Page 69 of The Poison Daughter
I want to slap him back, but his antics have caught everyone’s attention, and Kellan’s warning is fresh in my mind.
Bryce winks at me from atop his mount. Carter is grinning beside him on a giant black gelding.
Henry boosts me onto his gelding and climbs up behind me.
The leather creaks below me as I try to shift away from him, but he wraps a hand around my waist and pulls me back against his body.
“It’ll be an easier ride if you just relax,” he says, his breath ghosting over my ear. “Besides, the last time you were pressed against me, you seemed to like it just fine.”
“Asshole,” I grumble.
He chuckles as he raises a hand to signal the gatekeeper.
The gears grind and the large metal gate swings outward. The second they’re open, Carter and Bryce lead the group into the wild.
For most of my life, I have seen the Drained Wood through windows, in misty glimpses from the top of the wall, or through the slats of the gates that lead to the outside world. Now I’m going to venture into it.
The moment I cross over the threshold into the rest of the world feels like the first moment I’ve ever drawn a full breath. The scent of moss and damp, leafy pulp mixed with fresh pines mingles into a welcoming aroma.
I don’t understand what’s happening to me. I draw in gasping breaths. My chest has unclenched for what feels like the first time in my life, and my eyes burn with tears.
I was not expecting such a visceral reaction. I squeeze my eyes closed, praying to the Divine that Henry won’t notice.
“Take it easy, lovely. You’ll be back soon,” he murmurs, his voice low so that no one else will hear.
I try to master myself, but the dam has burst and humiliating tears stream down my face. I draw in another deep breath, and it’s as if the air is moving everything that’s been trapped in my body out all at once.
“I’m not upset,” I manage.
“Could have fooled me,” he says, slowing our horse and handing me a handkerchief.
“I’m not upset about leaving,” I say.
I don’t know how to express what I am. It feels something like relief. Like I’m finally out of my family’s control, even if I’m still doing their bidding.
“We can go faster now. I’m fine,” I whisper, conscious of the people riding with us and the Drained that could be lurking somewhere within the hollows of the forest.
I have no intention of telling Henry how trapped I’ve felt or that this mission is the most freedom I’ve ever been granted. I’ve lived a lifetime under the weight of my family’s expectations—and the fear of not meeting them—and for the first time, they won’t have an easy way to keep tabs on me for weeks.
“We’ll go a little faster now and then slow down once we’re farther from the gates,” Henry says softly. “I’m sorry you’re upset.”
“I’m not upset. I think I’m relieved.” The admission slips out.
Henry’s body tenses behind me for a moment, the horse slowing a bit more as if sensing his surprise, but then he relaxes and we speed up again.
I wish we could go slower. The trees whip by and I can’t drink it all in fast enough. There aren’t flowers with it being so close to winter, but I bet it’s gorgeous in the summer, green and lush and full of colors I’ve never seen.
“There tend to be more of them gathered by the city gates.” Henry’s voice is barely audible above the wind and the pounding of horse hooves. “We’ll slow down by mid-morning.”
When he said that the canopy is thick enough that the Drained lurk in the shadows, I’d assumed he only said it to inspire my cooperation, but the speed we’re traveling at and the wary glances of our traveling party suggest otherwise.
The morning is a blur of greens and browns and wispy white mist that is thickest at the low points of the forest. We only slow once to give the horses a quick rest by a stream just off the main trail, and we don’t linger long.
Henry is quiet, contemplative, not that I expect him to have anythingto say to me. I know what I am to him because it’s the same thing he is to me—a burden I bear out of duty.
I’ve barely finished eating the light lunch before Henry is boosting me back on his horse and we’re off again. I knew it would be a long day since we need to reach the fort by dusk, but my hips ache from the long ride.
As we ride, I consider how they kept the rebuilt fort a secret for so long. It’s possible they had a glamourist who could cast an illusion and hide it all this time, but that would be a very skilled practitioner wielding a very strong blessing.
