Warwolfe (de Wolfe Pack Book 0)(61)

She missed, very much, what she would no longer know.

Therefore, Ghislaine was resigned to this journey, so quiet and so lonely even though she was surrounded by men. He heart felt like a rock, heavy and weighty, cold and crumbling. Once, Gaetan had breathed a little bit of life into it but that momentary light had been fleeting. Thoughts of him and the sight of him, still made her heart flutter but it was like the death throes of a dying beast.

Quiver, quiver…

Quiver….

Like anything else that wasn’t nurtured or fed, soon enough, her heart would flutter no more.

Therefore, she distracted herself as they moved along, pretending to study the land when her mind teetered on the edge of self-pity. More and more, however, her focus on the land surrounding them was occupying her time because they were entering an area known for its strange people and dark customs. Even if Gaetan didn’t want to speak to her, it was time she speak to him because they were entering an area he needed to know something about and she didn’t want to be blamed again for withholding information.

Coming off of a slight rise with a vast valley spread out below in the distance, they were quickly approaching the shadowlands.

“Jathan,” she turned to the priest. “I must speak with Gaetan. It is important. Would you ask permission?”

The priest, who had riding next to her quietly for the past few days, nodded his head and kicked the sides of his shaggy horse, forcing the animal to move faster than it wanted to. He made his way up to Gaetan at the front and Ghislaine could see the priest speaking to Gaetan and pointing back to Ghislaine. Gaetan didn’t respond, or at least she didn’t see him respond, until several moments later when Jathan finally came back to her and invited her forward. Digging her heels into the sides of her shaggy mare, she cantered forward until she came to Gaetan.

He was riding tall and proud astride his big war beast as Ghislaine came up to ride beside him, but he didn’t look at her. He kept his eyes on the road ahead.

“What is so important that you must speak with me?” he asked.

His voice sounded so unkind. Ghislaine’s heart sank and she sighed heavily, unsure how much of his coldness she could take. Her disappointment and sadness in his treatment of her was starting to turn into something else.

Resentment wasn’t far off.

“I thought you should know that we are entering the realm of the shadowlands,” she said, her manner as unfriendly as his was. “The people who live here are secretive and dark, and have been known to eat their enemies. Although there are a few abbeys here, the church has not been able to change their ways. In fact, several years ago, we heard that they ate the priests who had tried to convert them to Christ. An old name for them is the Cilternsaetan, but before that, it was something worse. They were known as caro comdenti.”

Gaetan turned to look at her, translating the Latin. “Flesh eater?”

Ghislaine nodded, meeting his gaze briefly before looking away. “I told you there was danger on this road.”

Gaetan was looking at her even when she looked away. It was a stolen look as far as he was concerned, a moment in which he could look at that angelic face and have a reason to do so. He’d spent the past two days struggling with what he was feeling for her, trying to tell himself that she was disloyal to him, an untrustworthy enemy, but what his mind told him and what his heart yearned for were two different things.

He didn’t want to talk to her. He didn’t want to look at her. He’d kept himself well away from her, and she’d kept herself away from him as well. He was content. Not happy, but content. But now, here she was, and in looking at her he realized just how much he’d missed her. Something about this woman was growing on him, inside him, just like a parasite, and he couldn’t shake her no matter how hard he tried.

In fact, he was thinking more about missing her than the words she was speaking, so it took him a moment to shake off his daydreams to realize she was telling him something quite serious. He reined his horse to a stop and the entire group came to a halt behind him, but Gaetan motioned for the group to come near and they closed in around them. He gestured at Ghislaine.

“The lady has told me something about the people in this area,” he said. “The ancient name for them is caro comdenti. It seems that when she warned us of danger along this road, it includes a people who eat the flesh of their enemies.”

Everyone, especially Jathan, began looking around them with some concern. They were in a light collection of trees to the east while off to the northwest was an expanse of flat, open grass as far as the eye could see. In fact, the entire area was flat and a mighty river ran off to the west; he could see the glistening of the water now and again.

But the land looked empty of people and oddly empty of animals or birds. In fact, all was quite still, which was troubling. It was easy to get an uneasy feeling about it, especially now with what the lady had told Gaetan.

“Has Edwin had any run-ins with these people?” Téo asked. “We are in Mercia, after all. These are his lands.”

Ghislaine shook her head. “Edwin’s seat of Tamworth Castle is to the north in an area of more civilized people. He does not spend much time in this area if he can help it. Some say these lands are cursed.”

“But you suggested this road,” Gaetan pointed out. “If you knew this area was so terribly dangerous, why did you suggest it?”