The Great Hunt (Eurona Duology, #1)(43)

But it didn’t scare her enough to make her want to stay away from him. Not nearly enough.











Chapter


19


Lady Wyneth stood at the gates of the west commons, peering through at the quiet hunters milling about. Most of them appeared to be finishing their morning meals and heading toward the tents for rest. No sign of her cousin anywhere.

Wyneth turned and strode along the cobblestones back to the castle. She wondered where Aerity could be. She’d caught wind of the night’s events from two castle maids, and wondered if the princess had heard that Paxton Seabolt had been injured.

As the lady rounded the corner she heard low male voices and nearly crashed into several men.

“Whoa there!” Harrison took her by the forearms to steady her, chuckling. The other men walked around them, except Lord Alvi, who stopped.

“So sorry, Har—um, Lieutenant. I was looking for Aerity.”

“Haven’t seen her. We’ve just returned from scouting for signs of the beast. No luck.”

Wyneth nodded. She hoped with all her heart that Harrison would kill the thing to avenge Breckon and marry her cousin. She’d always wanted him and Aerity together . . . though the princess seemed to have taken an interest in the daring skirt raiser, Paxton. She supposed she couldn’t fault her, though Harrison would be the safer bet.

Harrison watched her with fondness in his light brown eyes. “I’d better go wash up.”

“Good to see you, Lieutenant,” she said.

Harrison began to leave her, but Lord Alvi remained. When Harrison stopped, the Ascomannian lord waved him on with a smile. “I’ll be along momentarily.” Harrison’s face hardened, and he made no move to exit. He looked to Wyneth, who felt unease at the awkwardness.

Wanting to defuse the tension, she said, “It’s fine, Lieutenant. I shall see you this afternoon.” He hesitated, looking displeased before he finally strode away.

“Walk with me?” Lord Alvi held out his elbow, and Wyneth took it, letting him lead her off the path and into a nearby grassy area with a smattering of trees. “How are you this morning, lady?”

His voice was as low as the deep blue sea. Wyneth swallowed hard. Something about this man was disarming. He made her incredibly nervous. His attention was flattering, but Wyneth did not take it to heart. They stopped behind a wide tree, and he turned to face her. His dominating presence was flustering.

“I’m well,” Wyneth said. Her eyes darted this way and that, attempting not to look into the cool arctic blue of his. “How goes the hunt?”

He peered out at the glistening ocean beyond. “The beast still eludes us in the day. They watched it enter the water, but we can’t find where it might’ve come back out.”

Wyneth’s clutched the gray fabric at her chest. “The beast took to the water?” Sudden fear gripped her like fingers of icicles, and she felt dizzy.

Lief moved closer, took both her elbows. “You look faint.”

“I’m all right,” she whispered. He slowly let her go.

She blinked, eyes burning. She hadn’t cried in two whole days. But hearing that the beast could swim—that it could have followed her into the creek that night . . .

Wyneth covered her mouth, breathing deeply through her nose as she closed her eyes. How easily she could have been killed. Just like Breckon.

Breckon.

Lady Wyneth was hardly aware as Lord Alvi led her farther into a shroud of evergreens, out of sight. He took her face in his hands and swiped the tears as they fell. His face was a mixture of confusion and alarm.

High seas, she was crying in front of a hunter. A stranger. A foreign lord.

“I—I’m sorry.” Wyneth stepped back, out of his grasp, and his bare arms fell to his sides. She had no idea why she felt the sudden urge to tell him everything. Perhaps his kindness. Perhaps to kill his interest in her. What man would find interest in a woman with a shattered heart?

“The beast killed my betrothed.” Her voice was thick. She wiped the last bit of moisture from her eyes and stood taller. “I saw it attack. We were together on the docks. I fled, swimming across the creek. I—I left him.”

Lief’s handsome face slackened. “That was you? You were engaged to the captain?”

No more tears. Wyneth tightened her jaw and nodded.

Understanding crossed his face. “So you’ve seen the beast?”

A flash of teeth and claws and blood flashed through Wyneth’s mind’s eye and she rocked back on her heels.

“Of course . . .” He moved toward her, and she stepped back, causing him to tilt his head to the side. “I can’t begin to imagine what you’ve been through.”

She swallowed. “Why didn’t it come for me in the water? It could have killed us both.”

There were times, especially during the first couple weeks, when she wished she were dead too. She thought death might have been better than to feel the heartache anew each morn when she woke. Breckon had been her life and her future. He’d been there as her mind-set changed from that of a girl to a woman, and he’d loved her every minute, patiently.

“There are many things we don’t understand about the beast and its motives,” Lief said quietly. “But the fates kept you alive for a reason. You have a life to live still, Lady Wyneth.”