Ever the Brave (A Clash of Kingdoms Novel)(84)

“How do you know these things, hunter? Did she tell you?”

While I might tell Aodren’s secret, I won’t tell Britta’s. And I know the captain won’t either, because he promised. “A woman named Enat told me about the Spiriter who put the king under a Channeler bind. I later discovered it was Phelia.”

Murmurs move through the women. They’ve heard of Enat.

“If she is indeed part of the group taking our young, then she’ll be dealt with by the Guild,” Seeva says, dismissing the conversation. “For now, you must swear an oath to us. As agreed, we’ve saved your captain and spared your lives. But when we move forward to overturn the Purge Proclamation, we want your support.

“Do you swear an oath?” Seeva takes in each of us. The wind cries through the home’s cracks. A flurry of snow batters the window.

Omar is the first to speak. “We do.”

“We do,” I repeat. I think of Britta in that moment, and what this may mean for her. The last thing I want is to draw more negative attention in her direction. But I hope like hell she can see I’m doing this to bridge the gap between our two worlds.





Chapter

39


Britta


DAWN REVEALS THE IMPACT OF THE STORM. A few fingers of snow rest over the forest. Not only will it be harder to find Cohen’s tracks; it’ll also be easier for someone to follow us. Without a bow and with an injured arm, I’m down to protecting us with just my dagger and my less accurate left arm.

I don’t want to consider what this might mean for us. My focus needs to remain on our survival.

We eat some dried venison and nuts, and get dressed. Aodren’s movements are stilted. I watch him fumble with his tunic, noting the tremor in his hands and the accompanying grimace. I offer to heal him, but Aodren resists.

“You cannot risk aiding me when you’re injured,” he says.

I let my suggestion drop because there’s no time for me to rest and recoup my energy, and there’s no telling what dangers we may face today. However, guilt pricks at my resolution when Aodren stands, walks stiffly toward Gale, and fails at lifting his foot into the stirrup. He tries to stifle a groan.

I need to find him somewhere warm to sleep tonight so he can heal from the winter exposure.

We ride Gale south as more clouds roll in overhead. Aodren sits behind me, holding on to my waist as best he can with numb hands.

For the first part of our journey, neither of us talks. It’s so much harder to converse with him this morning. I don’t know if it’s our connection stealing all my words, or the fact that we’re alone, or that I’ve seen him unclothed. Seeds, memories of last night burn my cheeks. The only man I thought I’d ever see unclothed was Cohen. But I cannot unsee Aodren, and every time I twist around to say something to him, my foolish blush is our constant companion.

Survival, I tell myself. Aodren wouldn’t have made it through the night.

When Aodren asks me about my childhood, I latch on to the distraction. I talk about Papa, Cohen, training to hunt, and growing up in Brentyn. I tell him about the time Cohen and I got into a scuffle with some boys over a bag of apples. “There’s a tree half on Papa’s property and half on royal lands. As we picked Papa’s apples, I got it in my head that the ones on the other side of the tree were better. So I picked some, but a couple of boys from town saw me. They told me if I didn’t give them all the apples, they’d turn me into the guard.”

“And did you?”

I move my head side to side. “No, but I gave one a black eye. Cohen told the other kid that if they said a word about the fruit or me, we’d come after them that night.”

He laughs. “Ah, so you were brazen and friends with a bully.”

“Cohen isn’t a bully—he’s just . . . protective.” A warm smile spreads across my face. He was definitely an intimidator when needed. Which is why he makes such a great bounty hunter. It’s also why he made such a good friend. I always felt safe. Cherished.

Aodren seems to mull over what I’ve said, pausing long enough that it almost tips into awkward silence. “You’ve been friends a long time.”

“I cannot imagine what my life would’ve been like without him.” All the guilt I’ve been holding at bay comes back full force. If I could do things over, I would. I’d be honest with Cohen about my bond to Aodren. I hate that I kept it a secret at all. It’s such a silly thing to keep hidden from the man I love. I’d have more faith in our relationship instead of allowing my insecurities to guide my decisions.

“I’m glad he’s there for you.” His words register with conflicting temperatures. Truth and lie. “True friends are the one commodity unavailable to royalty.”

“What do you mean?” I twist to look at him.

“I had Jamis as my regent—but as you can see, the man’s a cunning snake. And I had Omar, who is as warm and kind as he is now.”

“What about the nobles? Weren’t you friends with any of them?”

Gale steps over a fallen log, jostling us. My arm twinges, but it’s not as awful as it was yesterday. Enat told me that Spiriters heal faster than other people because we naturally absorb energy from the world around us. I hope that’s the case. I need my shooting arm to heal.