A Kingdom of Stars and Shadows

My heart raced harder the closer he got to me. “I don’t know.”

He wrapped his hand into my hair and angled my head until I had no choice but to look up at him. “Did you want me to tell him that I am more than willing to betray my family for you? That I’ll give it all up for the girl who’s supposed to be my brother’s future?”

I swallowed hard as I stared at him. His gaze dropped to my mouth before he leaned forward and ran his nose along my jaw. I could feel his breath rushing out against my neck, and I melted against him.

“I could tell him those things, but he would never stop. He would hunt us down to the edges of the world to get you back.”

“Gavril doesn’t care about me.”

“No.” He shook his head against me. “But he cares about your power, and nothing else is more important to him. Nothing is more important to the queen. They would rather kill you than let me have you.”

I bit down on my lip as I thought of what he was saying, and I knew that he was right. I shuddered. They would never stop. I didn’t want to think about what they would do when they found me. When they found us.

“Let’s get some rest.” Evren pulled away from me slowly, and I hated the way he avoided my gaze as he did so. “I’ll take first watch,” he called out to Jorah. “Both of you get some rest.”

He left me standing there as he went back to his horse and led him to the water. I quickly reached for the bedroll he left and unrolled it before slipping inside. Jorah moved near me, stacking wood for a small fire, and I clamped my eyes closed so he couldn’t see the hurt and fear that lay there.

I listened to the sounds he made as he lit the fire and then laid his bedroll on the opposite side of the flames from mine. I shivered as I wrapped my arms around myself despite the warmth from the fire.

“Is she all right?” The sound of Jorah’s voice startled me some moments later, but I kept myself perfectly still as I listened.

“I don’t know.” Evren sounded much closer than before. “She’s not going to go back, Jorah. She’ll run again before she does so.”

“Then what’s your plan?” Jorah hesitated for a long moment. “Do we tell her?”

They were silent for so long after his question that I almost drifted to sleep. “Not yet. I fear what she’ll do when she finds out. I fear she may already know.”

Know what? I could still hear their muffled voices, but the pull of sleep was too much to fight.

I fell asleep to thoughts of what he said running over and over in my mind. They haunted me until my dreams became worse. Thoughts of what would happen when we finally arrived preyed upon me in my sleep, and I awoke with a gasp as Gavril’s mouth pressed against my new mark and my wrist burned as if I had been scorched.

I shot up in my bedroll and jerked my wrist into my chest. It had felt like I had only been asleep for a few moments, but the darkness had fallen over us and the only light left was that of the fire and the twin moons in the sky.

“Are you all right?” Evren stepped out of the trees at my side, and I jumped.

“Yes.” I nodded even though I couldn’t seem to drop my wrist. I looked toward Jorah, and his chest rose and fell peacefully where he lay on top of his bedroll.

“Are you sure?” Evren squatted down beside me, and I allowed myself to look up at him.

“I just had a bad dream.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.” I shook my head. I didn’t want to talk about it or think about it.

“Okay.” He reached forward and took my hand in his before he lifted it to his mouth. He kept his eyes on me as he pressed his lips to my inner wrist just along my mark. “Try to get some more sleep. We only have a few more hours before we travel again.”

“Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

Evren grinned at my concern. “Jorah needs the rest. I feel…” He hesitated as he searched my face. “I feel strong.”

“Because you fed from me?”

“I believe so, yes.” He nodded. “I haven’t tired like I normally would.”

“You still need rest.” I pulled my arm back toward me, and he reluctantly dropped it. “I could keep watch for a while.”

He chuckled softly. “Are you going to protect us if we’re attacked?”