Chapter Eight
Evan Goes on a Journey
A carriage arrived at the cottage before dawn, pulled by a familiar brown horse.
“Seabiscuit?” That wasn’t his real name, but he reminded me of the one from the movie, so the name had stuck. I walked over and petted his neck, smiling as he stood still and allowed me to. “Still as handsome as ever, aren’t you, boy?”
“Samson will serve you well.” Callum beamed down at me. The sun hadn’t risen yet, but with that bright smile, warmth flooded me anyway. “He likes you. If you were anyone else, he would’ve already knocked you on your cute ass.”
“Did you just call my ass cute? I’m telling Maddox.”
Callum grinned and surveyed the yard. “Speaking of the captain, is he still speaking with that thief?”
Maddox had told him about Rowan before heading off into the woods with the thief in question.
“Yep.” I glanced toward the trees where he and Rowan had gone earlier. Lake was with them too. Nearly an hour had passed. Hopefully, they hadn’t killed each other.
Callum followed my gaze. “Lake is coming with us, isn’t he? I’m sure the captain is giving him demands in regard to your well-being. He did the same to me two days ago. Quite unnecessary though. He told me to protect you with my life, and I would’ve done that with or without his order to do so.”
My heart squeezed.
Duke petted his horse—a gray one with darker gray spots on its rear—then clapped me on the back. “Are you ready for our adventure, Thorn Prince?”
“Y-Yeah.” More like terrified, but I’d keep that to myself. The light dusting of snow remained from yesterday. “Will it be safe to travel?”
“Aye. We’re traveling south where snow isn’t as common, even in winter, so the weather shouldn’t be a problem.”
Three more men arrived on horseback. They were decked out in full armor and wore helmets, so I couldn’t see their faces.
“Who are they?”
“Guards who’ll be traveling with us.” Duke nodded to them.
“Why?” I asked. “You and Cal are more than enough.”
“Direct orders from the castle,” Callum said.
“Orders from the castle, huh?” I eyed the three guards with suspicion. “It seems my men aren’t the only overprotective ones. Prince Sawyer is a worry bug too.”
Callum ruffled my hair. “Can you blame him?”
I patted my bangs back into place and playfully snarled at him. Which just made his sunshine persona even more blinding as he gave a full, toothy grin.
One of the guards was massive. Atop his horse, he looked intimidating as hell. The other two guards dismounted and approached, removing their helmets as they did.
“Good morrow,” one greeted me. He had wavy brown hair and pale blue eyes. “I’m Finnian, and we’ll be accompanying you to Exalos.”
The other man glowered at me. Scars marred one side of his face and trailed down his neck, dipping into the top of his armor. He had a short beard and a head of shaggy, dirty-blond hair.
“His name’s August,” Finnian told me. “Forgive him. He’s not a morning person.”
August snarled at him before storming back off toward his horse.
Finnian offered me a polite smile, bowed, then followed after him.
The third guard didn’t bother greeting me, but it was okay. Maybe he wasn’t a morning person either.
“Mister Evan!” Miles waved as he approached on foot. The café would open soon, so he’d arrived early to prep the pastries. He held a wrapped bundle and offered it to me. “For your travels.”
