Page 7 of Tethered In Blood

When that wasn’t enough, I let my mind drift back to something more significant: Rhys Carrow, the rebellion, the mission ahead.His outpost was exposed in three places. To the east, through the tree line, if I went in alone. North was a more direct route, but riskier. To the west, where his men—

“Do you always patrol the castle at night?” Her voice interrupted my thoughts, rich like honey dissolving in hot tea. I didn’t respond, assuming she would pick up on it. “It must get lonely, all this quiet,” she pressed. “Or is that something you prefer?”

I kept walking with my gaze fixed ahead. My patience wore thinner by the second. She would stop eventually; she had to.

“I imagine this gives you plenty of time to think,” she continued. Her voice became lighter, amused by my silence. “That could be pleasant… Or maddening.”

Like you?

My jaw tightened, and my eye twitched as I fought the urge to snap.She was deliberate in this, wasn't she?A woman like her—a traveler, a commoner, someone who didn’t belong within these walls—had no right to sound so damned confident. She shouldn’t have sounded so at ease with the silence I wielded as a weapon.

When she continued her rambling, I exhaled in pure exasperation. “Do you ever stop talking?”

To my further annoyance, she laughed, seemingly unbothered. “Only when someone answers,” she mused. “It’s more fun that way.”

“Fun,” I muttered. “That’s what this is.”

“See? I knew you could make a joke.”

The adaneth was insufferable.

I halted and spun to face her. As expected, she walked straight into me. The impact was a faint thud against my chest. Her body was too small, too light to do more than falter. She stumbled back. Her hand flew to her nose, and she righted herself, rubbing the spot where she had collided with my armor.

I hoped that hurt as much as she had been irksome.

She blinked up at me. Her lips parted to speak, but she didn’t say a word. I savored the moment until that damned smile returned. She was too sure. Too bold. “Let me guess,” she said. Her tone was far too casual for someone who had just walked straight into me. “You’re about to tell me I talk too much?”

“No,” I insisted, leaving no room for jest as I leaned in, letting my words settle. “I’m about to tell you that I see right through you.”

Her smile deepened. “Well, aren’t you perceptive? I hope you like what you see.”

The audacity of her.

My muscles locked with the irritation curled low in my gut. She played a game that held no appeal to me. But the way she stood, the way she looked at me, made it impossible to ignore.

The moonlight filtered through the arched window behind me. Its fractured glow broke through the clouds, softening the hard edges of her face. The silver sheen made the planes of her cheeks and jawline otherworldly, which didn’t belong in these halls of detached stone and sharper intentions.

Yet it was her eyes that held me captive.

Amber. Rich. Firelight shone over polished gold. Warm but deceptive—capable of being soft or passionate depending on the light. They locked onto mine through the narrow slit of my helmet, wide and searching. She tried to read something in me I wasn’t willing to share.

My breath hitched. It was a faint lapse in control that infuriated me the moment it happened. My eyes narrowed, and my heart kicked against my ribs.

She had been too close. The scent of wildflowers and elduvaris clung to her, carrying the night’s lingering chill. Now that she was within arm’s reach, the imperfections that distance had dulled became painfully clear. The faint dusting of freckles across her nose and cheeks reflected time spent in the sun, the wind, and the world outside these walls. She stood, wearing defiance as effortlessly as she did that oversized cloak. Her skin flushed a delicate pink that crept up her throat, spread over her cheeks, and bloomed beneath the pale light.

Was it the proximity? Embarrassment? Something else?

The thought had been irrational in its persistence, like a burr caught in fabric—slight but impossible to shake. My chest constricted, and my breathing threatened to slip from its steady rhythm. I took a slow, deep breath, as if that would prevent whatever this feeling was from taking root.

Her mouth parted as if she intended to speak, but no words came. The stillness between us stretched taut. Heat raced up my spine and twisted at the base of my skull, making the limits of my self-control fray at the seams. My leather gloves creaked from the force of my fists clenching at my sides.

No.

I gritted my teeth and buried the feeling deep inside.It meant nothing. She was insignificant.

Yet I stood, trapped in a moment that shouldn’t have existed. The blush on her cheeks deepened as her gaze dropped to the ground. I huffed. The pressure in my chest eased just enough for me to regain control and push away the unsteady tug she had wedged beneath my skin. She was another distraction in a night I wanted to forget. Nothing more.

Her forced cheerfulness grated on me in a way I couldn’t identify or dismiss. It made me want to tear down whatever walls she had built and discover what lay beyond them.

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