Page 56 of Faeling
Honestly, his little hellion would fit right into a herd of onagers, come to think of it.
“And visiting your friends was important enough to defy me and risk your neck?”
“Well, I have sugar cubes for them, you see. Their favorite. I also haven’t visited in a while, since yourloyallord commander decided I needed to be watched.”
Ulrich was right in that—but watched for an entirely different reason.
Letting loose the longest, most exasperated sigh of his life, Vallek lifted his arms. “Come down now and we’ll discuss this further.”
He very much didn’t like the way she squinted at him, assessing. “I’m not sure I should.” Her gaze lifted to the top of the wall, only to find several curious faces peering down at them.
“Either you come down to me or I come up to you. Which will it be?”
Muttering unladylike curses under her breath, she chose the more dignified route of coming down to him. He watched anxiously as she descended, deliberately picking the safest footholds. Vallek wouldn’t have been surprised if she was stalling for time, going as slowly as possible, but he didn’t mind.More than anything, he needed her safe.
Better yet, safe and in his arms.
He got his desire the moment her legs were within reach. Grabbing hold of her calves, he said, “Now let go.”
There was a moment’s hesitation, Ravenna looking down to check the distance, before she huffed and pulled her hooks out of the wall. Falling backwards, she landed with anoomphin his arms.
From the wall above, the handful of guards watching on clapped and cheered.
Vallek bit back his grin. “Back to your posts!”
Deftly snagging her little hooks, he pocketed them as he held her aloft in one arm.
“You can put me down now.”
“Oh, no,” he laughed merrily and perhaps a bit madly. “I won’t be doing that.”
Her eyes went wide in that false human face when she realized—with one swift toss, he threw her over his shoulder.
“I can walk,” she grumbled as he began to jog for the nearest gate.
“Yes, but your legs are small and this is faster.” And he wasn’t sure he trusted her to her own devices. Not yet. Not until he had her somewhere safe and secure that smelled of them both.
Guards at the southern gate greeted him, already anticipating his need for discretion. One female warrior held open the door to the gatehouse for him, and with a nod of thanks, Vallek slipped inside.
Up through the gatehouse they went, catching an inner rampart. They climbed and climbed, taking a roundabout, quietpath up to the citadel. Although it spared having to carry her through the city, he’d no doubt news of this incident would spread like wildfire. Guards were notorious gossips, and the night’s entertainment in all the alehouses and pubs would likely be how their king plucked his human soothsayer off the curtain wall. Still, the fewer who actually saw her with their own eyes for now, the better.
Not just because he had an undoubtedly impatient Hrothgar still waiting for an answer.
His mate was as yet unclaimed. The bond not fully formed. Until it was, he would guard her jealously, even the sight of her. Even after the bond was set, he might never want any other to look upon her.
As he carried his feisty faeling mate through the city defenses, he thought he understood why the dragons hoarded their mates away. Covetous to the point of violence, dragons were known to disappear into their caves for years, not reemerging until a strong bond had been formed. Orc-kin too had once spirited away their mates, hiding them from jealous eyes until the bond took root. Such practices were considered old-fashioned, even overbearing by modern orcish sensibilities. However, with his mate’s slight weight upon his shoulder, her lithe hands alternatively trying to untie Hormhím from his belt and digging into his sides to, he assumed, find where he was ticklish, he could understand the strategy and the jealousy.
With his deep knowledge of his city, Vallek managed to get them inside the citadel without being spotted by more than a few guards. The warren of passages, corridors, ramparts, and stairwells all eventually led him into the servants’ quarters below his own. It was perhaps another weak point in security to discuss with Mattias.
Vallek nodded to the workers he surprised, keeping up hisquick pace. They watched him pass with rounded eyes, although he spotted Brynhíl hiding a laugh behind her hand.
“My king,” she greeted.
“Bryn. Please have an early dinner sent up.”
At the orcess’s name, two hands splayed on his back, and Ravenna pushed up so she could see. “Bryn! Please find Captain Asta and tell her not to worry about the laundry.”
Vallek sighed. Code if he ever heard it. What were she and his younger sister up to? Leave it to Asta to help his defiant mate…well, defy him.
