Page 44 of Frost Bound

“Is she alright?” the princess called, slogging through the mud, her cloak covered in sand and muck.

Neve turned to her, fuming. He marched through the slop and the sleet. Towering over her, he pointed to the dimedon.

“This is what your people do,” he spat in the common tongue. “This is your legacy.”

She shook, staring up at his face in surprise, the little sprinkles across her nose standing out against her complexion. “Excuse me?”

He crowded into her space. “That animal wassentto find us. It was no accident.”

Thevallesblanched, all color draining from her face. “That’s not possible.”

His upper lip curled and he snarled at the princess. She yelped and tried to take a step away, but he seized her upper arms, yanking her against his body and lifting her slightly. “You can’t be so naïve. It isbranded. That creature is trained by scent. It had Flyka’s and yours. What do you think that means,princess? Would your family sacrifice you so easily? Do you have so little worth? What are you hiding?”

A fire lit in her strange gaze as she glared up at him. “And what of you? Is this little charade to get rid of the princess of Astera? By my accounts, we’re close to the border.”

“And what would you know of my kingdom?” He leaned into her face. “You know what I think?”

“What?” she spat, bottom lip trembling.

“That you’re not so innocent after all.”

She laughed right in his face. “And you are?”

He seethed, his fingers flexing on her biceps. His nose twitched when a tantalizing scent of ginger and amber and sugar teased him. Neve’s mouth watered. He inhaled deeply, pressing a little closer to the princess.

It was her.

His enemy.

His little humanloviaye.

He’d scented her like she was his proper mate.

Neve dropped her like he’d been burned. His hands shook as he backed away from the human. He pointed a trembling finger at her.

“Get back on your horse,” he commanded. “We leave now.”

The sleet didnothing to cool his heated skin or his temper. Every time he glanced in thevalles’direction, he became angrier.

How could she have been so reckless? What was she thinking when she charged that dimedon?

Neve snorted.

Nothing, absolutely nothing.

Rage burned in his gut when he caught Flyka wincing and pressing a hand against her wound. He frowned at the silvery blood that dripped down her trousers.

They would pay.

Whoever had attacked them would wish they were never born. No one hurt one of his people without seeing the consequences of their actions.

“Lae reillov?” Olwen called.

Neve squinted at his friend through the sleet. “What?”

“I can smell the weather turning for the worse. We need to stop and find shelter now.”

“We’re almost to the safe house. Just a few more miles. We need to get over the border.”

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