Page 34 of A Blaze of Fire
“Hard,” I countered. “You’ll ride with me.”
I helped her onto my horse’s saddle and climbed on behind her. When I picked up the reins, she jerked and placed her hands on my wrists to steady herself.
“Um … this is an uncomfortable position,” she murmured.
“Get used to it,” I whispered in her ear, making her shiver.
I yanked on the reins and dug my heels into the horse’s flanks, motioning him forward. She nearly shrieked as we bolted into motion, galloping behind the rest of the group on our way out of the castle grounds and toward the road ahead.
We rode for several hours on the main trail, none of us speaking. Somehow Violet fell asleep in my arms, her head falling onto my shoulder. It was uncomfortable and difficult to keep her upright on the horse as we travelled, but she was warm in my arms. She smelled like sunshine, if that even had a scent. It brought a smile to my face, which confused me to no end.
When she murmured, “Ansel?” in her sleep, I was slapped back into reality.
I jerked my shoulder roughly, knocking her head off it and waking her up with a start, almost knocking her off the horse in the process.
“Oh my gosh!” she shrieked as she grabbed the pommel.
“Rise and shine, sleeping beauty.” I squeezed my knees to make the horse go faster.
She grabbed my wrists and tried to keep herself upright with great difficulty. “Slow down, Alec!”
“Nope,” I answered. “We’re behind, we need to catch up.” And we were. I’d been trotting behind the group to let her sleep. Not anymore.
“How far are we?” When she shifted on the saddle to get more comfortable, her behind rubbed against me, making me freeze in place. “Alec?” she called out when I didn’t answer.
I cleared my throat, shaking my head and adjusting myself. “We’re a few minutes away from the first town.”
* * *
When we enteredthe town of Dragontail, everyone made way for us. With the arrival of Kazimir, they knew what we were there to do. What little money and belongings they had belonged to the Unseelie King, and it was time to pay up.
The houses were simple huts made of bamboo and straw, the muddy roads were almost impassable, and the people were thin, starving. I grimaced as I looked around at the rundown town and its people. I hated accompanying Kazimir during tax collection week. I never had the stomach for it, but I had to pretend I did.
“Alec,” Violet murmured as she leaned back against me. “Why …?” But she couldn’t even finish her sentence as she took in the scenery.
“Just keep quiet and follow directions,” I whispered. “It’ll go by quicker if you do.”
She tensed beneath me. “I don’t understand.”
“You’re going to see a lot of things you don’t like, but you’re just going to have to get over it,” I said harshly.
We arrived at the village’s center, where the Town Hall building was little better than the rest of the hovels that surrounded it and started to set up camp. I helped Violet off the horse and she stretched, her muscles cramped from riding so long. She peered around uncertainly at the rest of the town.
“Not what you were expecting, huh,Lady Violet?” Kazimir said sarcastically.
She whirled around on him, her eyes full of fire. “Why are you taking from them when youshouldbe giving them food and money instead? They obviously need it more than the King in his fancy castle!”
“Watch it,” I muttered as I tugged her toward me. “Easy what you say about the King.”
She trembled head to toe in righteous anger. I wanted to soothe her, but from experience, I knew it was no use. There was no helping these people. The King would get what he deemed was rightfully his.
“Rook?” I called out to the guard, who stood idly by. “Can you grab a basket and take Lady Violet inside the hall to eat? I’m sure she’s hungry.”
Rook nodded and bowed slightly. A fae of few words, the solider did as he was told, dragging a reluctant Violet inside the Town Hall to eat. Once she was gone, the rest could do what they came to do without Vi getting in their way.
“That was slick, boy,” Kazimir said. “But you won’t be able to do that in every town we’re in. Eventually she’s going to see how it’s done.”
“She’s still mainly human,” I argued. “She won’t understand.”
