Page 62 of A Lick of Flame

He doesn’t say anything. He looks deep in thought.

“And?” I press.

“And what?”

“Did Marybelle have a boy or a girl?”

Bard smiles. “After four sons, Kakara blessed us with a girl.”

I smile, too. I can’t help it.

“Marybelle must be so happy.”

He nods. “Aye, she is.” He smiles, his whole face lighting up with thoughts of his wife and home. Bard is a good man. He’s hard, but good. I’ve always admired him.

“All I ask is that you let Maya go. She’s caught up in all of this, and she shouldn’t be.”

“We called her Daniella after her Uncle Dante.” He narrows his eyes on me, not responding to my request. “Only to find out that Dante never existed.” He grits his teeth, his jaw tightening.

“I didn’t know. Snow cast a spell on me, making me forget my true identity. The spell was only recently broken. I wasn’t tricking you or lying to you…I swear it, Bard. It was her. My sole purpose is to find the other Lost Kings and to right all the wrongs. To make the realm a safe place for all. Humans and fae alike.”

The shouts are dying down. The fire is now contained, with the men working hard to put it out. It won’t be long.

Bard lets go of Maya. “You’d better get going, then. I will tell the others you escaped, which means that we will come after you.”

“You’re letting me go too?” My mouth drops open.

“I owe you one, Dan…Orion. Know that if we catch you, I won’t be able to help you.” His eyes are solemn, as is his vow.

Maya grabs her horse and mounts up. “We need to go.”

Bart hands me a sheathed sword, which I take.

“Thank you, old friend.”

“Don’t thank me…get going. Oh, and…” he says as I mount up, “don’t use your magic. Not for anything. It’s how she’s tracking you. Take heed; unless you didn’t notice, there is an enormous bounty on your head. We’re not the only ones trying to find you. You’ll need to ride hard. Don’t stop until you are in beastfae territory, and even then…trust no one. Ride like the wind. I will delay them as long as possible, but we will be on your heels in no time.”

“Understood.” Then we kick our horses and gallop into the night.

Maya

We ride hard. We ride until our horses are lathered with sweat and blowing hard. We ride until we are forced to slow down. My dress keeps falling from my one shoulder. I keep having to tug it up as best I can without tumbling from my animal. I’m grateful for the slip I have on underneath my dress, even though it doesn’t do a good job of covering my breasts as much as I would like. It’s thin and low-cut. It will have to do because we can’t stop. There is no time. There are various bands of men looking for us. Fae, too. It’s only when night is falling that we slow to a walk.

“Are you okay?” Orion asks me as I tug up my dress for the hundredth time since we set out. “Did he hurt you?” His voice is gruff.

“No, he pawed me and slobbered on me.” I make a face of disgust. “But I kicked over the lantern before it could escalate.”

His frown deepens. His eyes seem to darken, and he shakes his head.

“It got us out of there, didn’t it? What choice did I have?” I ask in a high-pitched voice. “Don’t you dare judge me.”

“I’m not blaming you or judging you. Hamlin is a prick…that’s all.”

“I don’t like him very much either.”

“Why did you go into the tent with him, then?” Orion asks in a voice that is almost too low to hear.

If I didn’t know any better, I would say that he is jealous.

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