Reign of Ice (Forever Fae #4)(6)

How the hell am I going to defeat him when it depended on me bonding to a complete *?

Slowly, I backed away from the door, hoping they couldn’t hear my steps, and ran as fast as I could toward the stables to fetch Lennox, my white stallion. I couldn’t stay there a moment longer, not when I was being deceived and lied to by those I loved.

As my feet pounded against the sand, I could hear someone behind me, chasing me, but I didn’t slow down. I pushed harder but it didn’t matter because a set of strong hands caught my arms in an instant and whirled me around. I was not expecting it to be the man it was, the one who hadn’t cared to acknowledge me from the very beginning.

My breath came out raspy from running, but I immediately pulled out of his grasp and glared at him. “What do you want?” I hissed.

He clenched his jaw and sighed. If I was reading his gaze correctly he almost looked worried for me, but that definitely couldn’t be right … right?

“I saw you run out of the palace and I wanted to make sure you were all right. Are you leaving?” he asked.

I snorted and rolled my eyes incredulously. “Yes, I am. So if you’ll excuse me I need to saddle my horse and get the hell out of here.” I turned to walk away, making sure to keep my chin in the air with dignity after being humiliated by him on numerous occasions. I groaned when I looked over and noticed he was keeping his pace beside me.

“I’ll accompany you,” he insisted. “It’s the least I can do.”

I didn’t know what came over me, but I burst out laughing. I whirled on him and placed my hands on my hips, narrowing my eyes at him. “The least you can do?” I muttered sardonically. “I’m sorry, Prince Brayden, but the least you can do is leave me alone. I think you’ve done enough. I hate that talking to me is such an inconvenience to you.”

Brayden closed his eyes and lowered his head. He ran his hands over his face and groaned before lifting his chocolate brown gaze to mine. “Talking to you is not an inconvenience, Princess. You need to understand that this is all new to me. Your ways are very different from mine.”

That was definitely true, I thought to myself.

“That may be the case,” I snapped, “but it doesn’t give you the right to be an ass to me. You humiliated me in front of everyone in the Spring Court, and today you refused to talk to me or even look at me. I stayed with you day and night when you were injured because I wanted to. You fascinated me, and I thought there was more to you than what you let on, but I was wrong.”

Even saying those words felt wrong. My heart was warring with me to take them back, but I couldn’t. When Brayden tried to reach for my hand, I backed away and swallowed hard, shaking my head against the tears that stung behind my eyes. You cannot fall, I repeated over and over in my mind. I did not want to cry in front of him or show him any weakness whatsoever.

My gaze never faltering, I looked straight at him and said, “We’ll figure out another way to save our land. There has to be another way. I may be young, but I’m not going to put up with your bullshit, even if we are destined to be together.”

His mouth flew open and he looked at a loss for words. It didn’t matter anyway because we were interrupted by someone hollering my name. “Ariella,” a voice called out. Kamden approached me warily while furrowing a questioning brow. “Are you okay?”

Averting my gaze from Brayden, I nodded at Kamden and smiled. “Everything will be fine as soon as I get home.”

Entering the stables, they both followed me in. I found Lennox, my white stallion, bucking against the stall and whinnying. “Shh … calm down boy, I’m okay. We’re going home,” I cooed, running my fingers through his mane.

He could feel my distress as I secured my saddle onto his back while Brayden stood off to the side and watched. With the reins in my hand, I pulled Lennox out of the stall and waited on Kamden.

Hitching up his own saddle, Kamden secured it down and came to my side. “I’ll make sure you get there safely. I don’t want you going alone.”

Brayden scoffed and had the gall to look offended. “That won’t be necessary, warrior. I’ll accompany her home.”

“Like hell you will,” I argued, climbing onto Lennox’s back. “Trust me, Prince Brayden, the last place you want to be right now is around me. I’m too angry, and when I’m angry I want to hit things. You need to stay out of my way.”

“She’s right,” Kamden admitted. “I’ve trained with her.”

Brayden’s lip tilted up in a slight smirk and his eyes glinted with humor, almost mockingly. He didn’t even acknowledge Kamden but kept his gaze on me the entire time. “In a way, I want to call your bluff, Princess. I do like a good challenge and a fierce female is something I have longed to behold. I’ll grant your wish and stay out of your way … this time. However, next time you’re going to face me.”

Curling my lip, I glared down at him and said, “And I’ll be ready, although, I don’t think you will be.”

I nodded toward Kamden and he sped out of the stables onto the white sand and stopped, waiting for me to follow. Brayden stepped out of the way so I could have a clear path, but before I could speed past him he placed his hand on my knee, halting me. My heart jumped at his touch and I couldn’t deny that it actually felt right.