Brody ran toward her to make sure she was all right, but she hardly heard them. Stunned, she sat back on her rump. The green meadow swirled before her eyes, and she peered up at the sky. The fire-breathing dragon screeched. She lifted a hand toward him. Thank you.

Stefan and Brody quickly emptied saddlebags and filled them with water from the waterfall. Soon they had managed to extinguish the fire.